I've been seriously considering building a couple of "servers" that are a TB or so each this summer for data storage... I'll probably use either IDE or SATA RAID for it... I can't really find any redundancy issues with it. Drew >>> jimkenz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 06/16/04 10:54AM >>> Another cheap way to go that we have started to do to REPLACE our snapservers that we have had for years is to set up a workstation with a couple of 200 gig ide drives and they now make ide raid controllers. You can set up a terabyte system for around $1000 this way and still have the redundancy you need JK -----Original Message----- From: windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:windows2000-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Greg Reese 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 ******************************************************** This Weeks Sponsor StressedPuppy.com Games Feeling stressed out? Check out our games to relieve your stress. http://www.StressedPuppy.com ******************************************************** To Unsubscribe, set digest or vacation mode or view archives use the below link. http://thethin.net/win2000list.cfm