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Home > Archive > Data Storage > September 2006 > Large SATA arrays (or Nexsan experiences)?
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Large SATA arrays (or Nexsan experiences)?
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| Jon Metzger 2006-09-05, 1:18 pm |
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We're looking to add storage for archive, backup to disk, and any other
application where data is infrequently accessed. The big three storage
vendors are certainly willing to accommodate, but at a higher price than
we're currently looking to pay. We're not looking for a DYI solution,
we need something with solid vendor support and a good track record.
We'll likely be handling any type of archive/CAS operation with software
so we don't need that functionality built into the array. We basically
need a high capacity, high density box which doesn't need to be
especially fast.
One possibility I've come across is the Nexsan SATABeast (21TB per box,
210TB per 40U rack). It's gotten some great reviews, but they're all
based on features and not longer term reliability. I've heard of one
anecdotal case where this box had enough problems (even after a complete
swap-out) that it was eventually returned to the vendor. I'm curious if
this is an anomaly or if this is a product to avoid.
Can any Nexsan SATABeast owners send out their experience with this box?
I'd also be very interested to hear about other storage arrays with
similar capabilities if anyone knows of them. Thanks.
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| In article <edkapk$ic6$1@lenny.tc.umn.edu>, blagh@___gmail.com says...
>
>
>We're looking to add storage for archive, backup to disk, and any other
>application where data is infrequently accessed. The big three storage
>vendors are certainly willing to accommodate, but at a higher price than
>we're currently looking to pay. We're not looking for a DYI solution,
>we need something with solid vendor support and a good track record.
>We'll likely be handling any type of archive/CAS operation with software
>so we don't need that functionality built into the array. We basically
>need a high capacity, high density box which doesn't need to be
>especially fast.
>
>One possibility I've come across is the Nexsan SATABeast (21TB per box,
>210TB per 40U rack). It's gotten some great reviews, but they're all
>based on features and not longer term reliability. I've heard of one
>anecdotal case where this box had enough problems (even after a complete
>swap-out) that it was eventually returned to the vendor. I'm curious if
>this is an anomaly or if this is a product to avoid.
>
>Can any Nexsan SATABeast owners send out their experience with this box?
> I'd also be very interested to hear about other storage arrays with
>similar capabilities if anyone knows of them. Thanks.
we have some 4U / 24TB SBODs (48 bays w/ 500GB SATAII drives w/ a FC
host port) that we use as expansion for our standard storage appliances
or that you could have your OS stripe and use any way that you wanted
to
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| |
| Faeandar 2006-09-05, 1:18 pm |
| On Tue, 05 Sep 2006 12:05:55 -0500, Jon Metzger <blagh@___gmail.com>
wrote:
>
>We're looking to add storage for archive, backup to disk, and any other
>application where data is infrequently accessed. The big three storage
>vendors are certainly willing to accommodate, but at a higher price than
>we're currently looking to pay. We're not looking for a DYI solution,
>we need something with solid vendor support and a good track record.
>We'll likely be handling any type of archive/CAS operation with software
>so we don't need that functionality built into the array. We basically
>need a high capacity, high density box which doesn't need to be
>especially fast.
>
>One possibility I've come across is the Nexsan SATABeast (21TB per box,
>210TB per 40U rack). It's gotten some great reviews, but they're all
>based on features and not longer term reliability. I've heard of one
>anecdotal case where this box had enough problems (even after a complete
>swap-out) that it was eventually returned to the vendor. I'm curious if
>this is an anomaly or if this is a product to avoid.
>
>Can any Nexsan SATABeast owners send out their experience with this box?
> I'd also be very interested to hear about other storage arrays with
>similar capabilities if anyone knows of them. Thanks.
I've not had the SATABeast but I have managed an ATABeast back in the
day (circa 2001). For the most part it did fine. Not fast but you'd
not expect it to be. No data loss due to hardware. Just a solid piece
of equipment that did what I wanted it to do.
The only caveat, and keep in mind the era, is that the management
interface was web based but was integrated into the controller. Which
meant when I had a problem with it I had to reboot the controller to
reset the management interface. Not a mark in the plus column.
Luckily for me this was a disk staging unit for backups so I could
reboot almost ad hoc.
I can only hope they've improved this aspect, otherwise a decent
enough product and vendor. I failed to mention support, which was
fine in my experience.
