ML
    • Recent
    • Categories
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Groups
    • Register
    • Login

    Solved RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?

    IT Discussion
    11
    22
    528
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as topic
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • scottalanmillerS
      scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
      last edited by

      @Obsolesce said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

      @openit said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

      Hi there,

      For new server setup, I wanted to know which one is recommended?

      Option 1:

      RAID Array 1 = RAID 1 with 500 GB SSD [ for Windows Server Host]
      RAID Array 2 = RAID 10 with SAS/SATA drives (not confirmed about size and type of drives yet) [ for VMs and Data]

      Option 2:

      RAID Array 1 = RAID 10 with SAS/SATA [ for Windows Host, VMs and Data]

      Thanks!
      @scottalanmiller @Obsolesce @Pete-S @Dashrender @stacksofplates @dbeato

      OBR10 with separate partitions for OS C: and VM storage D:. You can use the SSDs E: to accelerate D with Enmotus or something similar, or for a fast tier VM storage.

      This. The hypervisor is absolutely tiny and has no real IO to speak of. Giving the hypervisor fast SSD is a total waste, there is all but zero benefit from it. Only the OBR approach puts your money and performance where it matters.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • scottalanmillerS
        scottalanmiller @JasGot
        last edited by

        @JasGot said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

        @Dashrender said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

        The hypervisor uses so little resources,

        Dash is right, and if you use Hyper-V Server, I'm not sure if the host OS even touches the drives once they are up and in RAM šŸ™‚ Very little resources and disk usage! šŸ™‚

        This is true with any hypervisor. Hypervisors live in RAM, they have to for all intents and purposes. The disks that they are on just don't matter. That's why things like network boot or SD cards work just fine, too.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • GreyG
          Grey
          last edited by

          Maybe do a hypervisor off a USB stick or SDcard, and @StarWind_Software for the storage to be able to combine the 2 kinds of drives as a single solution?

          ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • ObsolesceO
            Obsolesce @Grey
            last edited by Obsolesce

            @Grey said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

            Maybe do a hypervisor off a USB stick or SDcard, and @StarWind_Software for the storage to be able to combine the 2 kinds of drives as a single solution?

            I tried that approach in the past, but unless you get enterprise grade USB sticks, they have a high and quick fail rate (in my own personal experience). Luckily where I did use them, they were mirrored, so it wasn't a big problem, but it easily could have been.

            The OBR10 approach has been rock solid in every single case.

            scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • scottalanmillerS
              scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
              last edited by

              @Obsolesce said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

              @Grey said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

              Maybe do a hypervisor off a USB stick or SDcard, and @StarWind_Software for the storage to be able to combine the 2 kinds of drives as a single solution?

              I tried that approach in the past, but unless you get enterprise grade USB sticks, they have a high and quick fail rate (in my own personal experience). Luckily where I did use them, they were mirrored, so it wasn't a big problem, but it easily could have been.

              The OBR10 approach has been rock solid in every single case.

              That's been my experience. The USB sticks just haven't been worth the extra hassle. Reinstalling a hypervisor is so trivial (and so rare) that it doesn't seem to matter.

              ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • JaredBuschJ
                JaredBusch
                last edited by

                I typically install the hypervisor on a single SATA drive connected to the motherboard.

                It is not a disk Iā€™m worried about losing. Everything can be rebuilt easily if that drive is lost.

                scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                • scottalanmillerS
                  scottalanmiller @JaredBusch
                  last edited by

                  @JaredBusch said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                  I typically install the hypervisor on a single SATA drive connected to the motherboard.

                  It is not a disk Iā€™m worried about losing. Everything can be rebuilt easily if that drive is lost.

                  And easy to backup and restore. Simple data, tiny data.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • ObsolesceO
                    Obsolesce @scottalanmiller
                    last edited by

                    @scottalanmiller said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                    @Obsolesce said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                    @Grey said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                    Maybe do a hypervisor off a USB stick or SDcard, and @StarWind_Software for the storage to be able to combine the 2 kinds of drives as a single solution?

                    I tried that approach in the past, but unless you get enterprise grade USB sticks, they have a high and quick fail rate (in my own personal experience). Luckily where I did use them, they were mirrored, so it wasn't a big problem, but it easily could have been.

                    The OBR10 approach has been rock solid in every single case.

                    That's been my experience. The USB sticks just haven't been worth the extra hassle. Reinstalling a hypervisor is so trivial (and so rare) that it doesn't seem to matter.

                    Yeah, but it's an additional PITA because the ones I used were plugged in inside the server... as they should be IMO, because there's just something about having USB sticks sticking out of servers in a rack that bothers me.

                    scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • scottalanmillerS
                      scottalanmiller @Obsolesce
                      last edited by

                      @Obsolesce said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                      @scottalanmiller said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                      @Obsolesce said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                      @Grey said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                      Maybe do a hypervisor off a USB stick or SDcard, and @StarWind_Software for the storage to be able to combine the 2 kinds of drives as a single solution?

                      I tried that approach in the past, but unless you get enterprise grade USB sticks, they have a high and quick fail rate (in my own personal experience). Luckily where I did use them, they were mirrored, so it wasn't a big problem, but it easily could have been.

                      The OBR10 approach has been rock solid in every single case.

                      That's been my experience. The USB sticks just haven't been worth the extra hassle. Reinstalling a hypervisor is so trivial (and so rare) that it doesn't seem to matter.

