Moving to local storage?
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We are thinking about switching to local storage for VMware and need recommendations. We have 2 HP DL380P G8 servers, both running ESXi 5.0. Currently have 2 RAID 1 146GB drives running ESXi. Considering moving ESXi, if it's not too much of a job, to a USB drive and then putting high capacity drives in the servers for local storage. I then would like to migrate our current VMs from our SAN to the local storage. I am looking at going with 1TB or larger disks. Should I look at off-brand drives for the servers (any recommendations)? Cost is always a factor but I can sell the switch as long as it will boost performance of the VM's. We are bassically at capacity with our SAN and need to do something, which is the reason we are looking at making the change.
Is this a good idea? Pros and cons......Thanks!
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I would move away from ESXi if you truly want to save money. The pricing model is just expensive for SMB's.
Right now your in an Inverted Pyramid of Doom, so you have the right idea of getting rid of the SAN from the virtualization setup. Use it for a backup target.
Assuming those are 2.5" drives do you have a preference of storage type.
Have you looked at what RAID configuration is on the unit now? And what do you plan to build to the array, RAID 5 (ssds) RAID 10 (Spinning Rust)
What kind of work loads do you have on the existing platform?
How much storage space do you need (your SAN is near full)
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@DustinB3403 brings up many good points.
How much storage is in your SAN now? How much do you need for each server? Do you need HA, really need it? How many IOPs do you have today, how many will you need for each server?
You can contract with NTG to run DPACK on your system to help you get a bunch of stats to help you decide the best course of action.
Basically we need a whole lot more information before we can help you build a path that is best going forward.
Please start by providing a list of everything that is currently running on your system.
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So to summarize this before we get to deep into the topic.
You're in an IPOD, and are looking to bring the NAS storage on-board to your servers.
- We need to know how much storage your SAN has.
- What your daily delta is for your data change (data growth)
- What if any your backup solution you have
- What RAID Configuration you're considering
- What your IOPS are (per server and SAN)
- That you're on ESXi (VMWare)
- Price is a big decision factor
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Our SAN has 7.2TB running RAID 10, so approximately 3.6TB usable. There is about 415GB free. I like VMware and we own it so I hate to move away from it. We are a non-profit so our cost is feasible both on the VMware and Microsoft side.
We have these servers now:
2 DCs
1 Exchange Server - hoping to move to 365 in future
1 File Server
6 Application Servers - 2 for our EHR software, 1 Spiceworks, 1 for our old EHR software, and 2 for smaller applications
2 Terminal Servers - Will be adding a 3rd once we have the capacity
1 vCenter Server
1 WSUS Server
1 SEP ServerWe probably don't NEED HA. We do have two decent servers so could probably drop down to one and use the second as a backup in case the first one goes down. I don't know the answer on the IOPs.
I would be interested in the cost to contract with NTG to run DPACK.
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7.2TB (and then some storage as well) should be easily achieved in the servers you have* (how many usable drive bays are each server?)
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NTG would be happy to help you. You can reach out via chat and we can connect.
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Currently there are 8 drive bays, but if I remove the optical drive I can expand to 16.
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Well that's fine an optical drive is seldom used now anyways.
Which if you really needed you could probably live with a USB 1.
Are those a SFF (2.5" in bay)
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Yes
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Depending on your IOPs, you could be looking at SSD or HDD storage.
@jasonlow said:
We probably don't NEED HA. We do have two decent servers so could probably drop down to one and use the second as a backup in case the first one goes down. I don't know the answer on the IOPs.
You think you can get away with one server for your entire workload? That definitely makes things easier.
You didn't mention what you are doing for backups?
You didn't mention a DB server other than Exchange, but you mentioned two EHR servers. Is one of them a DB server? If so, what DB? How many users on your EHR? RDS (terminal server is the old name)?
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I would go with RAID 5 SSD's 1TB capacity.
The price per GB is more expensive but you'd be gaining all of the benefits of SSD storage.
You could go with RAID 10 2TB Drives but would need more disks to achieve your storage goals. Which might out weigh your cost-goal.
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Moving from local disks to local USB and/or SD card is pretty easy since it is a fresh install combined with moving the settings over. ESXi is not stateless, but nearly so. So moving between media is not difficult.
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@DustinB3403 said:
I would go with RAID 5 SSD's 1TB capacity.
The price per GB is more expensive but you'd be gaining all of the benefits of SSD storage.
He might not really gain any benefits if his IOPS are very low.
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I'm starting from the top so might have missed details, but disk size is selected but not type, RAID level or spindle count? Those all have to be decided as a single, holistic decision based around speed, risk and cost needs.
What are the capacity, performance and cost needs for this?
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@scottalanmiller said:
What are the capacity, performance and cost needs for this?
Yes, figure out your IOPS needs, business needs and budget before coming up with a solution. Don't make the solution before you've determined the needs.
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@jasonlow said:
Is this a good idea? Pros and cons......Thanks!
Moving to local disks makes sense now that a purchase needs to be made. The SAN is negative in all four areas: cost, capacity, performance and risk. So adding to the technical debt there would be bad.
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@scottalanmiller said:
I'm starting from the top so might have missed details, but disk size is selected but not type, RAID level or spindle count? Those all have to be decided as a single, holistic decision based around speed, risk and cost needs.
What are the capacity, performance and cost needs for this?
All things that DPACK and Danielle will help him with.
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@jasonlow said:
Our SAN has 7.2TB running RAID 10, so approximately 3.6TB usable. There is about 415GB free. I like VMware and we own it so I hate to move away from it. We are a non-profit so our cost is feasible both on the VMware and Microsoft side.
It's not just cost but loss of features and extra license management work for you. VMware is not just a price negative.
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@jasonlow said:
Currently there are 8 drive bays, but if I remove the optical drive I can expand to 16.
You can do a lot with eight bays. Sixteen really gives you flexibility.
