CX-2 DAE question

Only EMC authorised personnel can download the image for the vault disks, so you'd better make sure that SPE has vault disks installed and working well. About adding DAE to SPE please refer to my previous posts:

https://community.emc.com/thread/180386

https://community.emc.com/thread/180185

what is the lab for ? Do you have to have block storage ?

1. Personal use/training.

2. I only have the DAE.

Full explanation:

My interest was initially from when I took a storage class as part of my degree a few months back. This class really peaked my interest but I had no way to follow through at the time(money, time, patience). I was also part of a 'computer club' where we met up and tried to just make IT magic happen(learn and have fun with technology- true geeks). We would pool all of our networking equipment and expertise to make certain things work. For example we built a Cisco CUCM network with a fully operational multi-extension VOIP network. Eventually we came across a lot of storage issues- we were using ESXI on 4 Dell 2900 series servers. They had very limited space and the VMs were tricky to set up on the older hardware(bad drives, PERC? cards were giving us issues). I bought the DAE under the impression that would be all I needed and maybe some software to make the two talk to each other.

Fast-forward to now, I learned that I need a SPE, Vault drives, etc. I have not put any more money on this as I obviously was not prepared when I bought the DAE. I have been trying to do research on this and have found some documentation along the way but ill be honest, EMC has very bad documentation when it comes to older models. I can google anything about Cisco devices and find an answer within minutes. I try to do the same thing with EMC devices and I get more from community sites like this and people with first hand knowledge than PDFs with generalized instructions.

So to answer your question, the lab is partially just to indulge in how cool I think storage technology is, and the other half is that I might make a career out of it.

To answer the second question, I am not sure what you mean. I have no other equipment other than the DAE that has the EMC brand on it. It has all 15 disks and seems to boot up just fine as far as power goes although I have no real way of testing the condition of the equipment.

Right now I am still going to school. The money I have now is what I saved from my last job. I can spend some $$ on the lab but not $6000. I guess I just got a little ahead of myself. I thought since older/used Cisco equipment was easy to obtain, so would a small storage array. I realize EMC is "big storage" and not really for small data situations, but I figured as they phased out Clariion/CX-series, they would be easily available from companies that no longer needed them. I guess I just misjudged the SPE to DAE ratio(SPEs hard and expensive to get, DAEs pretty easy to come by). Additionally, I would just like to add I learn by doing. I have a hard time staying interested in a book that just explains something you could be doing in real life. I have a desktop/server with 16GB of RAM so I can run multiple VMs. I have a decent networking lab with Cisco devices. I have 3 laptops, a 42" monitor, etc. This is what I do and how I learn. I have already read the book by EMC about storage technology but it more concepts and less practical applications. I'm sure if I had spent more time and attention to reading about EMC devices then I might have avoided buying the DAE prematurely. To be honest, I can't stay interested in a topic if all I do is read about it. I have to do it. And since companies require 4-year degrees and multiple certifications to get an 'entry' level position, I am not even looking to go that route.

I really think it would be cool to have an EMC home lab but as I learn more, it seems more unrealistic- at least at the moment.

Questions:

How old are you when you say you are in a school?

What is maximum amount you can stretch to pay for a Storage?

What is your requirement for the storage?

[Capacity | iSCSI/FC]

Which EMC book are you referring to?

I'm almost 30. I am 3 months from graduating with my Bachelors. I also have my CCNA. The storage class I took was at college.

I can go $2,000-3,000 but not for a few months(assuming I have a job by then- I recently left my last job so I am upping my trade skills in the mean time). If it was less than $700, I might have been able to pull it off right now but looking at some of the replies, I think it would just be better to wait.

The requirements are minimal, I was just looking for a bare bones setup to use for learning purposes. To be able to create and destroy LUNs, RAIDS, etc, without having to worry a lot about disk space. I would only run the storage as needed- not on 24/7. Really I don't care about storage space and using the device for any practical purposes. It would all just be for testing a learning. Maybe throw ESXI and a few other hypervisors on, a VM here and there. Nothing too special. Nothing production level. Probably just FC. iSCSI would be nice but not a requirement. I could probably get away with less than 1TB of space for my purposes but I already have a DAE with over 3TB of storage so that is pretty much covered anyways.

