Topic: MicroSAN - Storage for the people

[Caelum]

More another thread on spl that is for the posters own purpose... But maybe others are interested in what i'm doing.


MicroSAN - Storage for the people.

Components:
1 x HP N36L Microserver ($450-500)
2 x 4GB DDR3 ($100)
4 x 2TB Seagate "Green" drives ($100ea) (already own one)
1 x ~50GB PCI-E SSD (L2ARC) ($150ish?)
1 x eSATA enclosure w/ 2.5" disk (boot drive) ($50ish? + drive)
1 x Intel Pro/1000 CT Gigabit NIC (pci-e 1x) ($50ish)

Total costing: $1250 max
Result: 8-10TB fast(ish) storage

Operating system... Unsure of at this stage, but definitely siding towards running a variant of Solaris, and then virtualising other operating systems on top of that(is virtuabox still the preferred software for doing VMs on Sol? If i end up going with Windows 2K8 R2 as the OS, i'd run Hyper-V instead)

At the moment it's little more than a NAS project really... but throw in some iscsi as storage systems for remote VMs etc, it starts getting a bit more interesting - moreso with the additional gigabit ethernet adapter... 2Gb of trunked throughput, which should also help with multi-user access.

Another option to increase performance and storage space, is a 4 x 2.5" in-5.25" bay... which would add another 4 (granted, slower, lower capacity) disks... realistically probably 750GB or 1T disks.. These could be used exclusively for VMs..

Have to work out a way to easily control/manipulate drive spindown times - haven't even investigated what options i've got for that yet - but the lower power this system is the better, in the end.

Additionally, lower power = lower heat = lower noise = loungeroom friendly.



Some kind of WebGUI for basic information or even management of storage and server functions would be nice... Also make the system a little more 'client friendly', should it ever go into production for 'real world' server/SAN use(obviously with faster/higher performing disks than 5900RPM 'green' disks!).

Something like an 8 port SAS card sitting in that 16x PCI-e slot would be nice, with 4 3.5" 15k RPM disks and 4 x 15k RPM 2.5" SAS disks would be nice.... Whether the little dual core CPU would be able to handle that level of storage with dedupe/etc is a whole different story, however! Let alone that 200w power supply.... Hmm.. It'd be pushing it!


That's all for now.

[Caelum]

(reserved post for future use)


Interesting/relevant links for this project:
HP N36L Microserver
Useful information regarding the N36L, including power usage
FAQs about Flash memory SSDs and ZFS
OCZ Vertex 3 SSD review
Solaris and 4k drives - optimisation
More ZFS with ST32000542AS disks - optimisations
Seagate 2TB LP (green) drive specs
eSATA/USB flash drive - maybe suitable for use as the system disk?
Web Console - a CLI for your unix box via a webpage(very cool...)
1 Metre eSATA -> SATA cable (for making use of the external eSATA port internally)
2 x 2.5" SATA disks in a 5.25" ODD slot
Another option for a boot disk? (Seagate 2.5" 500GB XT Hybrid SSD/Spinning metal disk

Other useful services that could run on the server(Possibly with basic administration tasks(enable/disable, etc) done via a WebGUI as above:
Apache
IPSec/PPTP/L2TP/etc VPN endpoint
Squid Proxy/Cache
IRCd
VirtualBox
IPF
DHCP
DNS
Asterisk
Webmin(allows easy config of some of the above services, and more)
OpenNMS
MRTG
Zimbra(this one may be a challenge)


Obviously, quite a few of the above are more targeted towards a work environment, rather than home

[Arghdee]

Colour me intrigued.

[Sneddo]

For the OS, might be worth considering something like NexentaStor, if you are looking to make it 'client friendly'.

Sounds like a fun little project!

Now, if my work is looking at $1000 trade-in on their 2540, maybe I can take that off their hands before I leave...

[Caelum]

The more and more i look into NexentaStore, the less good things i read about it... Agreed, client friendly for sure... Just not sure about the real world performance levels and all-round hackability of it.

[Sneddo]

hmmm fair enough, didn't really look at it much. There was another one I saw along the way while building my own NAS, will see if I can find it again.

Edit: Open-E was one of them I think: http://www.open-e.com/products/open-e-data-storage-software-v6-lite/features/
But 2TB limit on the free version, and from memory it was stupidly expensive after that.

I'm sure there was another one that wasn't quite as polished as these two though...still looking

[Caelum]

OpenFiler and FreeNAS are fair common, also.

[Sneddo]

I'd stay away from OpenFiler personally, the development is pretty much dead IIRC. And TBH, it isn't that great at what it does. We ran it at work on a storage box, but ended up just chucking 08 R2 on instead.

FreeNAS may have been what I was thinking of, would have been about then when ZFS was just being brought into it...I was sure there was another one as well, but I'm not finding it.

[Caelum]

Yeah, my experiences with OpenFiler at work pretty much echo your own. It wasn't even under consideration for this project.

[JJJ]

Certainly looks like a nice alternative to a Drobo or whatever.  We're still using virtualbox for Windows on Solaris here - It generally works pretty well... occasionally has a few hiccups.

[Caelum]

Yeah, i'm thinking as far as services go, i'll stick with the basics to start with...

ie;
DNS, DHCP, NFS/CIFS/iSCSI, IPSec, Squid, IRCd, IPF and Apache

Grow the featureset from there, i reckon. I'd rather get basis services running solidly, than try and cram too much shit into the box and have it run like a dog.

[Caelum]

This project is officially go.

Just ordered the Microserver from Harris Tech, for a grand total of $398.

[zebra]

This project is officially go.

Just ordered the Microserver from Harris Tech, for a grand total of $398.

Considering doing this myself, to replace my over-sized power guzzler.

Any word on Oracle Solaris 11 Express HCL info?

z

[Caelum]

Pretty sure it's 100% compatible, unofficially.

[Arghdee]

Tempted.