DS2246 or DS4243 or the (old) DS14mk4 FC ?

[pascal_grout]

Hello,

We need more space for SQL and we can't choice what is better for us

We have on one node of the cluster:

3x DS14mk4 FC shelfs with 266Gb drives this is one aggrX (for SQL and ESX)

1x DS4243 with 24x 600GB drives this is also one aggrY (for ESX)

We need more space and the choice is not easy, mayby that someone can help me?

We have the choice in the folowing new shelfs.

2x or 3x DS14mk4 FC with 16x 266Gb 15k

or

one DS4243 with 24x 600Gb for aggrY

or

The new one DS2246 with 24x 2,5 600Gb drives with new HBA place this in a new aggrZ.

Thanks

Pascal

Netherlands

[ekashpureff]

Pascal -

What are your objectives for the new storage ?

Price ? Performance ? Power usage ? Rack Space ?

It's not an easy decision, All of these factors should be taken into account...

I hope this response has been helpful to you.

At your service,

Eugene E. Kashpureff
ekashp@kashpureff.org
Fastlane NetApp Instructor and Independent Consultant
http://www.linkedin.com/in/eugenekashpureff http://www.kashpureff.org/

(P.S. I appreciate points for helpful or correct answers.)

[pascal_grout]

Hello Eugene,

You ask:

What are your objectives for the new storage ?

Price ? Performance ? Power usage ? Rack Space ?

1) Performance

2) no new aggr

3) Price

4) Power

5) Rack Space

Thanks

Pascal

[BrendonHiggins]

Hi

It is my understanding that the 15k FC disks are faster (not by much) than the SAS disks and this will change as the SAS technology continues to improve (IOM 6, etc).  You have not said which version of DoT you are running but I will assume you have 32 bit aggregates so you will hit the max size limit and will not be able to add all the disks you require.

http://communities.netapp.com/message/2676#2676

We have split our SQL server luns over both filer heads to increase write performance.  Benchmark data towards the end of the slide deck.  http://communities.netapp.com/people/BrendonHiggins/blog/2009/10/21/sept-nug-meeting

For the price of the new disks you should be able to get some pre sales support and they will advise the best way to go.  If your SQL is maxed out for raw IO (confirm this with an SQL wait state report, see slides) increase the data disks in your current aggregates.  If this in not the case, create a large new aggregate with whichever disk shelf you can get the best price on.  3 extra DS14s will take you to the max loop size.  Any more disks will require extra FCP ports.  Do you have them spare for future growth....

Hope it helps

Bren

[radek_kubka]

We have the choice in the folowing new shelfs.
2x or 3x DS14mk4 FC with 16x 266Gb 15k
or
one DS4243 with 24x 600Gb for aggrY
or
The new one DS2246 with 24x 2,5 600Gb drives with new HBA place this in a new aggrZ.

Hi Pascal,

Be wary DS2246 disks are 10k only at the moment.

So the DS4243 will most likely outperform DS2246, as it holds15k spindles.

Regards,
Radek