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Recommandations for SAN

W

Wrench00

2[H]4U
Joined
Sep 30, 2003
Messages
3,423
Hey guys. I need to have a SAN device. I was aiming at something thats dedicated for ESXi. No home or file sharing this is straight for VHD and that is it.
I need something around 2k

I know I can build one but I don't know how good a DIY is in a production enviornemnt and legal. I was aiming at the Thecus 8800+ it has nice specs and looks like a rather put in and forget unit.
Qnap QNAP TS-859U-RP also looks nice but is pricier.

1U Sans Digital EliteNAS EN104L+B is also garnering some attention.

I use Platespin a lot and I pull images of servers all the time. What else would you recommand for a good iSCSI under 2k?
 
Solaris Express 11 (not free if this is production though) or Open Indiana have a really solid iSCSI implementation (COMSTAR).

Are you looking to build a box or buy a ready made unit? Do you need paid support?
 
I have a TS-410 at home and was able to pull 70-80MB/s on a single GbE link over iSCSI. However it seems that under load my 410 crashes, so make sure you stick with that vmware/ready/certified one and don't drop to one of the lesser units. Also make sure you use drives they recommend and you should be fine. The little 410 has crap for ram and an 800MHz CPU.

The management web interface on the QNAP's is slick and very easy to use, so that's a plus.
 
Do you want hardware box with set of HDDs or do you want dedicated server running software iSCSI target? Hardware stuff is easy to setup virtually no labor required but pain to fix and support. Game till the first fall. For the price range you see you can get cheap QNAP, ReadyNAS or mentioned Thecus box. But none of them is going to shine from performance or features point of view. No replication. Maybe you don't need it. No HA. Maybe you don't need it. And no dedupe. And as you want to store virtual machines images it's probably key feature you gonna miss. Dedicated server with HDD enclosue gives more flexibility and perpetual license recycle. If you'll decide to go commercial. Or free upgrade if you want something free of charge. Next goes Windows or Linux or Solaris. I'll start from the last one. ZFS is nice and pretty good choice for your task. I'm not a big fan of Openfiler but it works as it works if you'll decide go Linux. For Windows check StarWind. Free 2TB version with dedup and one node should be OK for you. But I'd start from OpenIndiana :)) Throw a couple of high capacity spindles and screaming SSD for ZIL or L2ARC and your home made $2K SAN should run circles around noticable amount of commercial hardware boxes priced $5K and up. Does $3K worth bothering? You decide :)

Olga

P.S. Check this out

http://www.solarisinternals.com/wiki/index.php/ZFS_Evil_Tuning_Guide

And there are a couple of threads about ZFS here.

Wrench00 said:
Hey guys. I need to have a SAN device. I was aiming at something thats dedicated for ESXi. No home or file sharing this is straight for VHD and that is it.
I need something around 2k

I know I can build one but I don't know how good a DIY is in a production enviornemnt and legal. I was aiming at the Thecus 8800+ it has nice specs and looks like a rather put in and forget unit.
Qnap QNAP TS-859U-RP also looks nice but is pricier.

1U Sans Digital EliteNAS EN104L+B is also garnering some attention.

I use Platespin a lot and I pull images of servers all the time. What else would you recommand for a good iSCSI under 2k?
Click to expand...
 
Get the QNAP. It will very likely be a very easy setup. IMO, DIY is not the first choice when you are deploying to a production and business environment. Especially when funds permit you to buy a system that is supported.
In the case of DIY,
I would be wary of what software you use to run it...you want it to be reliable and very secure (I assume the latter is a priority for a legal environment). IMO don't use ZFSguru nor Napp It...they haven't had their source code proofed by a third party. Then again, I doubt QNAP has either. Paranoid I might be. :S
 
Yeah Its mainly to rip Physical servers and turn them into a VM using Platespin.Its really a temporary storage once the image is created it goes back onto the original server except in the form of a VM.

IE 1 Pysical server -> Platespin -> Image -> Deploy Image to VHD on an iSCSI-> Temp ESXi serverboots the Deployed image on iSCSI-> Original Physical server gets re-tooled -> I copy the VHD to the original Server -> Shutdown Temp ESXi server -> Bring back the Original server online.

Thecus N8800 Pro 8 Bay

I also found this one. I think it would be as nice as the Qnap.

Its a tossup on the stuff. I would like something in my house to play with.



For shits and giggles for personal use can I use something like (Which Mobo?)
http://++++.com/products/?sku=43129&vpn=P5QL-VM DO/CSM&manufacture=ASUS <-- I have
ssd -> need
http://++++.com/products/?sku=51945&vpn=OCZSSD2-2VTX50G&manufacture=OCZ Technology
an Intel q6600 - I have
8 GB of ram - I have
Intel Dual Nic Card - I have
PSU 650 watt.- I have
Case ( I think I would need a 3u for a full size Nic) --> Need
http://++++.com/products/?sku=48399&vpn=RPC-3116&manufacture=Norco Technologies Inc.
Need a controler card and drives.
Bunch of Seagate 2tb Greens?

And Napp it?

the ++++ = great I guess I can't put links in but its n c i x
 
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