If you use any NAS (or a SAN) devices, what do you use? And I''m referring more to larger scale network storage than your home PC or home theater system. We''ve had very good experiences with our NetGear ReadyNAS devices but I''m in the market for something new. The NetGear''s aren''t the cheapest ones around but they do what it says on the box. My only real gripe with them is the lack of decent scalability. TheCus devices seems to be rather powerful as well, and you can stack upto 5 units together. But that''s where the line stops. I''m now looking for something that could scale beyond 100TB on one device (not necessarily one unit though) and find it frustrating that most NAS''s come in 1U or 2U at most. Maybe I''m just not shopping around enough, or maybe I prefer to well known brands, I don''t know. So, what do you use? How well does it work for you? And, how reliable / fast / scalable is it? -- Kind Regards Rudi Ahlers SoftDux Website: http://www.SoftDux.com Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com Office: 087 805 9573 Cell: 082 554 7532 _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Erwan RENIER
2010-Dec-11 16:56 UTC
Re: [Xen-users] What NAS device(s) do you use? And why?
Le 11/12/2010 17:15, Rudi Ahlers a écrit :> If you use any NAS (or a SAN) devices, what do you use? And I''m > referring more to larger scale network storage than your home PC or > home theater system. > > We''ve had very good experiences with our NetGear ReadyNAS devices but > I''m in the market for something new. The NetGear''s aren''t the cheapest > ones around but they do what it says on the box. My only real gripe > with them is the lack of decent scalability. > > TheCus devices seems to be rather powerful as well, and you can stack > upto 5 units together. But that''s where the line stops. > > I''m now looking for something that could scale beyond 100TB on one > device (not necessarily one unit though) and find it frustrating that > most NAS''s come in 1U or 2U at most. > > Maybe I''m just not shopping around enough, or maybe I prefer to well > known brands, I don''t know. > > > > So, what do you use? > How well does it work for you? > And, how reliable / fast / scalable is it? >You can use san with fc fabrics, it''s the top performance solution for large scale clustered virtual servers with network storage. It''s the most expensive too....( you can try fcoe or iscsi instead, which, i believe, will be less expensive ) But i don''t see the point to have a 100T device, data is meant to be accessed and processed. if you have 100T of virtual machines you must have the bandwith for io operations too, the cpu to make them run , the memory and so on. In this case you mount your lun on demand on the server which will run the associated VM. _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
We are using the Bluearc NAS appliance and it has been working well for us for 3-4 years now. Certainly not the cheapest but more than worth the purchase price. Steve On Sat, 11 Dec 2010, Rudi Ahlers wrote:> If you use any NAS (or a SAN) devices, what do you use? And I''m > referring more to larger scale network storage than your home PC or > home theater system. > > We''ve had very good experiences with our NetGear ReadyNAS devices but > I''m in the market for something new. The NetGear''s aren''t the cheapest > ones around but they do what it says on the box. My only real gripe > with them is the lack of decent scalability. > > TheCus devices seems to be rather powerful as well, and you can stack > upto 5 units together. But that''s where the line stops. > > I''m now looking for something that could scale beyond 100TB on one > device (not necessarily one unit though) and find it frustrating that > most NAS''s come in 1U or 2U at most. > > Maybe I''m just not shopping around enough, or maybe I prefer to well > known brands, I don''t know. > > > > So, what do you use? > How well does it work for you? > And, how reliable / fast / scalable is it? > >-- ------------------------------------------------------------------ Steven C. Timm, Ph.D (630) 840-8525 timm@fnal.gov http://home.fnal.gov/~timm/ Fermilab Computing Division, Scientific Computing Facilities, Grid Facilities Department, FermiGrid Services Group, Assistant Group Leader. _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