~F
| |
| Jon Metzger 2006-09-05, 7:18 pm |
| Andy wrote:
> In article <edkapk$ic6$1@lenny.tc.umn.edu>, blagh@___gmail.com says...
>
> we have some 4U / 24TB SBODs (48 bays w/ 500GB SATAII drives w/ a FC
> host port) that we use as expansion for our standard storage appliances
> or that you could have your OS stripe and use any way that you wanted
> to
Is it true that the simple fact that this is a *BOD means it can only
attached via a single FC port? We're looking for something we can
dual-attach. Either way, what's the make and model you're using?
| |
| PE2DOC 2006-09-05, 7:18 pm |
|
"Jon Metzger" <blagh@___gmail.com> wrote in message
news:edkapk$ic6$1@lenny.tc.umn.edu...
>
> We're looking to add storage for archive, backup to disk, and any other
> application where data is infrequently accessed. The big three storage
> vendors are certainly willing to accommodate, but at a higher price than
> we're currently looking to pay. We're not looking for a DYI solution, we
> need something with solid vendor support and a good track record. We'll
> likely be handling any type of archive/CAS operation with software so we
> don't need that functionality built into the array. We basically need a
> high capacity, high density box which doesn't need to be especially fast.
>
> One possibility I've come across is the Nexsan SATABeast (21TB per box,
> 210TB per 40U rack). It's gotten some great reviews, but they're all
> based on features and not longer term reliability. I've heard of one
> anecdotal case where this box had enough problems (even after a complete
> swap-out) that it was eventually returned to the vendor. I'm curious if
> this is an anomaly or if this is a product to avoid.
>
> Can any Nexsan SATABeast owners send out their experience with this box?
> I'd also be very interested to hear about other storage arrays with
> similar capabilities if anyone knows of them. Thanks.
Have a look at the X4500 Sun is offering. 24TB in 4U running ZFS on Solaris.
FC connectivty is optional IIRC
Marc
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| NoSpam 2006-09-06, 1:15 pm |
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"Jon Metzger" <blagh@___gmail.com> wrote in message
news:edkkt9$k70$1@lenny.tc.umn.edu...
> Is it true that the simple fact that this is a *BOD means it can only
> attached via a single FC port? We're looking for something we can
> dual-attach. Either way, what's the make and model you're using?
The SataBeast comes in 2 flavors, Single and Dual Controllers. The Dual
controllers are Active-Active, so you can dual attach them.
We have been using the Nexsans for the past 3 years. They are very good
value for their money, esp. for nearline/archive/disk-to-disk backups. Like
the original poster, we looked at the top vendors, and none of them
could/can match the price point of the Satabeast/Atabeast. We did run into
some issues earlier when multiple disks would seem to fail during a RAID
rebuild, but Nexsan support is excellent, they walk you through the debug
mode to recover from these transient failures. Now they have RAID-6 support
that helps a lot. Also now you can restart the management console without
having to reboot the array, a BIG plus. Their latest firmware gives you
iSCSI support. Haven't tried that out yet.
How are you planning to front-end these arrays? We have been using Linux and
Windows heads connected via a Qlogic FC switch (another great product), but
now we are looking at the Onstor appliance to consolidate everything. Anyone
has experience with those?
-G
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| phatvanilla 2006-09-14, 1:43 pm |
| I'm also looking for any information on the SATABeast. Specifically if anyone has any good 3rd party testing or just from their own experience.
* any good head to head tests?
* any stats on actual vs published performance?
* any experiences with their AutoMAID feature?
* Has anyone implemented their gear with RAID6 and seen much of a performance hit? | |
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| If you want cheap storage you may be interseted in a 2882 with Sata drives.
For a more robust system you would probably want fibre disk and probably a
faster controller.
http://engenio.com/products/index.html
You will not find a more reliable array or vendor.
"Jon Metzger" <blagh@___gmail.com> wrote in message
news:edkapk$ic6$1@lenny.tc.umn.edu...
>
> We're looking to add storage for archive, backup to disk, and any other
> application where data is infrequently accessed. The big three storage
> vendors are certainly willing to accommodate, but at a higher price than
> we're currently looking to pay. We're not looking for a DYI solution, we
> need something with solid vendor support and a good track record. We'll
> likely be handling any type of archive/CAS operation with software so we
> don't need that functionality built into the array. We basically need a
> high capacity, high density box which doesn't need to be especially fast.
>
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