XServe RAID and catalyst

[samsc]

More Xserve RAID info:
http://images.apple.com/xserve/raid/...choverview.pdf

http://images.apple.com/xserve/raid/..._datasheet.pdf

more fibre switches:

http://www.sandirect.com/brocadepage.htm
http://www.sandirect.com/emcswitches.htm

fibre channel info
http://www.storagesearch.com/fcswitches.html

[samsc]

I drew a diagram of the proposed network layout.

Each mac should ideally access files only on its own RAID set- to maximise performance, but all volumes will mount on desktops of all macs.


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We dont have multiple XServe RAIDS to test but we believe that multiple units can also be plugged directly into the fibre channel switch, and shared between computers.

[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