On Fri, Jan 25, 2013 at 8:07 AM, Craig Cook <cncook...@yahoo.com> wrote: > We have around 200TB of dev/QA storage that is across 3 SAN's. (EMC VMAX and > IBM XIV's) > > Servers are AIX, Solaris and VMware. > > We are looking to replace it with cheaper storage. > > I would be interested in build-your-own-NAS solutions, but I am not sure > what to start looking at. (Netapp is too expensive) > > Failing that, what does a cheap SAN look like? > > We don't need SAN replication, or many fancy features. > > Any ideas? > > Thanks > > Craig
For low to medium performance NAS (and you could make it high if you have more skills than I do) look at the blog.backblaze.com Depending on the drives you us, they get 137T in a 4U cabinet. The cabinets are about $850 or so from the folks they purchase from, if you get 1-off pricing. Full detail and parts listings are on the site. So for about $8K you can get the thing made up (plus your time). They run Debian with Tomcat over LVM volumes. Their business is the 'special sauce' software they run to make it more than a simple NAS. And only by doing a DIY solution for the storage servers can they afford to do a home grown network backup business. http://blog.backblaze.com/2011/07/20/petabytes-on-a-budget-v2-0revealing-more-secrets/ And an interesting build log of someone who build one on their own... http://bioteam.net/2011/08/why-you-should-never-build-a-backblaze-pod/ I am not saying that this is the best or only solution, but if you have a NEED, it is the low price spread, but consider you are providing all the support you purchase by buying from someone that sells support contracts. For some that is a bigger deal than others. If it is just going to hold your Donnie Osmond ripped singles collection and Gene Autry and Roy Rogers movies, go for it. If it is your family jewels I think I might go with a store bought solution. If you do roll your own and uber-security isn't a big issue, rather than build a second 'stand by box', you might spend $5/mo and use their service to backup your 'almost unlimited storage' on their 'unlimited storage for $5/mo' system! ><> ... Jack Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart... Colossians 3:23 "If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the precipitate" - Henry J. Tillman "Anyone who has never made a mistake, has never tried anything new." - Albert Einstein "You don't manage people; you manage things. You lead people." - Admiral Grace Hopper, USN Life is complex: it has a real part and an imaginary part. - Martin Terma _______________________________________________ Tech mailing list Tech@lists.lopsa.org https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tech This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
