Spec Question

[Ayman Altounji]

Hi All,
This is actually a spec question but rather than call the ASE hotline I wanted to get it on paper in hopes somone could give it some thought. I?m a long time ASE and have configured many many Proliant servers over the years but this one requires a bit more thought. This is an existing Netware 5.1 shop, (possibly 6 later) single server with only about 50 users but LOTS of data and BIG files. It?s a CAD house; they say some of their files can be 300Mb each! They are looking for speed speed speed moving these files back & forth between server & stations. (We?re setting them up with Gb fiber end to end.) We need a hot server to handle the data. They want about 80Gb of storage available. I speced out the following using the Active Answers System Configurator:
Proliant ML530 (Since they wouldn?t need more than 2 processors for NetWare, even if 6 actually starts using them!)
1Gb of memory
Gb Fiber NIC
Smart Array 5302/64 Controller
Lots of 18Gb drives to get them to 80Gb + on-line spare. (I figured the more spindles the quicker, that?s why I went with 18Gb.)
Now for my questions:
1. Since I do mostly NetWare I?ve never been into that Microsoft idea of having the OS on it?s own set of drives and the data on another. Think that setup would help us here from a performance standpoint? How would you set up the arrays?
2. Any thoughts on breaking up the arrays/cages/backplanes/channels for more performance. In a NetWare environment I?ve never done this either. If you think it makes sense I would need some direction on how to actually go about it.

Any other disk subsystem or performance tricks you can think of to move these huge files in & out would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Gregg Elenbaas
gelenbaas@goisg.com