We are looking for a installment of a own built SAN machine for managing and storing xen virtual machines. Does anyone have any experience with the following: - NexentaStor - Openfiler - FreeNAS - iSCSI target We are looking for stability and thoroughly tested systems. If there are any other systems feel free to mention them and your experiences. Thanks! //rolf _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
On Mon, Jul 06, 2009 at 09:34:19AM +0200, Rolf Arne Larsen wrote:> We are looking for a installment of a own built SAN machine for managing and storing xen virtual machines. > Does anyone have any experience with the following: > - NexentaStor > - Openfiler > - FreeNAS > - iSCSI target > > We are looking for stability and thoroughly tested systems. > If there are any other systems feel free to mention them and your experiences. >Well, in that case I''d recommend (Dell) Equallogic iSCSI Arrays. They''ve been around pretty much since iSCSI spec was released, and they''re fast, scalable, stable and easy to setup and use. I have only good experiences of Equallogic arrays, been using them for many years. -- Pasi _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Thanks for answer. What im looking for is a software solution to check out the possibilities (build one myself) with a SAN before buying a big enterprise one. I''ll put Equallogic in the "good" box for later aquintance:) --- Mvh Rolf Arne Larsen System Administrator +47 98652784 rolf@startsiden.no ABC Startsiden AS Sagveien 21A, 0459 Oslo ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pasi Kärkkäinen" <pasik@iki.fi> To: "Rolf Arne Larsen" <rolf@startsiden.no> Cc: xen-users@lists.xensource.com Sent: Monday, July 6, 2009 1:07:34 PM GMT +01:00 Amsterdam / Berlin / Bern / Rome / Stockholm / Vienna Subject: Re: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen On Mon, Jul 06, 2009 at 09:34:19AM +0200, Rolf Arne Larsen wrote:> We are looking for a installment of a own built SAN machine for managing and storing xen virtual machines. > Does anyone have any experience with the following: > - NexentaStor > - Openfiler > - FreeNAS > - iSCSI target > > We are looking for stability and thoroughly tested systems. > If there are any other systems feel free to mention them and your experiences. >Well, in that case I''d recommend (Dell) Equallogic iSCSI Arrays. They''ve been around pretty much since iSCSI spec was released, and they''re fast, scalable, stable and easy to setup and use. I have only good experiences of Equallogic arrays, been using them for many years. -- Pasi _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
I've used Openfiler in XEN deployments before, with good results. Best Regards Nathan Eisenberg Sr. Systems Administrator Atlas Networks, LLC support@atlasnetworks.us http://support.atlasnetworks.us/portal -----Original Message----- From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Rolf Arne Larsen Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 4:48 AM To: Pasi Kärkkäinen Cc: xen-users@lists.xensource.com Subject: Re: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen Thanks for answer. What im looking for is a software solution to check out the possibilities (build one myself) with a SAN before buying a big enterprise one. I'll put Equallogic in the "good" box for later aquintance:) --- Mvh Rolf Arne Larsen System Administrator +47 98652784 rolf@startsiden.no ABC Startsiden AS Sagveien 21A, 0459 Oslo ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pasi Kärkkäinen" <pasik@iki.fi> To: "Rolf Arne Larsen" <rolf@startsiden.no> Cc: xen-users@lists.xensource.com Sent: Monday, July 6, 2009 1:07:34 PM GMT +01:00 Amsterdam / Berlin / Bern / Rome / Stockholm / Vienna Subject: Re: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen On Mon, Jul 06, 2009 at 09:34:19AM +0200, Rolf Arne Larsen wrote:> We are looking for a installment of a own built SAN machine for managing and storing xen virtual machines. > Does anyone have any experience with the following: > - NexentaStor > - Openfiler > - FreeNAS > - iSCSI target > > We are looking for stability and thoroughly tested systems. > If there are any other systems feel free to mention them and your experiences. >Well, in that case I'd recommend (Dell) Equallogic iSCSI Arrays. They've been around pretty much since iSCSI spec was released, and they're fast, scalable, stable and easy to setup and use. I have only good experiences of Equallogic arrays, been using them for many years. -- Pasi _______________________________________________ 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
NexentaStor - I have not used this product. Openfiler - Very quick and easy to set up, and openfiler supports many different protocols. 64-bit linux install. The web interface is decent, but can get clunky when using with a very large LDAP directory. Active Directory integration was not exactly "cake", and I had to google quite a bit to discover that the configs require everything IN CAPS. If you are only using this for iSCSI it might be overkill, but the ease of the web interface could be good multiple admins. FreeNAS - Fired this up to check out, but being 32-bit and FreeBSD, it wasn''t considered highly. I honestly didn''t spend much time with it. The install was easy. iSCSITarget - I have been testing this with CentOS 5.3. If the web interface of openfiler is not a big sell for you, then this might be preferable if all you need is iSCSI/FOSS. I actually found myself tinkering with config files to get openfiler to do what I needed anyway. Hope that helps, /mark ----------------------------------------------------------------------> > Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2009 09:34:19 +0200 (CEST) > From: Rolf Arne Larsen <rolf@startsiden.no> > Subject: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen > > We are looking for a installment of a own built SAN machine for managing > and storing xen virtual machines. > Does anyone have any experience with the following: > - NexentaStor > - Openfiler > - FreeNAS > - iSCSI target > > We are looking for stability and thoroughly tested systems. > If there are any other systems feel free to mention them and your > experiences. > > Thanks! > > //rolf > > > >_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