                      Yeah, but it's an additional PITA because the ones I used were plugged in inside the server... as they should be IMO, because there's just something about having USB sticks sticking out of servers in a rack that bothers me.

                      That too.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • DustinB3403D
                        DustinB3403 @openit
                        last edited by

                        @openit said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                        Hi there,

                        For new server setup, I wanted to know which one is recommended?

                        Option 1:

                        RAID Array 1 = RAID 1 with 500 GB SSD [ for Windows Server Host]
                        RAID Array 2 = RAID 10 with SAS/SATA drives (not confirmed about size and type of drives yet) [ for VMs and Data]

                        Option 2:

                        RAID Array 1 = RAID 10 with SAS/SATA [ for Windows Host, VMs and Data]

                        Thanks!
                        @scottalanmiller @Obsolesce @Pete-S @Dashrender @stacksofplates @dbeato

                        No, the acronym is One Big Array - it exists because splitting up an array is wasting processing resources.

                        ObsolesceO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • ObsolesceO
                          Obsolesce @DustinB3403
                          last edited by

                          @DustinB3403 said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                          @openit said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                          Hi there,

                          For new server setup, I wanted to know which one is recommended?

                          Option 1:

                          RAID Array 1 = RAID 1 with 500 GB SSD [ for Windows Server Host]
                          RAID Array 2 = RAID 10 with SAS/SATA drives (not confirmed about size and type of drives yet) [ for VMs and Data]

                          Option 2:

                          RAID Array 1 = RAID 10 with SAS/SATA [ for Windows Host, VMs and Data]

                          Thanks!
                          @scottalanmiller @Obsolesce @Pete-S @Dashrender @stacksofplates @dbeato

                          No, the acronym is One Big Array - it exists because splitting up an array is wasting processing resources.

                          Where tf did you see OBA?

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • black3dynamiteB
                            black3dynamite
                            last edited by

                            Here are some sample host builds using Hyper-V.
                            https://www.altaro.com/hyper-v/hyper-v-small-business-sample-host-builds/

                            scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • scottalanmillerS
                              scottalanmiller @black3dynamite
                              last edited by

                              @black3dynamite said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                              Here are some sample host builds using Hyper-V.
                              https://www.altaro.com/hyper-v/hyper-v-small-business-sample-host-builds/

                              Quite a good article.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • 1
                                1337 @openit
                                last edited by

                                This is what we do.

                                Option 3.
                                Hypervisor on satadom or small SSD drive.
                                Performance storage array with SSDs. Raid 1 or 10.
                                Capacity storage array with 3.5" HDDs. Raid 1 or 10.

                                • Each VMs gets the kind of storage it needs.
                                • RAID1 is default for the arrays.
                                • RAID10 is only used when the capacity is needed (always as few drives as possible).

                                Right now I'm prepping a RAID 1 array 2x16TB that will go into one of our hosts.

                                md4 : active raid1 sdm[1] sdl[0]
      15625748288 blocks super 1.2 [2/2] [UU]
      [>....................]  resync =  0.6% (99811008/15625748288) finish=1322.2min speed=195699K/sec

                                We'll see how long it takes. Supposedly around 23 hours.

                                scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                • scottalanmillerS
                                  scottalanmiller @1337
                                  last edited by

                                  @Pete-S said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                                  This is what we do.

                                  Option 3.
                                  Hypervisor on satadom or small SSD drive.
                                  Performance storage array with SSDs. Raid 1 or 10.
                                  Capacity storage array with 3.5" HDDs. Raid 1 or 10.

                                  • Each VMs gets the kind of storage it needs.
                                  • RAID1 is default for the arrays.
                                  • RAID10 is only used when the capacity is needed (always as few drives as possible).

                                  Right now I'm prepping a RAID 1 array 2x16TB that will go into one of our hosts.

                                  md4 : active raid1 sdm[1] sdl[0]
      15625748288 blocks super 1.2 [2/2] [UU]
      [>....................]  resync =  0.6% (99811008/15625748288) finish=1322.2min speed=195699K/sec

                                  We'll see how long it takes. Supposedly around 23 hours.

                                  Same here.

                                  DashrenderD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • DashrenderD
                                    Dashrender @scottalanmiller
                                    last edited by

                                    @scottalanmiller said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                                    @Pete-S said in RAID - Two Arrays for Server? Array 1 for Windows Host and Array 2 for VMs and Data?:

                                    This is what we do.

                                    Option 3.
                                    Hypervisor on satadom or small SSD drive.
                                    Performance storage array with SSDs. Raid 1 or 10.
                                    Capacity storage array with 3.5" HDDs. Raid 1 or 10.

                                    • Each VMs gets the kind of storage it needs.
                                    • RAID1 is default for the arrays.
                                    • RAID10 is only used when the capacity is needed (always as few drives as possible).

                                    Right now I'm prepping a RAID 1 array 2x16TB that will go into one of our hosts.

                                    md4 : active raid1 sdm[1] sdl[0]
      15625748288 blocks super 1.2 [2/2] [UU]
      [>....................]  resync =  0.6% (99811008/15625748288) finish=1322.2min speed=195699K/sec

                                    We'll see how long it takes. Supposedly around 23 hours.

                                    Same here.

                                    So you've moved to SSD with RAID 1 or RAID 10, no more RAID 5?

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • 1
                                    • 2
                                    • 2 / 2
                                    • First post
                                      Last post