XServe RAID and catalyst

[samsc]

Is the XServe RAID expensive?

If you consider that each single XServe RAID - configured as 6 RAID sets, you get 4 volumes with 800GB and 2 volumes with 1200GB.
You are getting a LOT of storage capacity in one unit.5.6TB


The retail price of the largest XServeRAID is $13000.
Using this to drive 6 Catalysts is then ~$2000/server.
Add 8 port Fibre switch. $2000
Fibre channel cards are about the same cost as scsi cards

A SCSI disc array with 800GB capacity using 140GB drives at $600/drive is 5*600= $3000

The XServe RAID is 50% cheaper per RAID set for the same drive size than using SCSI.
And you can network this between multiple macs, you cannot do this with SCSI.

[Jan Opseth]

Hi,

Which Raid Levels did you run the Xserv on?

Regards,

Jan Opseth

[samsc]

Hi,

Which Raid Levels did you run the Xserv on?

Regards,

Jan Opseth

RAID 0.

No redundancy

[jasonrudolph]

Another possible nice thing with this, is that you can rent Xserve RAID systems from a number of vendors....

[samsc]

Another possible nice thing with this, is that you can rent Xserve RAID systems from a number of vendors....

if you do rent-
Make sure you have enough time to configure the raid. it takes a day or so to change the raid setup!


I like it because really it was almost plugnplay.
Fibre channel cards didnt need configuring, fibre switch didnt need configuring.
Maybe we got lucky.

[Jan Opseth]

RAID 0.

No redundancy

I know you folks have planty to but do you have the time/"wanto" too
test raid 5? to see any performance drops/or rices?

Can u change stripe sizes on an Xserv Raid?


Regards,

Jan O

[samsc]

I know you folks have planty to but do you have the time/"wanto" too
test raid 5? to see any performance drops/or rices?

Can u change stripe sizes on an Xserv Raid?


Regards,

Jan O

No change in performance with raid5 - the demo unit arrived as RAID 5- i got reagan to reformat at raid0 - no difference noted.
Only tested at standard definition.
raid setup doesnt matter that much when you arent trying to get 200MB/s out of the XServe RAID.

i think you can change stripe size - it takes days to reinitialise - so we didnt change too much.


Playback at hi-def is processor limited at the moment - ( but might not be if apple released quad computers )

[tylerr]

sounds like a great solution for an install. But for road machines I like to keep the unit self contained in its case. The only wires that come out are for power, monitors, keyboard, and video out. The thought of a crew member, LD, or Catalyst Op accidently stomping on a fiber lead scares me.

But I am a chicken!

Tyler

[samsc]

sounds like a great solution for an install. But for road machines I like to keep the unit self contained in its case. The only wires that come out are for power, monitors, keyboard, and video out. The thought of a crew member, LD, or Catalyst Op accidently stomping on a fiber lead scares me.

But I am a chicken!

Tyler

its not fibre - its copper.

its seems a lot easier to configure than scsi.

[samsc]

Fibre channel cables:
http://www.cselex.com/fibre-channel-cables.htm

Some fibre channel info.

http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/di...e_channel.html

Fibre Channel key features include...

Hot-pluggability ? Fibre Channel drives can be installed or removed while the host system is operational, which is crucial in high-end and heavy-use server systems where there is little or no downtime.

ANSI standard compliance for serial port interface ? Fibre Channel does not require special adapters, which can be expensive.

Speed ? In its intended environment, Fibre Channel is the fastest option available.

Cost effectiveness ? Relative to other high-end solutions, Fibre Channel is inexpensive because it does not require special adapters.

Loop resiliency ? Fibre channel provides high data integrity in multiple-drive systems, including Fibre Channel RAID.

Longer cable lengths ? Relative to LVD, Fibre Channel can maintain data integrity through significantly longer cables. This makes configuring multiple devices easier.

fc switches:
http://www.storagesearch.com/fcswitches.html