any opinion if opensolaris would be a good choice? Im wondering if there will be any differences in performance, or if its mostly limited by the hw. As for features, snapshotting with zfs sounds nice.. On 6. juli. 2009, at 18.45, Nathan Eisenberg wrote:> I''ve used Openfiler in XEN deployments before, with good results. > > Best Regards > Nathan Eisenberg > Sr. Systems Administrator > Atlas Networks, LLC > support@atlasnetworks.us > http://support.atlasnetworks.us/portal > > > -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com > ] On Behalf Of Rolf Arne Larsen > Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 4:48 AM > To: Pasi Kärkkäinen > Cc: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: Re: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen > > Thanks for answer. > What im looking for is a software solution to check out the > possibilities (build one myself) with a SAN before buying a big > enterprise one. > I''ll put Equallogic in the "good" box for later aquintance:) > > --- > Mvh > Rolf Arne Larsen > System Administrator > +47 98652784 > rolf@startsiden.no > > ABC Startsiden AS > Sagveien 21A, 0459 Oslo > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Pasi Kärkkäinen" <pasik@iki.fi> > To: "Rolf Arne Larsen" <rolf@startsiden.no> > Cc: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Sent: Monday, July 6, 2009 1:07:34 PM GMT +01:00 Amsterdam / > Berlin / Bern / Rome / Stockholm / Vienna > Subject: Re: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen > > On Mon, Jul 06, 2009 at 09:34:19AM +0200, Rolf Arne Larsen wrote: >> We are looking for a installment of a own built SAN machine for >> managing and storing xen virtual machines. >> Does anyone have any experience with the following: >> - NexentaStor >> - Openfiler >> - FreeNAS >> - iSCSI target >> >> We are looking for stability and thoroughly tested systems. >> If there are any other systems feel free to mention them and your >> experiences. >> > > Well, in that case I''d recommend (Dell) Equallogic iSCSI Arrays. > They''ve been around pretty much since iSCSI spec was released, and > they''re > fast, scalable, stable and easy to setup and use. > > I have only good experiences of Equallogic arrays, been using them > for many > years. > > -- Pasi > > _______________________________________________ > 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_______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
Coraid appliances (www.coraid.com) are fast, reliable and inexpensive. I recognize you may not be looking to purchase at this time, but keep in mind these models start under $2k. If you just want to try AoE to get a feel for the protocol and driver, try vblade: http://aoetools.sourceforge.net/> -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users- > bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Rolf Arne Larsen > Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 3:34 AM > To: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen > > We are looking for a installment of a own built SAN machine for managing and storing > xen virtual machines. > Does anyone have any experience with the following: > - NexentaStor > - Openfiler > - FreeNAS > - iSCSI target > > We are looking for stability and thoroughly tested systems. > If there are any other systems feel free to mention them and your experiences. > > Thanks! > > //rolf > > _______________________________________________ > 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
Those are the most monstrously inflated marketing numbers I've seen since a VMWare rep took me out to lunch with an Equilogic rep and tried to convince me their products would save me more money on HVAC and power than I was even spending! iSCSI costs $400 per switch port but AOE costs $15? iSCSI costs up to $5000 per TB while AOE costs up to $500? *eyeroll* Best Regards Nathan Eisenberg Sr. Systems Administrator Atlas Networks, LLC support@atlasnetworks.us http://support.atlasnetworks.us/portal -----Original Message----- From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Jeff Sturm Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 3:48 PM To: Rolf Arne Larsen; xen-users@lists.xensource.com Subject: RE: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen Coraid appliances (www.coraid.com) are fast, reliable and inexpensive. I recognize you may not be looking to purchase at this time, but keep in mind these models start under $2k. If you just want to try AoE to get a feel for the protocol and driver, try vblade: http://aoetools.sourceforge.net/> -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users- > bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Rolf Arne Larsen > Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 3:34 AM > To: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen > > We are looking for a installment of a own built SAN machine for > managing and storing xen virtual machines. > Does anyone have any experience with the following: > - NexentaStor > - Openfiler > - FreeNAS > - iSCSI target > > We are looking for stability and thoroughly tested systems. > If there are any other systems feel free to mention them and your experiences. > > Thanks! > > //rolf > > _______________________________________________ > 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