> -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users- > bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Rudi Ahlers > Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 11:16 AM > To: xen-users > Subject: [Xen-users] What NAS device(s) do you use? And why? > > If you use any NAS (or a SAN) devices, what do you use? And I''mreferring more to> larger scale network storage than your home PC or home theater system.We have CORAID for our Xen deployment. Simple, inexpensive, effective. They offer an appliance to combine multiple Ethernet-connected storage arrays into one (or more) logical arrays, so you can grow your storage as large as you like, within the limits of power, space and switch ports you can provide. -Jeff _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 7:16 AM, Jeff Sturm <jeff.sturm@eprize.com> wrote:>> -----Original Message----- >> From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users- >> bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Rudi Ahlers >> Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 11:16 AM >> To: xen-users >> Subject: [Xen-users] What NAS device(s) do you use? And why? >> >> If you use any NAS (or a SAN) devices, what do you use? And I''m > referring more to >> larger scale network storage than your home PC or home theater system. > > We have CORAID for our Xen deployment. Simple, inexpensive, effective. > > They offer an appliance to combine multiple Ethernet-connected storage > arrays into one (or more) logical arrays, so you can grow your storage > as large as you like, within the limits of power, space and switch ports > you can provide. > > -Jeff > > > > _______________________________________________That''s kind of what I''m looking for but it seems this is a problem with some NAS''s. All the traffic to the SAN (multiple NAS''s connected together) travels through the head node to the "slaves", which effectively cause a lot of congestion on the whole SAN, even with 10GB NIC''s. -- Kind Regards Rudi Ahlers SoftDux Website: http://www.SoftDux.com Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com Office: 087 805 9573 Cell: 082 554 7532 _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Outback Dingo
2010-Dec-12 12:43 UTC
Re: [Xen-users] What NAS device(s) do you use? And why?
BluArc, or Nexsan SATABeast, or build your own, FreeNAS, and DISK On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 6:12 AM, Rudi Ahlers <Rudi@softdux.com> wrote:> On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 7:16 AM, Jeff Sturm <jeff.sturm@eprize.com> wrote: > >> -----Original Message----- > >> From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users- > >> bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Rudi Ahlers > >> Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 11:16 AM > >> To: xen-users > >> Subject: [Xen-users] What NAS device(s) do you use? And why? > >> > >> If you use any NAS (or a SAN) devices, what do you use? And I''m > > referring more to > >> larger scale network storage than your home PC or home theater system. > > > > We have CORAID for our Xen deployment. Simple, inexpensive, effective. > > > > They offer an appliance to combine multiple Ethernet-connected storage > > arrays into one (or more) logical arrays, so you can grow your storage > > as large as you like, within the limits of power, space and switch ports > > you can provide. > > > > -Jeff > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > That''s kind of what I''m looking for but it seems this is a problem > with some NAS''s. All the traffic to the SAN (multiple NAS''s connected > together) travels through the head node to the "slaves", which > effectively cause a lot of congestion on the whole SAN, even with 10GB > NIC''s. > > > > -- > Kind Regards > Rudi Ahlers > SoftDux > > Website: http://www.SoftDux.com > Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com > Office: 087 805 9573 > Cell: 082 554 7532 > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users >_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Melody Bliss
2010-Dec-12 16:21 UTC
Re: [Xen-users] What NAS device(s) do you use? And why?
Why don''t you go with something like NetApp? It''s expensive, but if you''re looking for scalability, you''ve got it there by adding additional shelves. Plus you can design it for reliability (redundant heads for example). For example, as FAS6280 has a maximum raw capacity of 2880 TB (before RAID) which would give you way more than enough space and room to grow. If you''re not looking for that much capacity, you could go with a FAS3210 which has a maximum raw capacity (pre-RAID) of 480TB. Mel On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 8:15 AM, Rudi Ahlers <Rudi@softdux.com> wrote:> If you use any NAS (or a SAN) devices, what do you use? And I''m > referring more to larger scale network storage than your home PC or > home theater system.[...]> I''m now looking for something that could scale beyond 100TB on one > device (not necessarily one unit though) and find it frustrating that > most NAS''s come in 1U or 2U at most. > > Maybe I''m just not shopping around enough, or maybe I prefer to well > known brands, I don''t know.[...] -- Melody Bliss Usenix, SAGE and LOPSA Charter Member Patron Member of the NRA _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
David Gonzalez Herrera
2010-Dec-12 18:18 UTC
Re: [Xen-users] What NAS device(s) do you use? And why?
