CSENet_Gary

If it is cost effective to get a SAN normally depends on how large your server farm, if you only have 2x Physical servers, then you don't need a san. But if you have more than 4x servers, then you should virtualise your network on introduce a san. The main driver for getting a san 99% of the time, is to save money by virtualising your network.

100% disagree (sorry ) SAN are designed not to have any single point of failure, dual CPU, dual Power, Dual Controller, the only thing they share is a motherboard and in 25yrs experience I have never know one to fail.

A san should only be costing you between 4k to 8k depending on spec, my advice would to take advantage of some cloud services One Drive, Emails, MIS and try to reduce the size of your quotas onsite with quota management. I do not know any school who is fully cloud as the overhead costs are still too high. It is always cheaper to have you own cloud within your server room.

As the HDDs have mechanical parts they will always eventually fail. To respond with a definitive answer on why they fail within a certain time frame, there are too many variables to give an accurate answer. BUT there are certain steps you can take to protect yourself, ensure the environment they work within is ideal - correct Air Con, No Vibration, etc. Expect all hardware you rely on to fail once out of warranty, that way you will take NO RISK. Only purchase hardware with acceptable warranty, some companies will also provide extended warranty when the manufacturer will not (Great for Servers). Finally get yourself a good supplier you trust and a single point of contact ideally. The problem with purchasing stuff from different suppliers or even worse as cheap as possible off the net, this doesn't provide you with the singe point of contact when things go wrong.