[windows2000] Re: Storage Solutions

  • From: Jeff Malczewski <jmalczewski@xxxxxxxx>
  • To: "'windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'" <windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 11:20:13 -0400

Oh, and as for backups, IBM makes a nice 5U 7-tape Ultrium auto-loader.  The
rackmount kit allows for you to actually put two 7-tape autoloaders in it
(we currently have one, the other is a blank filler panel)...  Compressed,
each autoloader can handle 1.4Tb per tape rotation...  And, they also make a
barcode scanner for auto-identifying the tapes (although it fills slot one,
so you can only have 6 tapes then...
 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Reese [mailto:GReese@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 10:37 AM
To: windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [windows2000] Re: Storage Solutions


nice device.  I may have a hard time convincing them of that here.  One of
the few rules I have on purchases is to try to stick to IBM wherever
possible.  If IBM has anything similar, I can't find it.  All they have is
their SAN solution which is insanely expensive.
 
Those Snap servers look interesting.  And they have gigabit ports.  That may
be the ticket.
 
 
 
Greg

  _____  

From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Claus, Brian
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 9:59 AM
To: windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [windows2000] Re: Storage Solutions


Greg,
 
I'd recommend the HP Storage Cabinet 4314.  It's a great step between server
based storage and a SAN.  We have a few of them and have had no problems.
 
http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/drives-enclosures
/4300enclosure/description.html
<http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/drives-enclosure
s/4300enclosure/description.html>
<http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/drives-enclosure
s/4300enclosure/questionsanswers.html> 
 
 
 
Here's some quick specs from HP.
All models of the StorageWorks Enclosure 4300 Family have the following
features: 

*       Ultra3 (LVD) support - Delivering data transfer rates up to 160 MB/s
per channel 

*       3U rack height 

*       A common storage platform allows for future storage consolidation to
the SAN 

*       Award winning innovative SCA (Single Connect Attach) direct connect
drive carrier - provides better cooling and reliability for 10K and future
15K drives 

*       Hot pluggable disk drives, power supplies, and fans 

*       Redundant fans, redundant power supply and dual bus I/O module 

*       Each Enclosure 4314T, 4314R, and 4310R comes with a single power
supply that is sufficient to provide power to the enclosure and maintain
normal operating levels. A second optional redundant power supply is
recommended for higher levels of fault tolerance and availability. 

*       Environmental Monitoring Unit (EMU) - Monitors environmental
conditions within the enclosure and components such as the power supply and
fans 

*       Easy removal of parts provides better serviceability. No tools are
required! 

Specific features of the StorageWorks Enclosure 4314T, 4314R, and 4354R
include:

*       Supports up to 14 (1-inch) Ultra 2 or Ultra3 Universal hard disk
drives 

*       Provides storage capacity of up to 509.6 GB per enclosure (using
36.4 GB 1-inch disk drives) 

*       House up to 14-enclosures in one 42U rack for a single rack storage
capacity of up to 7.13 TB of disk storage 

*       Modular design allows the StorageWorks Enclosure 4300 to be used in
any storage configuration -- from JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) to Smart
Array storage enclosures to external multi-vendor Modular Arrays. 

Specific features of the StorageWorks Enclosure 4310R and 4350R include:

*       Supports up to 10 (1.6-inch) Ultra3 hard disk drives or 10 (1-inch)
Ultra2 or Ultra3 Universal hard drives with drive extenders (top hats) 

*       1.6-inch disk drive form factor allows MA/EMA customers to get first
access to future disk capacity points 

*       Provides storage capacity of up to 728 GB per enclosure (using 72.8
GB 1.6-inch disk drives) 

*       House up to 14 enclosures in one 42U rack for a single rack storage
capacity of up to 10.1 TB of disk storage 

*       Full installation and hardware warranty extension services available


 

 

  _____  


 
Brian Claus, MCP, Network+, A+
Network Administrator
WESCO Distribution, Inc.
225 West Station Square Drive, Suite 700
Pittsburgh, PA 15219-1122
Phone:  412-454-2412
Fax:  412-454-2540
 <mailto:bclaus@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> bclaus@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  _____  


-----Original Message-----
From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Greg Reese
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2004 9:28 AM
To: windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [windows2000] Storage Solutions



I wanted to start a discussion on this to see what the rest of you are doing
and get a better understanding myself as I get pushed this direction.

Currently, all our network drives are shared off of one server.  It has two
raid 5 arrays and has about 60GB of total file space.  All the user home
drives are there, plus the departmental shares, a public chare etc.

Those drives are nearly full.  My SQL server is running into the same wall.
I backup my SQL databases to disk then put those backups on tape.  I have
enough disk for the databases but the backups fail sometimes if the previous
nights files don't get removed first.

I don't think just replacing the current drives on these servers with bigger
drives is the answer. 

I have looking into setting up a SAN but they cost a small fortune.  I can
generally spend whatever I want here but I can't justify spending that much
on storage.

I have also looked at those Iomega 1u storage servers but they seem cheap
and a little weak for the kind of reliability I need.

What else is there for adding storage?  We have gigabit Ethernet in place on
the server rack.  Most of the clients connect via Citrix so the connections
from their sessions to the other servers is really good.

Is there something in between?  A SAN is nice, but I don't need my servers
to boot from it or anything.  I just need storage available to the network
somehow and need it available fast enough that it doesn't bog things down.

My other thought is that I can set my backups to backup to disk and then
back that up to tape so users aren't slowed down by backup.  A couple of DLT
drives in a server isn't cutting it for backup anymore either.

Thanks! 

Greg 


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