Well my two cents on this, As NAS/SAN I use a Rackable Systems server with CentOS 5.5 x64, 4 1TB disks and bonded Ethernet NICs, I built that box for about $500 disks are SATA II, and NICs are integrated Broadcom GiE, and if you wan scalability it''s just a matter of getting more units and stack''em using GFS or something, I haven''t set that up ever, I just create new RAD arrays and mount points as the need grows. If you want something bigger than 2U there''s aklways the good old Proliant DL585 which is a monster 4U, and I''ve seen 8U beasts on eBay, so I guess it''s just a matter of looking into it, and don''t forget the lame Dell powervaults. Hope this is some sort of guideline for your project, Good luck. --- David Gonzalez H. DGHVoIP - OPEN SOURCE TELEPHONY SOLUTIONS Phone Bogotá: +(57-1)289-1168 Phone Medellin: +(57-4)247-0985 Mobile: +(57)315-838-8326 MSN: david@planetaradio.net Skype: davidgonzalezh WEB: http://www.dghvoip.com/ Proud Linux User #294661 On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 11:15 AM, Rudi Ahlers <Rudi@softdux.com> wrote:> If you use any NAS (or a SAN) devices, what do you use? And I''m > referring more to larger scale network storage than your home PC or > home theater system. > > We''ve had very good experiences with our NetGear ReadyNAS devices but > I''m in the market for something new. The NetGear''s aren''t the cheapest > ones around but they do what it says on the box. My only real gripe > with them is the lack of decent scalability. > > TheCus devices seems to be rather powerful as well, and you can stack > upto 5 units together. But that''s where the line stops. > > I''m now looking for something that could scale beyond 100TB on one > device (not necessarily one unit though) and find it frustrating that > most NAS''s come in 1U or 2U at most. > > Maybe I''m just not shopping around enough, or maybe I prefer to well > known brands, I don''t know. > > > > So, what do you use? > How well does it work for you? > And, how reliable / fast / scalable is it? > > -- > Kind Regards > Rudi Ahlers > SoftDux > > Website: http://www.SoftDux.com > Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com > Office: 087 805 9573 > Cell: 082 554 7532 > > _______________________________________________ > Xen-users mailing list > Xen-users@lists.xensource.com > http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users >_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 8:18 PM, David Gonzalez Herrera <dgonzalezh@gmail.com> wrote:> Well my two cents on this, > As NAS/SAN I use a Rackable Systems server with CentOS 5.5 x64, 4 1TB disks > and bonded Ethernet NICs, I built that box for about $500 disks are SATA II, > and NICs are integrated Broadcom GiE, and if you wan scalability it''s just a > matter of getting more units and stack''em using GFS or something, I haven''t > set that up ever, I just create new RAD arrays and mount points as the need > grows. > If you want something bigger than 2U there''s aklways the good old Proliant > DL585 which is a monster 4U, and I''ve seen 8U beasts on eBay, so I guess > it''s just a matter of looking into it, and don''t forget the lame Dell > powervaults. > Hope this is some sort of guideline for your project, > Good luck. > > --- > David Gonzalez H. > DGHVoIP - OPEN SOURCE TELEPHONY SOLUTIONS > Phone Bogotá: +(57-1)289-1168 > Phone Medellin: +(57-4)247-0985 > Mobile: +(57)315-838-8326 > MSN: david@planetaradio.net > Skype: davidgonzalezh > WEB: http://www.dghvoip.com/ > Proud Linux User #294661 > > > On Sat, Dec 11, 2010 at 11:15 AM, Rudi Ahlers <Rudi@softdux.com> wrote: >> >> If you use any NAS (or a SAN) devices, what do you use? And I''m >> referring more to larger scale network storage than your home PC or >> home theater system. >> >> We''ve had very good experiences with our NetGear ReadyNAS devices but >> I''m in the market for something new. The NetGear''s aren''t the cheapest >> ones around but they do what it says on the box. My only real gripe >> with them is the lack of decent scalability. >> >> TheCus devices seems to be rather powerful as well, and you can stack >> upto 5 units together. But that''s where the line stops. >> >> I''m now looking for something that could scale beyond 100TB on one >> device (not necessarily one unit though) and find it frustrating that >> most