> -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users- > bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Nathan Eisenberg > Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 7:35 PM > To: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: RE: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen > > Those are the most monstrously inflated marketing numbers I've seen since a VMWare > rep took me out to lunch with an Equilogic rep and tried to convince me their products > would save me more money on HVAC and power than I was even spending!There's a lot of bad marketing out there for sure--Coraid doesn't have a lock on that by any means. There's nothing technically wrong with Equallogic units; we have one of those too. My advice is: Try each out for yourselves. We did exactly that. What eventually sold me on Coraid is that they "Just Work" and I could get perhaps 10 of those for the price of a single competitor's unit. Plus they are easy to stack for growth and reliability. I'd be happy to share our experiences further (off list) to anyone interested. Really though, I don't understand why AoE isn't more popular. The main drawbacks I can tell is that it isn't a standard and has somewhat limited driver support. But AoE works perfectly well with Linux and Xen, which are mainly what we use today. Jeff _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
I wholeheartedly agree - there's nothing technically wrong with them. They are very solid, high performance units with great interfaces, and fantastic support. But I had a very poor marketing experience with them (and I know others who have, as well), and so I can't recommend them. The same goes with the Coraid units - they may well be excellent units, but I (and, I am sure, many others) find their marketing to be deceptive and insulting - and I completely refuse to support any company attempting to tell me that an AOE switchport costs a penny more than an iSCSI switchport, when I have both technologies in production, on the same switching equipment. Maybe Equilogic's marketing was changed in the Dell acquisition - in which case, I now know what company their marketing people have moved to. :) Thank You, Nathan Eisenberg Sr. Systems Administrator Atlas Networks, LLC -----Original Message----- From: Jeff Sturm [mailto:jeff.sturm@eprize.com] Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 6:30 PM To: Nathan Eisenberg; xen-users@lists.xensource.com Subject: RE: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen> -----Original Message----- > From: xen-users-bounces@lists.xensource.com [mailto:xen-users- > bounces@lists.xensource.com] On Behalf Of Nathan Eisenberg > Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 7:35 PM > To: xen-users@lists.xensource.com > Subject: RE: [Xen-users] iscsi/nfs/aoe SAN storage for Xen > > Those are the most monstrously inflated marketing numbers I've seen since a VMWare > rep took me out to lunch with an Equilogic rep and tried to convince me their products > would save me more money on HVAC and power than I was even spending!There's a lot of bad marketing out there for sure--Coraid doesn't have a lock on that by any means. There's nothing technically wrong with Equallogic units; we have one of those too. My advice is: Try each out for yourselves. We did exactly that. What eventually sold me on Coraid is that they "Just Work" and I could get perhaps 10 of those for the price of a single competitor's unit. Plus they are easy to stack for growth and reliability. I'd be happy to share our experiences further (off list) to anyone interested. Really though, I don't understand why AoE isn't more popular. The main drawbacks I can tell is that it isn't a standard and has somewhat limited driver support. But AoE works perfectly well with Linux and Xen, which are mainly what we use today. Jeff _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users
2009/7/7 Ingard Mevåg <ingard@startsiden.no>:> any opinion if opensolaris would be a good choice? Im wondering if there > will be any differences in performance, or if its mostly limited by the hw. > As for features, snapshotting with zfs sounds nice..Opensolaris has it''s own Xen implementation. It''s one of the vendor-supported implementations, so if you''re thinking of using Opensolaris for domm0, in support terms it would be a good choice. If you''re using it only as storage server, AFAIK nfs performance should be comparable to that of Linux, while iscsi better. However, with opensolaris you could greatly increase nfs performance (depending on the kind of load) by using SSD for ZIL (kinda like write cache) to reduce latency (which would be critical for synchronous applications). Note that opensolaris is still in active development. Although it''s usable in current state, some things currently don''t work or is not as ideal as it should be. For example: - virt-manager (it doesn''t matter if you create your domUs by hand like I do) - the new scsi target framework (COMSTAR) can provide even better performance, but not installed by default. -- Fajar _______________________________________________ Xen-users mailing list Xen-users@lists.xensource.com http://lists.xensource.com/xen-users