On 8/9/06, Kenji Morishige <kenjim@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have unlimited rack space, so 2U is not the issue. The boxes are stored in our lab for internal software tools. I'm going to research those boxes you mention. Regarding the JBOD enclosures, are these generally just 2U or 4U units with SCSI interface connectors? I didn't see these types of boxes availble on Dell website, I'll look again. -Kenji On Wed, Aug 09, 2006 at 07:35:22AM +0200, Arjen van der Meijden wrote: > With such a budget you should easily be able to get something like: > - A 1U high-performance server (for instance the Dell 1950 with 2x > Woodcrest 5160, 16GB of FB-Dimm memory, one 5i and one 5e perc raid > controller and some disks internally) > - An external SAS direct attached disks storage enclosure full with 15k > rpm 36GB disks (for instance the MD1000, with 15x 36GB 15k disks) > > Going for the dell-solution would set you back "only" (including > savings) about $13-$14k. HP offers a similar solutions (a HP DL360G5 or > a DL380G5/DL385 with two MSA50's for instance) which also fit in your > budget afaik. The other players tend to be (a bit) more expensive, force > you to go with Fibre Channel or "ancient" SCSI external storage ;) > > If you'd like to have a product by a generic vendor, have a look at the > Adaptec JS50 SAS Jbod enclosure or Promise's Vtrak 300 (both offer 12 > sas/sata bays in 2U) for storage.
I am really curious about the Adaptec SAS product to see what it can do. If you don't know what SAS is, it is Sata Attached SCSI. SAS cables use 4 sata lanes (3gb/sec each) bonded together in a single cable. The raid is handled with via the raid controller or the o/s in a software configuration. SAS is the evolution of SCSI and I think will ultimately replace scsi in enterprise setups becuase it is faster, cheaper, and more flexible. SAS enclosures generally accept sata or sas drives in mix/match configurations. so, you get to choose between cheap, large, 7200 rpm sata drives or small, expensive sas 10k or 15k rpm drives *in the same enclosure*. You also get a compromise drive in the form of the raptor which is 10k rpm sata drive. You could buy a 2u 12 drive SAS encloure (3000$), 12 150g raptors (3000$) and spend another grand on cables/controller and have a hellishly performing raid system for the money assuming sas performs like it does on paper. note that i would not be trying this with my own money unless I was guaranteed a money back rma for a 30 day evaluation period. that would leave you with 12 grand or so to pick up a quad (8 core) opeteron if you bought it right. regards, merlin
