shared storage for newbie

[nicklaz7]

what would you guys recommend as the shared storage that is easy to configure for a company with limited esx knowledge and no familiarity with shared storage platforms.

we're looking at purchasing an equalogics array but i wanted to get some of your opinions.

also, can anyone recommend a good set up guide for configuring esx/vcenter with shared storage.

[mcowger]

All depends on your budget and performance requirements....what are they

That being said, the the EQL stuff is good kit.

--Matt

VCP, vExpert, Unix Geek

[pizang]

EQL is very nice but expensive. Tell us more what do you want to virtualize. How many VMs? How much storage do you need? Expansion plans?

I was considering EQL but finally I bought Dell MD3000i (1/3 of EQL price). I am happy with performance with 20 VM's.

[AndreTheGiant]

For small/testing purpose you can also consider a NAS solution.

For example, some Iomega products are certified for VMware.

But for production environment you must at least consider a product with a good redundancy, not ONLY at disk level, but also for supplies, controller, cable connection, ...

Andre

[ConstantinV]

And what is your goals? Based on your needs we can help you with advise )

StarWind Software Developer

[nicklaz7]

thanks for the replies. this will be used in a production environment and will initially host about 20 vmachines. the vm's will be mostly windows 2008 (exchange, a few sql servers, file servers, 2 dc's, general purpose servers, etc) and a couple of sco unix erp servers. i want to make sure that the shared storage can handle the io load of the exchange, sql, file, and erp servers.

we originally wanted to stay away from iscsi to avoid purchasing expensive network switches and doing the network tuning required for iscsi. we were interested in the md3000 with sas controllers since we don't plan on have more than four esx hosts but i don't think there are enough documented cases for us to go that route. once we realized that we would most likely have to go with an iscsi san we looked at the md3000i but discarded it because of the io load and the complexity compared to equallogics. i've read some really good things about netapp and nfs but they are more expensive than eql and the eql seem to be very easy to configure.

can anyone point me to a generic guide for setting up esx with shared storage?

[AndreTheGiant]

MD3000 can work, but you need the 2 controller version with 2 SAS interface (+1 for MD1000 expansion).

And 2 + 2 SAS controller on your server (if I remember you must use SAS 5/e controller).

Consider also MD3000i (for example to have more scalability OR to make backup over SAN with VCB).

can anyone point me to a generic guide for setting up esx with shared storage?

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pages/vi_pubs_35u2.html (see FC and iSCSI section)

Andre

[TimPhillips]

And why you decided to go with hardware iSCSI? As for me software iSCSI allows create much more flexible decisions.

[AndreTheGiant]

MD3000 is just a DAS (with SAS connection).

MD3000i is iSCSI, but you can use software initiator without problems.

Andre

[J1mbo]

> the vm's will be mostly windows 2008 (exchange, a few sql servers, file servers, 2 dc's, general purpose servers, etc) and a couple of sco unix erp servers. i want to make sure that the shared storage can handle the io load of the exchange, sql, file, and erp servers

Really you need to benchmark the IOPS load on your current infrastructure using PerfMon or Microsoft's MAP tool. Or, if capacity isn't such an issue, go for a 15k SAS model like the PS4000XV.

Bear in mind when virtualising that a machine (and/or VM) will be needed for Virtual Centre Server. Also steps need to be taken to ensure the 2 DCs are never on the same physical host.

> we originally wanted to stay away from iscsi to avoid purchasing expensive network switches and doing the network tuning required for iscsi

iSCSI is simply SCSI over TCP/IP, there is no tuning required. If using ESX software initiator, the switches must support (and have enabled) flow control, but that's it. A couple of Dell iSCSI optimised switches is probably the way to go, to keep things entirely seperate.

> since we don't plan on have more than four esx hosts

If you can keep to three hosts, and don't need vmotion, the Essentials or Essentials Plus licensing will save a lot of money to put towards your iSCSI network.

HTH