The classic method of doing this is to have a couple vendors come in and make their pitch. During each pitch you ask them why you shouldn't use the other guy. This way you get to hear about the dirty laundry the other guy doesn't want you to know about. Your job is deciphering spin from fact.
-Jeff Steward On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 12:02 PM, John Aldrich <[email protected] > wrote: > Thanks, Jonathan. I will attempt to do better "due diligence" in getting > educated better about SAN options in general. I've met so many different > resellers of various SANs, each of them pushing their own vendor that I'm > really confused. What I really need to find is someone without an axe to > grind who can help me figure out what my needs are and what storage method > would best suit my needs. > > > > From: Raper, Jonathan - Eagle [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 11:44 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: SAN question > > Not trying to be rude, John, but I would have to agree with the other > Jonathan. It’s not that we don’t want to help, we really do, but everyone > has to do some work on their own, and (at least on this subject), it does > not APPEAR that you have done enough homework about this BROAD topic yet to > be able to ask appropriate questions of this list. > > Once you’ve met with at least 3 vendors, and have gotten your questions > answered, if you still have a specific question on which you feel like > you’re getting the runaround, then ask this list a targeted, specific > question about a particular feature or function. > > At that point, of framed appropriately, I’m willing to bet you’ll get an > entirely different grade of response which will be useful to you, and > perhaps others. > > Best of luck, > Jonathan L. Raper, A+, MCSA, MCSE > Technology Coordinator > Eagle Physicians & Associates, PA > [email protected] > www.eaglemds.com > ________________________________________ > From: Jonathan Link [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 11:28 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: SAN question > > These aren't my questions, per se, so much as they need to be YOUR > questions. Jeff Steward also gave you a long list of questions, and you > attempted to answer them. > Here's the thing, this list is not a substitute for the work you need to do > yourself. You need to identify your needs, you need to ask and answer your > own questions. > > We, the list members, have been pushing you in this direction since you > started asking around. You're asking us to do your thinking for you, but > we > cannot do that, we are not in your position and, quite frankly, we have our > own problems to solve. If you go back and look at the posts of frequent > contributors to this list, you'll see requests from people who are in a jam > and need some instant advice because they're stuck on something, or they > may > have gotten turned around in their research and need to trackback and > confirm their understanding. These are the types of things a list is good > at solving. Filling in gaps in your skill set or educating you on a broad > technology segment is not. We are not in elementary school anymore. We're > asking you questions, not because we need to know the answers, but because > you need to ask and answer the questions. Note: if someone comes back with > a recommendation on doing something you don't know how to do, it isn't > really acceptible to say, I don't know how to do X, can you tell me? I > would venture to say you should learn to use Google to help fill in your > gaps. > > > > On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 10:58 AM, John Aldrich > <[email protected]> wrote: > To answer your questions in order: > 1) Failover capability would be very good to have. I need a minimum of two > controllers so that if one fails, at least we can run on the other until we > fix the first. That could also be handled by a dual-controller "head" unit. > So that brings single-node with dumb drive trays back equal with "smart" > trays. > 2) Scalability -- I firmly believe that your data WILL eventually grow to > match available disk space, so I'd like the ability to add space easily. > That being said, either method will work to add space. > > So far, my *MINIMUM* requirements are as follows: > 1) No single point of failure (Redundant power, redundant controllers, > RAID, > redundant Ethernet, etc.) > 2) Approximately 5 Tb of useable disk space (that should give us a little > breathing room once we start redirecting critical folders from users' > desktop machines and add in email) > 3) RAID 5 minimum to help prevent loss of data from drive failures. > 4) Under $30K > 5) Any replication needs to be done on the SAN and not involve software > (such as Backup Exec) on a server. > > Anything more than that is gravy. > > From: Jonathan Link [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Thursday, September 23, 2010 10:33 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: SAN question > > I think we have given you the benefit of our knowledge. > Several times even. > > What requirement do you have that would be met by additional controllers? > Failover capability? Scalability? Again, for like the third time, what > are > your requirements, that'll drive your analysis. > On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 10:16 AM, John Aldrich > <[email protected]> wrote: > Ok, guys. I'm trying to narrow down my many choices with regards to our > on-going search for a SAN manufacturer. I'd like your thoughts on the whole > question of adding more intelligence vs just adding more disks. i.e. the EQ > vs LeftHand models. > > I can see arguments to be made for both models. I'll tell you that, > initially, the SAN is going to be a glorified file server, however, we plan > on hosting our email data store on the SAN when we bring email in-house > later on. I've already verified with the email vendor that I hope to use > that this is not a problem, so that's a non-issue. Other than that, the > only > database we would store on the SAN would possibly be the database from our > Vipre install, although initially that would stay on the local storage. > > So, I'd like to see some discussions of the benefits of just adding a tray > of "dumb drives" or adding a complete controller along with the drives (a > la > LeftHand.) > > I just don't know enough about the benefits of each model to know what > would > work best for us. I'm hoping that you guys who are more experienced would > give me the benefit of your knowledge. > > > > Thanks, > John Aldrich > IT Manager, > Blueridge Carpet > 706-276-2001, Ext. 2233 > > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ________________________________________ > Any medical information contained in this electronic message is > CONFIDENTIAL > and privileged. It is unlawful for unauthorized persons to view, copy, > disclose, or disseminate CONFIDENTIAL information. This electronic message > may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. It > is intended only for the use of the individual(s) and/or entity named as > recipients in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of this > message, please notify the sender immediately and delete this material from > your computer. Do not deliver, distribute or copy this message, and do not > disclose its contents or take any action in reliance on the information > that > it contains. > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
