Will it be possible...

[Mariani Alberto]

...to use a NAS to provide storage space for both our (Primary and Backup) Domain controllers (Windows 2000 Server) that hold our shared files and to a HP-UX machine that runs our production DB (Oracle) ?

Any idea on the specific product ? (we need about 100 GB total)

Thak you all,
Alberto

P.S. This thread has been moevd from General to Network Attached Storage (NAS) (Small and Medium Business). - Hp Forum Moderator

[Leif Halvarsson_2]

Hi,

It should not be any problem to use NAS for file sharing, both for Windows and HP-UX but I doubt if anyone will recommend NAS for databases (for performance reasons). There may be one exception for this - Network Appliance (NetApp). You can find information about NetApp and Oracle at:


http://www.netapp.com/solutions/database.html

[Mariani Alberto]

That was exactly my worry.
Would it change anything if the nas had SCSI disks and dual gigabit ethernet connection (used as a single channel) to the switch ?

I admit i'm not a storage expert but, from a bandwidth viewpoint, the (theoretical) 250 MB/sec provided by the dual GigE should be enough even for DB use. Of course the HP-UX box and the Windows machines would be equipped with their own GigE nics too (i was thinking about a 6-GigE-rj45 + 2-GigE-fiber ports switch dedicated to the nas and the server, with one of the fiber ports used as uplink to the rest of the lan).

Would a SAN (of about the same space) be a lot different in terms of price ?

Bye,
Alberto

[Leif Halvarsson_2]

Hi,

Bandwith is normally not the problem with databases but more the IO-rate (IOPS) and acessing the database files over a LAN makes a lot of overhead compared to a local or SAN disk.

Sure, a SAN solution is more expensive, how much depends on what you buy. There is cheap IDE or ATA SAN disks on the market and also "SAN starter pack" (a switch with a number of HBAs) which is not too expensive:

http://www.fibrenetix.co.uk/