$175-$250/hr for the folks that know what they're doing. You might get down to $125/hr if you bargain hard and/or take lower-end folks. Don't be surprised if you see higher rates as well.
Alternately (and back to requirements!) you define a set of requirements/deliverables you need, and ask for a fixed-fee engagement to deliver that set of required deliverables. Shocked that they want as much as you think the project will cost in and of itself? That's because you may easily end up spending a lot more time on the project than you think you well, and even redoing the project once or twice, because you don't have the req spec and a plan. Measure twice, cut once - do it right the first time. On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 11:47 AM, John Aldrich <[email protected] > wrote: > I would love to do that. How much would you expect to pay a consulting firm > for something like this? I looked at a couple groups in the region and was > shocked that they wanted almost as much just to consult as I was looking to > spend on a SAN project.... That being said, it somewhat makes sense, if > they > charge a couple hundred an hour for their services. > > > > From: Ken Schaefer [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 11:45 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: SAN question > > +1 > > Hire a consulting firm that can spend a day or two with you to work out > what > your requirements are. They can probably recommend some options (which you > can then come back to the list for some sanity check) > > Cheers > Ken > > From: [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] > > Sent: Friday, 24 September 2010 11:42 PM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: SAN question > > Here is my take, swallow what you will ,spit out what you wont.. > > I have no idea what you currently have. Based on your size and the > zillions > of posts around this. > > Identify your space need for the next 3 years. Since you ARE running DFS, > you have to do with LOCAL drives. That means your server thinks they are > built in. NAS units and CIFS shares wont work . DFS requires Windows > 2003/2008 Server to function. DFSR requires 2003 R2 or 2008 servers. Buy > a > NAS that supports ISCSI (Drobo, Synology) or go with a good DAS, MD3000 or > such… Make sure it can handle your storage needs. Any of your servers if > they are within a few years can run Vmware or HyperV and interface with a > DAS and partition space if you want to go that route or install the ISCSI > initiator on your VM’s/Physical and map it to the LUN on the unit. > > Purchase a Datto Backup unit. Capable of taking 15 minute snapshots of > your > server and realtime dropping the whole server, SQL, Exchange, Files into > Vmware waiting to hit the start button in the event of a total failure. > All > of that data replicates to their cloud for recovery in the event of a total > failure or disaster locally. Allows incremental recovery of data locally > as well and recovery to point in time for the whole server or mount SQL or > Exchange without having to go through full recovery procedures. Its slick, > I use it, clients love it, and it just works. I bet the whole solution > would cost you 15k and your monthly would easily spread out over 3 years to > your 30k. Your finance people will love not dropping 30k up front. You > get > reliability, data recovery and business continuity. > > I am the first one to admit, that I can get overwhelmed with the dozens of > options, and you are probably in the position that this decision/purchase > has to be right because if its not your but is on the line. So you are > hesitant to make the decision. We have ALL been there, and we all probably > get there more often than we used to. > > I may suggest you contact a proven IT organization in the area and spend 5 > to 8 hours of their consulting time and help them develop these “business > goals, IT goals” and then give you some options on meeting them. Then come > back to the list with a clear idea and let us throw out suggestions. > > I have no more time to read this ongoing thread until you have done the > work. > > Greg > From: Andrew S. Baker [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 11:17 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: SAN question > > Oh, I understood that you meant that. But I have seen too many times that > the focus is on backup: making the windows, saving space, compressing data, > etc. > > And very little consideration is made to getting it all back into place, > and > reintegrating the saved data with existing data. > > Even backup applications which talk about speed rarely mean "restore speed" > > ASB > > > > > ~ 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 > > -- Gary K. Slinger Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/garyslinger ~ 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
