Re: Shared Storage?

Nik Simpson wrote:
> You need to look a bit harder, there are a number of SATA/PATA storage
> systems with FC interfaces on the market, take a look at www.nexsan.com for
> an example. Also, if you only have two systems, then you don't need a
> switch, both systems can be direct attached to the array. Yes, the FC HBAs
> are still quite pricey, but overall a SATA based FC array and HBAs for two
> servers isn't that bad, unless your budget is *very* limited.
>
> Another possible solution that would get rid of the FC costs is iSCSI, again
> there are a number of iSCSI arrays that use SATA/PATA drives.
Thanks for the link, I had not found them.. probably becasue I was 
looking for suppliers in the UK.. :)

> My guess from the configuration you've described is that the I/O demands for
> the two systems are not equal, I'd bet that the mailserver needs I/O
> performance much more than the webserver, in which case, why not direct
> attach the storage to the mail server and share some of its capacity with
> the webserver?

Yes the email server will probably have a higher I/O requirement, but 
the web server will also be working quite hard in terms of I/O becasue 
its not just a standard website its a web based application that 
incorporates file storage..

I was thinking of building the MySQL server with the larger storage 
capacity and then sharing it with the other two similar to what you have 
suggested..

The perfect solution would be a NAS or SAN or iSCSI system that I cauld 
start with 3 drives and then add a 4th and 5th and 6th as I needed them 
being able to easily extend the array and filesystem.. hotswap would be 
nice but not really critical..

> As I said previously, giving us an idea of your budget, i.e. how much you
> are prepared/able to spend would help in suggesting possible solutions.

Budget I would estimate at around £1500 for the starting system with 
three 250GB or 300GB drives and expansion capacity to do to 6 or 8 
drives.. So I think NAS is about the only option at that budget and even 
that may be pushing it..