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November 28th, 2011 16:00
tiering between SSD, SAS and SATA with EqualLogic
I am considering the purchase of a Dell EqualLogic. Currently thinking of PS6010XVS,Mix SSD Drives and 15K SAS Drives(8*100GB SSD + 8* 450GB SAS) together with a PS6010E SATA Storage Array (16* 2TB SATA).
Like the technology in EqualLogic. But couldn't make up my mind on the configuration that I should be purchasing.
Got Exchange, SQL based apps and high IO intesive workloads summing up to around 30TB.
Is it a good idea to host some of these workloads on SATA and then use the Automated Data Tiering feature to take care of the performance requirements? Can this feature actually migrate the hot spots on a real time basis to the SAS and SSD layer ? or do you think it's better to stick to SAS? of course i'll have to spend a bit more acquiring the SAS disks to meet my capacity requirement..but performance is key and don't want to make a silly mistake...
any recommendations?
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jfranconi
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November 28th, 2011 19:00
Hello Ravini!! Thanks for the post.
This is a very popular and frequently asked question regarding what type of disks and arrays should be used in a customers environment. First, you asked about the APLB or Automatic Performance Load Balancing feature in EqualLogic arrays. Yes, it will move "hot blocks" of data to faster or less used disk, but its not instantaneous. This load balancing between volumes, or better known as sub volume load balancing uses an advanced algorithm that monitors data performance over time. I recommend reading the APLB whitepaper that should help you out more in better understand how this technology works.
see here: www.virtualizationimpact.com
In terms of what disks to buy, well that comes down what you are going to require in your environment. From my experience and from reading on other forums, if you are trying to push for the best performance and capacity I would look at the X series arrays or 10K series drives. You can now get 600GB 10K drives in 2.5 and 3.5 form factors (i believe) and you won't have to worry if your 7200 drives will be able to keep up with your workload, or at least, be faster and mix them with the 15KSAS/SSD arrays. Not saying that the 7200's won't work, just depends on your requirements.
Hope thats some help, maybe someone else will chime in with more info too.
Jonathan