Confused between choosing HP EVA or MSA SAN for DL 380 usage ?

[Server-Support]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a shared storage for my ESX servers in the DR datacenter, most of the transaction will be random I/O eg. Database,
which Storage / SAN should I choose that is compatible with HP DL 380 servers ?

Thanks.

[Jorge Pons · Accepted solution]

Hi

What are your requirements about load, size, performance?

both are compatible.
I dont know about price, but I supposed it could be different.

Regards, Jorge

[Johan Guldmyr]

I would suppose that the MSA/P2000 is quite a lot less expensive.

If you only have one server - will you reach the i/o or performance limit of the P2000? You can expand the P2000 with more disks/shelves but not as much as an EVA.

P2000 for example you can get a SAS or iSCSI connectivity. But for an EVA it is fibre channel unless you get an extra module.

[Thomas J. Harrold]

We have found that EVA is an excellent platform for virtualization. It is capable of spreading I/O across a far larger number of drives than an MSA or P2000 array.

That said, if the I/O requirements are small, a P2000 solution would be less expensive.

[Server-Support]

ah ok, in this case my current situation is that I have running mostly virtual environment

production environment that is mixed of HP DL 380 and Blade servers with EMC Clariion CX4-500 FC-SAN
planning for DR environment that uses the same server model but still thinking of which SAN technology that we could use for the replication between the two sites ?

the DR site is not necessarily to be as fast as the current production and the SAN doesn't have to be EMC. The WAN speed is 10 MB/s between them.

[Thomas J. Harrold]

Do you have to keep the EMC SAN at your primary site? It may be difficult to mix storage arrays if you want to do array-based replication.

The EVA does site to site replication very well. It is an extra cost. I believe the P2000 has some basic replication that can be added (also extra cost).

-tjh

[Server-Support]

Ah yes, many thanks guys for your reply and suggestion.

with the HP left hand VSA - http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storage/software/vsa/trial/index.html I can deploy that on top of other SAN hardware between prod - DR and then implement software replication (sounds complex to troubleshoot later on).

with the same brand of SAN from EMC, maybe just get the smaller Clariion CX4-200 to replicate it between the 10 MB WAN link after the initial in site copy is also good idea at least.

[Thomas J. Harrold]

We have been looking at the HP P4000 (lefthand) options as well. I participated in a lab at last year's HP Tech Forum, and it was fairly simple to setup, and get replication working. My ONLY concern at this point is performance in a virtual environment. I am told that if you have 10-12 VMs, an properly sized P4000 array will be fine.

I have not yet tried to install the lefthand virtual appliance on top of another vendor's storage, but this is a GREAT idea. Perhaps you can buy a new array for your primary site, and re-purpose your EMC for your DR site.

-tjh

[Server-Support]

hm... does this means if I deploy HP StorageWorks P4000 Virtual SAN Appliance Software (VSA) on top of my current (EMC SAN as VM) then it would be VM on top of VM model.

have you found any problem with this approach before ?

[Uwe Zessin]

It is not VM-stacking (VM running on a hypervisor that is a VM running on a hypervisor running on physical hardware).

On the other hand, for some tests I've run an 8-VSA management group thin provisioned on top of a single P4000 VSA.