NAS''s come in 1U or 2U at most. >> >> Maybe I''m just not shopping around enough, or maybe I prefer to well >> known brands, I don''t know. >> >> >> >> So, what do you use? >> How well does it work for you? >> And, how reliable / fast / scalable is it? >> >> --Thanx for all the replies to far, it''s been very helpful and I gathered a lot of info. Right now I''m still researching, but my goals as as follows: 1. For a (possible new) client who needs to archive CCTV footage in a security company for an NPO. I need the cheapest possible way of doing this, while still being able to grow the storage within one host. The PVR can only access one single NAS (via FTP) so I need to keep it simple. Their budget is obviously limited so I need to keep it costly. 2. To change our backup strategy. Currently we backup all our client''s data (websites, email, databases) to multiple backup servers (at no extra cost to the client) and simply purchase new 2U servers with 8 drive bays, slap in the largest SATA HDD''s at the time, install CentOS, setup RAID10 and use SSH / SFTP / RSYNC for backups. This whole setup gets mirrored since one copy of a file on RAID hardware isn''t a backup. So, for every hosting package we sell, we need to budget for 3x the storage (on the web server & 2x backup servers) and need to keep costs down on this one. The problem comes with client''s who suddenly grow their storage needs and that particular server may not handle the date, then we need to move the client''s data to a new server and tell him to use a new host, or configure his software with the new hostname. It would be nice to combine these servers in one large array and everyone just connects to one host. 3. I would like to move our virtual machines to central storage and try and achieve higher uptime. I honestly can''t afford a NetApp or EMC for this, just to see if it works. Achieving high availability doesn''t just happen cause you have a nice expensive device. You also need to prove, over a long period of time (without making a profit on it yet) that it actually works well. Ideally, I would like to stick to one solution / brand / vendor for all these scenarios. I don''t like vendor lock-ins I don''t like solutions with factory fitted HDD''s - if I need to swap-out failed drives with spares that we already have, I want to. I don''t want to wait hours-at-end for a support tech to bring a replacement HDD module. I also don''t like spending cash on high market hype. Sure, if a product is good, it''s good. But too many vendors / retailers / suppliers hike up the prices due to market hype. For now I think I''ll stick to using bare-bone SuperMicro servers, and then look at using something like Lustre / Gluster / Nexenta / We use OpenFiler on a few of our current "NAS" servers, but it''s outdated and doesn''t scale well so I need something new. -- Kind Regards Rudi Ahlers SoftDux Website: http://www.SoftDux.com Technical Blog: http://Blog.SoftDux.com Office: 087 805 9573 Cell: 082 554 7532 _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Fajar A. Nugraha
2010-Dec-13 12:06 UTC
Re: [Xen-users] What NAS device(s) do you use? And why?
On Mon, Dec 13, 2010 at 5:22 PM, Rudi Ahlers <Rudi@softdux.com> wrote:> For now I think I''ll stick to using bare-bone SuperMicro servers, and > then look at using something like Lustre / Gluster / Nexenta / > We use OpenFiler on a few of our current "NAS" servers, but it''s > outdated and doesn''t scale well so I need something new.Cluster file system tends to add extra penalty to disk iops/throughput, so if you ever want to go luster/gluster route you should make sure the performance is acceptable. It might be easier if you simply create a "dedicated" SAN/NAS for this user only, using a head node (with nexenta/plain Centos or whatever) with several storage nodes (using coraid or nexenta/Centos or whatever and export them with iscsi/AoE). Start with one head node and one storage node, increasing number of storage nodes as necessary. Make sure storage-head-web server nodes is connected to the same switch (preferably dedicated). One thing to watchout with this kind of setup is to make sure all protocol/servers/disk involved doesn''t lie about sync, i.e. the disk REALLY flush the data when told to. -- Fajar _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users