"Information Storage and Management" https://education.emc.com/ISMbook/default.aspx

if all you are looking for is some shared storage option for your ESXi lab, maybe you could consider beefing up your workstation and using open source tools like openfiler, freenas ..etc. Something that will give you reasonably good storage for your VMs (NFS or iSCSI based). Putting a Clariion in my basement would be very expensive, parts and power $$$.

That is defiantly a possibility. I'm just one of those people who doesn't spend much time doing other things than tinkering with my lab and other computer related things. I've had to join a gym to stop gaining weight because I literally spend the rest of my time behind a computer.

What I am getting at is that I don't mind spending the time and money in the long run, it is just a matter of practicality. If I was loaded and had a job that paid $100k/yr, I would be all over buying one of the $4,000 systems. I wish this was the case but it is not(yet). I appreciate everyone's replies. I'll update this post when/if I decide to get a system and how it turns out. I am pretty determined to get this done, just have to see how the next few months go.

1. Setup a Lab with What Dynamox suggested. (Even my lab is setup with OpenFiler)

2. My apologize but you sir, is doing it all wrong! Spending $$$ for setting up a lab and learn is not the way especially when you are not working in the same industry! You never know which product you ending administering/supporting with! If I were you, I would change my learning style! Get the books, read the blogs, get yourself certified which will actually improve your chances to get a job, you desire! You really do not have to setup a lab for everything!

ISM is a very basic and I would say Open Certification like SNIA Storage+. The syllabus itself is to get one familiar with SAN.

You may say its nothing but SAN Fundamentals and SAN Infrastructure (Theory).

If you are interested in EMC Career Path then you may need to first decide on what type of Storage you can work with? File or Block? or Both.

While EMC CLARiiON is good know, I would suggest to go for EMC VNX Certification rather than going for a CLARiiON Path for a Midrange Storage. Try to get a job after that and follow the Career path with other Certifications like EMC Symmetrix, BRS etc. whichever helps your job!

What I was trying to get at from my last post was that it is more than just a learning tool, it is also a hobby. If I was interested in certifications then I would have more than one book or have even asked what system would be best for certifications.

I appreciate your advice and please believe me when I say, these last few replies have made me reconsider my position on a few things. Keep in mind that I originally thought this whole thing would only cost about $1200(total)! My eyes are open now.

I like technology in general and I love working on my home lab. Some people work on cars, play games, work on projects in their house, art, pottery, etc, I like making my home lab more interesting to use. I've seen people with very cool setups and I'm jealous- not only that they get to work with the technology whenever they feel like it(outside of work) but that they had the technical skills to make it all work.

One last thing I want to add- my last job, one of the things that helped me relax was being able to work on my home lab and make changes without being freaked out that I would cause a company to go out of business. I know there are people that know what I mean. At work,  you have to consider every key you push while working on a system. At home, if you break it, it is a learning experience.

I do a break-fix on a day to day basis at work! Make your hobby your job that way you won't have to work a day!

if you do decide to move forward with setting up fiber channel lab at home, let me know and i will send you a couple HBAs (2G ..nothing fancy)

also if you want to start playing with VNX File side of the house, download this simulator. It has the same feature set as physical hardware (minus the expensive,loud, power hungry hardware)

https://support.emc.com/search/?resource=ST&AlloftheseWrds=vnx%20simulator%208.1.0.15&SearchWithin=true&adv=y

https://support.emc.com/search/?resource=DOC_LIB&AlloftheseWrds=vnx%20simulator%208.1&SearchWithin=true&adv=y

NFS is much more simple and easier for a home lab, it's also an enterprise class protocol on vSphere. That's why only "home" NAS exists in the market, but no "home" SAN.