Ahh we started up in 2000, it's been a bit of a ride. Lucky to have a solid core of clients that keep us in business.Hi lostmind,
iX also ran a small web hosting business for a short time during the early 2000s, so I'm familiar with some of the challenges. Margins were thin back then, so I can only imagine what they're like today.
Was your inquiry for TrueNAS, a FreeNAS system, or just general purpose servers?
I used the get a quote function on your site describing our needs. I believe I was looking at the TrueNAS system at the time, but am unsure what is our best option - I don't have an issue paying a bit of a premium for support and such if it makes sense. So I hope your team will work with us to find out what the best solution is.
I'm not really a storage solutions expert.
Yup, that I all understand. We ran openindiana san's for many years, it was a pain (fast, but updates were not fun). We would like some level of support for peace of mind, but we're not unskilled monkeys and we aren't the type to bother a support desk if it is something that can be done self service.This is the beauty of FreeNAS. If you're a company that prefers to be hands-on, can self-support, and you don't need HA, then FreeNAS can be a perfect fit. You can install it on the hardware of your choice and you don't owe us a dime. And, FreeNAS does have an HCL, by the way (it's effectively the FreeBSD HCL -- our FreeNAS versions are in sync with the FreeBSD version to make things easy)
If your company hits the scale where being so hands-on isn't sustainable, or if you decide you need HA or support because the data is critical, then that's where TrueNAS systems come in. TrueNAS is also fully compatible with FreeNAS, so you can use them to replicate to one another if you see fit.
I just find storage so odd. Storage is cheap but it gets ridiculously expensive (typically) for any level of support or HA.
Seems there is not much in the middle area.
Again, maybe your team can help us out with some guidance around your product offerings. Perhaps FreeNAS certified is our best bet, or maybe just build our own. Or perhaps it isn't a zfs solution that works for us at all and we stick with local storage.
I didn't see any pricing guidance, just saw that prices start at $4k. But I had a feeling that was just for the chassis.This is good feedback, and I understand the sentiment. Luckily we have a range of products, so I'm hopeful you'll be able to find something within your budget.
We do list pricing guidance, but again, our issue is that the systems are so configurable that it's difficult for us to display on the website. It's been a tough problem to solve.
The OpenStorageNAS.com link posted by BoredSysadmin above is one of our Reseller partners. They've listed some example configs and pricing (though, looking at their pricing, it looks a little out of date).
With storage I've learned not to hold my breath, so I submitted my inquiry to your team not expecting much (I've recently spent 5 hours and 3 conference calls with Dell and fully expect to be let down shortly). I also submitted my inquiry to your team before seeing this thread. I have to say, your responsiveness here gives me some hope that your team will be helpful.
Have a great weekend!