With this unit depending how you build it you have get 3TB SAS drive which would give you the most space. The drives also come in smaller sizes as well. It just depends on how much the company will need and how far ahead they want to plan. As far as future scalability you always have the option to add an additional MD1200 behind the 3200i array. Please let me know if I can assist you with anything else.
How important is uptime, and what kind of server or servers will be uploading (backing up) to this in-house solution?
An MD1200 connected to a PERC H800 (in a PowerEdge server) may be enough and save a lot of money compared to an MD3200i solution.
However, the MD1200 doesn't support multiple servers connecting other than carving the enclosure straight down the middle. The MD3200-series can carve it's diskspace into different virtual disks and give these to different servers as they need it. Servers can also share SAN storage if they are clustered.
The MD1200 is not able to connect over an Ethernet connection. Keith if you are wanting the storage device to connect via Ethernet you will want a device that is iSCSI. If you are wanting a SAS connection to a server the 1200 would work. Also it is recommended if you are connecting multiple systems to the array, to have the iSCSI, because there isn't any kind of multipathing with SAS. Let me know if you have any questions Keith.
iSCSI traffic shouldn't run across the LAN though. iSCSI traffic should be isolated on it's own VLAN or dedicated switches. You can also only connect to an MD3200i with server OSes (Windows Server, Red Hat, SuSE, ESXi). If you want desktops to be able to store data on there directly, you'll have to look for an alternative (e.g. an MD1200 connected to a server that then shares out the disk space using Windows (SMB/CIFS) shares or NFS shares.
Powervault is going to be cheapest. Are you looking to build a true storage cloud? That is an ambitious project. We are just completing our private storage cloud project now.
DELL-Bill Gr
50 Posts
0
February 20th, 2012 06:00
Hi Keith, I'm moving your question over to the Powervault forums as that group would be better suited to helping answer your question.
DELL-Kenny K
685 Posts
1
February 20th, 2012 09:00
Keith_334,
The unit that is currently available that you would need to do what want is the PV3200i. Below is the link that has all the details on the device.
www.dell.com/.../pd
With this unit depending how you build it you have get 3TB SAS drive which would give you the most space. The drives also come in smaller sizes as well. It just depends on how much the company will need and how far ahead they want to plan. As far as future scalability you always have the option to add an additional MD1200 behind the 3200i array. Please let me know if I can assist you with anything else.
Dev Mgr
4 Operator
•
9.3K Posts
0
February 20th, 2012 13:00
How important is uptime, and what kind of server or servers will be uploading (backing up) to this in-house solution?
An MD1200 connected to a PERC H800 (in a PowerEdge server) may be enough and save a lot of money compared to an MD3200i solution.
However, the MD1200 doesn't support multiple servers connecting other than carving the enclosure straight down the middle. The MD3200-series can carve it's diskspace into different virtual disks and give these to different servers as they need it. Servers can also share SAN storage if they are clustered.
DELL-Kenny K
685 Posts
0
February 20th, 2012 14:00
Keith,
The MD1200 is not able to connect over an Ethernet connection. Keith if you are wanting the storage device to connect via Ethernet you will want a device that is iSCSI. If you are wanting a SAS connection to a server the 1200 would work. Also it is recommended if you are connecting multiple systems to the array, to have the iSCSI, because there isn't any kind of multipathing with SAS. Let me know if you have any questions Keith.
Dev Mgr
4 Operator
•
9.3K Posts
0
February 21st, 2012 07:00
iSCSI traffic shouldn't run across the LAN though. iSCSI traffic should be isolated on it's own VLAN or dedicated switches. You can also only connect to an MD3200i with server OSes (Windows Server, Red Hat, SuSE, ESXi). If you want desktops to be able to store data on there directly, you'll have to look for an alternative (e.g. an MD1200 connected to a server that then shares out the disk space using Windows (SMB/CIFS) shares or NFS shares.
JOHNADCO
2 Intern
•
847 Posts
0
February 24th, 2012 15:00
PS: If not a true cloud and you just need a place to put the data? This is perfect for an inexpensive NAS for sure.
JOHNADCO
2 Intern
•
847 Posts
0
February 24th, 2012 15:00
Powervault is going to be cheapest. Are you looking to build a true storage cloud? That is an ambitious project. We are just completing our private storage cloud project now.