We have finally reached the point where we are researching various iSCSI SAN solutions for our growing storage needs as well as creating the infrastructure for our continued virtualization effort with Vmware. Let me first off say we are still very much in research mode of this effort; all options are yet on the table. At this point in our research I would like to post some of our preliminary findings in hopes that it will assist others who may be in a similar position.
- My first call was Equallogic but unfortunately they are what I would label the “untouchables” category for my particular budget. They make a great iSCSI product (as Jason can attest) but their price points are just too high (12k+). If I had the budget I would not hesitate to purchase their product. I do worry about their future since they are now married to Dell.
- I next called Dell to see what they offer. Basically the AX150i and the MD3000i are in our price points. The AX150i only has the ability (correct me if I’m wrong) to perform a max. RAID 5 when I would really like 10 or beyond. I like the MD3000i in terms of expansion and RAID level. I get quite irritated that another 2k makes snapshots/virtual drive images function on the box. Dual controllers are almost half the cost of the initial unit. I was able to configure an MD3000i for under 10k but without snapshots. I consider the AX150i not in the running because of its abilities in RAID levels. Plus I have read some disappointing reviews when storage scaling and performance comes into play.
- Enhance technology (http://www.enhance-tech.com/) has some promising products. Their iSCSI solutions come in well below 6k and seem to be good in performance; they even include snapshots/replication as well. I do have issues because they do not offer dual/redundant controllers in the units and they are a fairly new company and not very well-known in this industry. I must say that I did contact their sales team and my response was promptly handled and they have frequently called me to see if I needed assistance; something that very much impressed me considering some companies have never returned my info request forms.
- Excel Meridian (http://www.emdstorage.com/) has a low-end iSCSI solution called SecurStor Astra SA IP that seemed quite promising as well. It comes with a host of good features and comes in for less than 6k for the unit. They seem to have a very good warranty and support program. My only issue is the lack of redundant controller offerings in this product family.
- The folks at EMC have some exciting offerings. At first they had the Ax150i thing that was their small business product. They have just come out with the AX4 which is a vast improvement from the Ax150i. I love this unit but the price is pretty steep; our required config. would come in just under 13k. I am meeting with reps. from EMC to discuss our options as financing/leasing would definitely be a big part of the puzzle. I do like that they are fully Vmware certified and of course they are EMC.
- I took a peak at Datacore’s solutions (http://www.datacore.com/) but was a little disappointed when I emailed sales for info and received NO response! Their product definitely goes in my “homebrew” solutions idea since it is built on commodity hardware. They have a $199 solution that allows for up to 2TB that can easily grow which looks promising. I have heard nothing but good things about them and their products.
- Storevault, the baby of NetApp, also has a couple solutions I consider. The S300 is their newest product that starts at just under 3k; our config would finish out at about $6500. The S500 is slightly bigger, rack-mountable and begins in the mid 7k range.
- I also began to see some solutions such as Datacore using commodity hardware and began to wonder if I could whip up some kind of homebrew solution that would perform the best. Almost like Jason Powell’s ghetto-tastic file serverbut this would be a SAN. Obviously I have my reservations about using an unsupported product but the price points and benefits are quite high. I ran across Nimbus Data’s FREE iSCSI target software (http://www.nimbusdata.com/products/mysan/mysan.htm) and began to seriously pursue this. Even Dell sells a couple higher end solutions that appear to be basically a 1u server attached to a DAS unit. For around $3500 I could piece together a 1u Dell server connected via SCSI to DAS unit. Backups could easily be performed because I would basically be using a standard server and could backup to a NAS-type appliance, tape or other options. I would also not lock myself into proprietary hardware/software options and could easily upgrade the system. From what I have seen with reported vendor performance specs this system could theoretically compete with the other solutions at a much better price point.
That’s where I am at so far. I am seriously considering building my own iSCSI SAN. I have done some preliminary testing with FreeNAS and Openfiler(open-source iSCSI software) and have seen very satisfactory results when using iSCSI. In fact, I recently installed FreeNAS on an old P4 box and tested running our content management system over iSCSI and got VERY satisfactory performance. As time goes by I will begin testing larger systems such as Shelby and EMS just to see how it goes. If I see good results I may be very tempted to purchase “homebrew” parts and enter the world of iSCSI. This process is in the research phase still but we are working towards a purchase decision in the next 60-90 days. Hopefully this will help someone else who may be struggling with similar decisions. The world of iSCSI SANs is quite complex and very expensive; especially with the “big guys”.
