Windows Server Backup / VHDX performance

[dayzd]

As stated, the spec was put together by someone else. Great...

[edutech4schools]

We went with SATA in the past due to cost but this time I got the powers that be to see the light and we got 15K SAS drives. It makes a massive difference.

[edutech4schools]

Not sure but RAID 6 and SATA drives might not be a good mix, or is that RAID 5.

[dayzd]

Having had a furtle through the various quotes this kit went through before I bought it, it seems that 15k SAS drives were spec'd to start with, and when I asked for 12 disks rather than 8, they were switched to the 7k2 versions (can you get 1TB 15k disks?). Not my error, but equally I didn't spot it and now I feel stupid

 

 

 

Given that there's no way I'll be able to afford to replace them now, what would be a better way to use the 12x 1TB disks I have? Server VMs total around 600GB, data around 1700GB and I need a big store for backups, too.

 

One big RAID10 appeals for speed, but I'm wondering if two RAID10 arrays of 3TB each might be better - one for server VMs and data, the other for backup. This way I can avoid running backups from and to the same vdisk.

 

Would that make sense, or is there something else I should to consider?

 

 

 

Thank you everyone for your input on this. I've been losing my mind trying to figure it out. I really miss being part of a team when troubleshooting stuff like this!

[Boredguy]

More TB drives are 7200 due to the platter size, but they should have still spec'd SAS. Last time I got a 1TB SAS drive it was only around £100 and that was for an Enterprise Seagate ES3.

 

If your stuck with the drives, then it would be logical to separate the drives physically so your archive data is on a different set of disks than your live data and should give you reasonable performance. As for raid level, I would go for Raid10 and keep a cold spare drive ready in case of failure instead of a hot spare.

[dfergusson]

P2000 LFF Only does 7.2K or 15K drives and the largest option on 15k would be 600GB.

 

I understand your budget is tight and this might be option or not.

You will need to check with HP that below will work with your setup.

 

MSA 2040 SFF Chassis which cost around £1,100

6x+ 900GB SFF 10K SAS and raid 10 £200-300 each

2x P2000 Storage Controller AP844B £300-400 each

2x external SAS Cable £40 each

 

The above would allow you to migrate your existing P2000 Fibre SAN Controllers into new MSA 2040 Chassis

And add storage controllers to your P2000 and connect it up using SAS Cable to the MSA 2040 which would give you separated backup storage.

 

Another option.

HP D2700 expansion shelf £1500

6x+ 900GB SFF 10K SAS and raid 10 £200-300 each

 

And attach that to your P2000

Edited April 21, 2015 by dfergusson

[dayzd]

If I had a spare £4k, I'd do that, but I don't and given that this setup was only purchased 6 months ago, there's no way I'll get that kind of capital any time soon. :-(