Hello,
Disclaimer
This is a temporary post where I first of all will collect my own thoughts and get some input for my upcoming Storage/Hyper-V build.
As soon as I order or receive hardware, I will update this thread with pictures and information.
Information
So what is this all about?
This is the first step for me to build my own, private datacenter. This server will run a Windows Storage Server 2012 and host two iSCSI-targets:
(Edit: I have decided to ditch the idea with a dedicated VD for my Hyper-V datastore)
But initially, this server will also act as my Hyper-V server until I have enough money to build my HA-nodes.
The plan is to connect the Storage Server to my infrastructure backbone using four Link-Aggregated NICs.
The upcoming HA-nodes will also be connected to the infrastructure backbone using the same technique, providing a 4 gbps direct connection between the HA-nodes and the Hyper-V datastore.
The biggest issue I'm trying to solve is how I should build my Storage Array: Today I'm running my Hyper-V datastore alongside my regular storage on my mechanical RAID5.
My Intel RS2BL080 has two free ports left to use and my options are:
(Edit: I have decided to go with the option below)
Existing Hardware
Intel RS2BL080 Raid Controller (Intel® RAID Controller RS2BL Family)
Key Features: Intel CacheCade and Fastpath IO Support
2x500GiB Seagate Barracuda (Barracuda Hard Drive | Seagate)
Key Features: None
6x2TiB Seagate Barracuda Green (Barracuda Green Hard Drive | Seagate)
Key Features: None
4x4GiB Nanya NT6GC72B8PB0NL-CG DDR3 ECC (Welcome to Nanya Technology Corporation)
Key Features: None
Intel® RAID Smart Battery AXXRSBBU7 (ARK | Intel® RAID Smart Battery AXXRSBBU7)
Key Features: None
Intel® RAID Premium Features Key - SSD Cache with Fastpath IO (Server Products; Intel® RAID Premium Features key compatible with Intel® RAID Controllers/Modules)
Note: For SSD Cache and Fasthpath IO
Hardware to buy
SuperMicro SuperChassis 825TQ-600LPB (Supermicro | Products | Chassis | 2U | SC825TQ-600LPB)
Key Features - Active Backplane with SGPIO
SuperMicro X9SCM-IIF-O (http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C202_C204/X9SCM-F.cfm)
Key Features: IPMI, 4x Gigabit LAN
Intel Xeon E3-1230V2 (ARK | Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1230V2 (8M Cache, 3.30 GHz))
Key Features: ECC Support, Intel VT-x, VT-x with EPT, Intel VT-d
*** Question 1***
Would a SSD Cache using the Intel® RAID Premium Features Key provide increased performance when my storage area contains files larger than the actual SSD Cache? Probably as the cache works with Block I/O rather than logical File I/O
*** Update 1 ***
Just found a Intel® RAID Smart Battery AXXRSBBU7 on eBay for 150$ including tax and shipment. Too bad PayPal messed up my account so that I can't keep on eBaying.. for now.
*** Update 2 ***
My PayPal account seems to be up and running and I grabbed myself a Server Products; Intel® RAID Premium Features key compatible with Intel® RAID Controllers/Modules for 198$ including tax and shipment.¨
*** Update 3 ***
I have decided to go with the X9SCM-IIF-O instead of the planned X9SCI-LN4F to gain two 8x PCI Express ports (one reserved for the Server Products; Intel® RAID Premium Features key compatible with Intel® RAID Controllers/Modules) and two 4x PCI Express ports but loose two gigabit interfaces.
... to be updated
Disclaimer
This is a temporary post where I first of all will collect my own thoughts and get some input for my upcoming Storage/Hyper-V build.
As soon as I order or receive hardware, I will update this thread with pictures and information.
Information
So what is this all about?
This is the first step for me to build my own, private datacenter. This server will run a Windows Storage Server 2012 and host two iSCSI-targets:
(Edit: I have decided to ditch the idea with a dedicated VD for my Hyper-V datastore)
- One iSCSI-target providing my private Windows Server 2012 domain with storage.
- One iSCSI-target providing my upcoming Hyper-V HA-cluster with a Cluster Shared Volume for live migrations.
But initially, this server will also act as my Hyper-V server until I have enough money to build my HA-nodes.
The plan is to connect the Storage Server to my infrastructure backbone using four Link-Aggregated NICs.
The upcoming HA-nodes will also be connected to the infrastructure backbone using the same technique, providing a 4 gbps direct connection between the HA-nodes and the Hyper-V datastore.
The biggest issue I'm trying to solve is how I should build my Storage Array: Today I'm running my Hyper-V datastore alongside my regular storage on my mechanical RAID5.
My Intel RS2BL080 has two free ports left to use and my options are:
(Edit: I have decided to go with the option below)
- Buy two SSD and configure these as a RAID0 SSD cache and let my Hyper-V datastore stay on the mechanical RAID5
Existing Hardware
Intel RS2BL080 Raid Controller (Intel® RAID Controller RS2BL Family)
Key Features: Intel CacheCade and Fastpath IO Support
2x500GiB Seagate Barracuda (Barracuda Hard Drive | Seagate)
Key Features: None
6x2TiB Seagate Barracuda Green (Barracuda Green Hard Drive | Seagate)
Key Features: None
4x4GiB Nanya NT6GC72B8PB0NL-CG DDR3 ECC (Welcome to Nanya Technology Corporation)
Key Features: None
Intel® RAID Smart Battery AXXRSBBU7 (ARK | Intel® RAID Smart Battery AXXRSBBU7)
Key Features: None
Intel® RAID Premium Features Key - SSD Cache with Fastpath IO (Server Products; Intel® RAID Premium Features key compatible with Intel® RAID Controllers/Modules)
Note: For SSD Cache and Fasthpath IO
Hardware to buy
SuperMicro SuperChassis 825TQ-600LPB (Supermicro | Products | Chassis | 2U | SC825TQ-600LPB)
Key Features - Active Backplane with SGPIO
SuperMicro X9SCM-IIF-O (http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon/C202_C204/X9SCM-F.cfm)
Key Features: IPMI, 4x Gigabit LAN
Intel Xeon E3-1230V2 (ARK | Intel® Xeon® Processor E3-1230V2 (8M Cache, 3.30 GHz))
Key Features: ECC Support, Intel VT-x, VT-x with EPT, Intel VT-d
*** Question 1***
Would a SSD Cache using the Intel® RAID Premium Features Key provide increased performance when my storage area contains files larger than the actual SSD Cache? Probably as the cache works with Block I/O rather than logical File I/O
*** Update 1 ***
Just found a Intel® RAID Smart Battery AXXRSBBU7 on eBay for 150$ including tax and shipment. Too bad PayPal messed up my account so that I can't keep on eBaying.. for now.
*** Update 2 ***
My PayPal account seems to be up and running and I grabbed myself a Server Products; Intel® RAID Premium Features key compatible with Intel® RAID Controllers/Modules for 198$ including tax and shipment.¨
*** Update 3 ***
I have decided to go with the X9SCM-IIF-O instead of the planned X9SCI-LN4F to gain two 8x PCI Express ports (one reserved for the Server Products; Intel® RAID Premium Features key compatible with Intel® RAID Controllers/Modules) and two 4x PCI Express ports but loose two gigabit interfaces.
... to be updated
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