John,
I think using an intelligent disk subsystem for Exchange is a smart idea.
Instead of looking at a traditional SAN where there is little intelligence
in how the disks are used and lacks deep integration and tools for Exchange.
Network Appliance has an extremely elegant solution for Exchange that every
Exchange admin should consider.
1. With the current size of Hard Drives, building a RAID array for your logs
and data that has enough spindles for performance requires you to waste a
tremendous amount of space and increases the cost. In many instances,
vendors are not offering 9GB drives and 36GB drives are becoming scarce. To
get enough spindles for performance requires 4 or 5 drives and using 73GB
drives gives you ~300GB of usable space, but how big will your Exchange
Information Stores be?
NetApp uses Flexible Volumes to allow you to take N amount of spindles and
create a large RAID set. From there you create individual volumes the size
you need size so your not wasting drive space, but are getting the benefit
of the additional spindles. I won't go into the details, but you really need
to look at how NetApp uses RAID4 with Dual Parity to understand how the
-- Note: For those who argue that you should dedicate different spindles for
Exchange and more specifically break them up for Logs and Data, I AGREE, so
does NetApp. BUT, in many cases, once you do the math, you may find it may
be more beneficial to group all your spindles into once RAID group and use
volumes to separate the data. Please read this for additional information -
http://www.netapp.com/tech_library/ftp/3350.pdf
2. Traditional Backup and Recovery methods for Exchange are cumbersome and
tedious. Most won't argue that backing up Exchange to tape and having to use
a backup to restore a Mailbox (let alone a individual message) is extremely
time consuming. Also verifying that your backups are healthy require
additional time and energy.
NetApp's SnapManager for Exchange changes all that. Since NetApp invented
taking Snapshots at the physical level, taking a snapshot of you running
Exchange environment takes several seconds. Unlike other vendors snapshots,
NetApp doesn't create a copy of the data requiring 2x the space for each
snapshot. They only space needed for a snapshot is for the blocks of data
that has changed since the previous snapshot. (Read here for more details -
http://www.netapp.com/products/snapshot.html)
SnapManager for Exchange fully integrates with Microsoft Shadow copy Service
(VSS) to take snapshots of a running Exchange server WITHOUT taking it
offline or compromising the data integrity. Just like other Exchange Aware
backup solutions, SnapManager acquiesces the database before taking a
snapshot. Once the snapshot is taken and since snapshots are read-only
copies of the data, you can opt to have it run 'eseutil' to check the
consistency of the Exchange info store. Since you would normally have to
take your Exchange server offline to run 'eseutil', running it against the
snapshot can be done with the server online. In this scenario, 'eseutil' is
not going to repair or try to change the data, its only checking the
integrity and will notify you of any errors. This is useful to detect
corruption before it becomes serious enough to impact your production
environment. If it detects corruption or any other inconsistency, you have
the option to schedule a maintenance window to take care of the issue or
contact Microsoft PSS for further assistance. Again, this is the same as
taking a copy of Exchange infostore and running 'eseutil' on it to detect
any errors but using SnapManager for Exchange it automates the process.
Restoring a single message or mailbox takes only seconds from start to
finish. SnapManager for Exchange integrates OnTrack Software's PowerControls
to allow you to restore individual messages in seconds. For more info read -
http://www.ontrack.com/powercontrols/ and
http://www.netapp.com/tech_library/3198.html
3. Additional options become available using Intelligent Storage that were
too cumbersome or difficult without.
- Disaster Recovery is one where using SnapMirror to replicate your Exchange
environment to your DR site is straight forward and automated.
- Compliance Solutions are easy add-on's to keep archived copies of all
messages and provides easy search and mail export methods to comply with
requests for such information incase of an audit or subpoena.
==========
Note: Network Appliance Filers run CIFS, NFS, FCP and iSCSI all on the same
box at the same time. You can choose to use Fiber Channel for your Exchange
environment or iSCSI. Most of my customers are using iSCSI with phenomenal
success for their large Exchange environments.
Also: Everything I mentioned is fully supported my Microsoft and is on all
the HCL. http://www.netapp.com/partners/microsoft/
==========
There are plenty of white papers and details around using NetApp Filers and
associated SnapManager software to improve the performance, uptime and
manageability of Microsoft Exchange. for further information here is a list
of some articles I think would be useful:
Microsoft Exchange and Data ONTAP 7G - Flexible Storage for Microsoft
Exchange - http://www.netapp.com/tech_library/ftp/3350.pdf
SnapManager for Exchange Best Practices -
http://www.netapp.com/tech_library/ftp/3233.pdf
SnapManager® 3.1 for Microsoft® Exchange Technical Overview -
http://www.netapp.com/tech_library/3198.html
- David
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bowles, John (OIG/OMP)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Exchange Discussions" <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2005 11:25 AM
Subject: SAN and Exchange
All,
Are there any special modifications you need to do to add your Exch2K3
to a SAN? Please let me know.
Thank you,
______________________
John Bowles
Exchange Engineer
OIG/HHS
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
_________________________________________________________________
List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm
Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/read/?forum=exchange
To subscribe: http://e-newsletters.internet.com/discussionlists.html/
To unsubscribe send a blank email to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at:
Jupitermedia Corp.
Attn: Discussion List Management
475 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016
Please include the email address which you have been contacted with.
_________________________________________________________________
List posting FAQ: http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm
Web Interface: http://intm-dl.sparklist.com/read/?forum=exchange
To subscribe: http://e-newsletters.internet.com/discussionlists.html/
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Exchange List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe via postal mail, please contact us at:
Jupitermedia Corp.
Attn: Discussion List Management
475 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016
Please include the email address which you have been contacted with.
