They wrote:
Long-time readers know that a Dell (Dell) iSCSI array currently lies at the heart of our virt lab. Our December wishes came true when Dell offered us not one, but two updated arrays just in time for the holidays.And then he wrote
We were able to add the two new devices to our existing EqualLogic SAN in a few minutes via the array management web interface. Dell's tools detected the new arrays, I entered IP and iSCSI info, and we ware ready to allocate the new raw storage in no time at all.Once again another plug for the simplicity and elegance of EqualLogic!The hardest part of adding 52.8 terabytes of storage to the lab? Unpacking the crates.
The most laborious? Inserting the 48 SATA drives and re-installing the 16 SAS drives.
I remember when setting up robust, complex storage solution used to be a multi-day exercise in masocism. Now it's an afternoon of straightforward, honest work.
In another post he talks about the coolness of using LeftHands VSA
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/02/no_free_lunch.html;jsessionid=05AYVKJQXXCC0QSNDLRSKH0CJUNN2JVN?queryText=lefthand
The pitch: no physical SAN required 'cause the VSA reclaims 'unused' storage in ESX boxes as a SAN. I still think this is a novel approach for smaller shops to benefit from ESX; external storage arrays (Fibre Channel or iSCSI) can be scary to the uninitiated. Build up a couple ESX hosts, load them up with internal storage and let the SAN/IQ software magically create a virtual storage area network. I can't imagine you'd want to run the dataset for a large transactional system on the same box as your hosted VMs, but it would probably address an SMB's needs (the target market) with no fuss.
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