I currently have a Netgear ReadyNAS device I am using for SQL server backups & misc file storage (ISO files, pfsense configs, etc).
I just finished setting up two identical R620 servers with XCP-ng (upgraded from older XenServer 7.1) and would like to implement a high availability setup which requires a shared storage.
Another thing I am starting to do is implement clustering on my Windows servers which require shared storage (right now I am just using the Netgear device for testing)
So the Netgear device has now become a single point of failure for our infrastructure. It is not a big deal for just SQL server backups and misc files because SQL server backups are being sent off site and most of the other stuff is synced to the cloud. But with adding in Windows clustering and wanting to take advantage of shared storage for XCP-ng I am needing a different device.
So right now I am putting together a budget for upgrading to either a dual controller NAS/SAN or a dual device NAS/SAN as well as getting 10Gb equipment.
I am not sure if I could get away with using a SAN for the Windows needs (SQL backups & shared file access for Windows Clustering/ IIS Clustering / SQL Server Clustering). Then just keep the current NAS for ISO files and misc files.
The options on my list so far:
Synology SA3200D
Two Synology devices in HA mode (RS2418+)
Synology UC3200
Dell dual controller SAN (something a few years old)
I would like to keep the price at $10k or less
I looked into TruNAS but they seemed to have removed their pricing but from what I remember they started at $20k
My current NAS is 5TB and I keep the usage at around 25%
Any suggestions?
Noticed that QNAP have rack NAS units you might want to have a look and see if they fit your needs. Although in another thread it was mentioned the encryption on these NAS’s have some flaws so probably worth double checking as it’s for Business.
It looks like the only dual controller option for QNAP starts at $12k without disks
QNAP ES1686dc
Not sure if they have dual device HA
Why not go the vSAN way? If you can afford the price. There are some licencing costs envolved, but from a technical perspective it is the best solution for HA storage.
what virtual SAN would you suggest?
XCP-ng and XenOrchestra have XOSAN. That’s worth checking out. Then there VMWare vSAN for vSphere. Than there is StarWind VSAN. There are no free solutions available at the moment, but if you can spare some coin, you could try them out. From a performance and redundancy standpoint, I think vSAN is the best solution.
Looks like XOSAN is $6k per year and it would only give me HA for my XCP-ng servers
StarWind vSAN needs two Windows servers running clustering. Between hardware costs, Microsoft licenses, & Starwind license I am probably looking at $25k+
VMWare vSAN seems to only run on VMWare? So I would need to pay for licenses for 2+ VM servers plus licensing for vSAN? That has to be more than $10k
So not seeing the benefit of virtual SAN over a dual controller hardware SAN
I am leaning towards just buying a Dell EMC PowerVault ME4024
Fair point. HA storage is pretty expensive at this point. From a performance standpoint, a physical SAN is way slower than NVMe local storage + vSAN, but if storage performance is not important, it’s way cheaper going physical at the moment.