Very incorrect. NetApp filers can be used as simple NAS devices if you wish, providing simple Windows network shares on an NFS based system if you wish. You see it as a server joined to your Active Directory domain, you browse to it and see the shares.
.. or you can do the full bit level LUN thing to use it as a SAN type device. Enable Fibre Channel or iSCSI with a license key, partition up your disks, give your VMWare host server a chunk of disk to play with formatted with VMFS. Either way works. The deduplication features of the NetApp seem to work best with NFS however, and the killer feature on the NetApp's, their snapshot based backup and restore, likewise. With the Snapshots feature you can do a full backup or restore of 30GB+ databases or virtual machines in 3-5 seconds (!). Particularly if you use the new SnapManager for Virtual Infrastructure product which is VMWare aware and plays nicely with it, you can do your backups of live enviroments in a very small backup window, and restore far far quicker then conventional methods. There was a Webcast from NetApp the other month where a customer (one of Europe's biggest health care providers) was converting over to using NFS from iSCSI based LUN's for their VMWare farm as it was proving just as quick performance wise, much quicker to backup, and much simpler to manage. They had gone from Fibre Channel to iSCSI previously. With VMWare offering more and more support towards NFS, it seems to be the way things are going. -----Original Message----- From: Erik Goldoff [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 10 September 2008 00:51 To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: NetApp SAN For Virtualisation Ok, let me ask a clarifying question ... Isn't NetApp a NAS (Network Attached Storage) and NOT a SAN. Their NetApp filer boxen run a proprietary file system, not the same as a SAN connected box running the native file system (NTFS) -----Original Message----- From: Robert Jackson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2008 8:07 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: NetApp SAN For Virtualisation Just looking for some feedback. Is/has anyone used NetApp as their backend in a VMWare solution? We've had someone in this morning talking to us about going down the virtualisation road and their backend SAN solution is NetApp using NFS. I know lots of you (already virtualised people out there) are using an EMC solution with iSCSI (and or possibly FC) but I haven't heard much of NetApp. Pros/Cons? Steer well clear of etc etc would be a good starter for us. TIA. ************************************************************************ The information in this internet E-mail is confidential and is intended solely for the addressee. Access, copying or re-use of information in it by anyone else is unauthorised. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Walker Martyn Ltd or any of its affiliates. If you are not the intended recipient please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] Walker Martyn Ltd, company number SC197533. Company is registered in Scotland and has its registered office at 1 Park Circus Place, Glasgow G3 6AH, UK. **************************************************************** ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.169 / Virus Database: 270.6.19/1662 - Release Date: 9/9/2008 10:47 AM ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ === STEMCOR CONFIDENTIALITY AND DISCLAIMER NOTICE This e-mail is intended only for the addressees named in it. The contents should not be disclosed to any other person nor copies taken. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the sender and do not necessarily represent those of Stemcor unless otherwise specifically stated. Stemcor does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message nor responsibility for any change made to it after it was sent by the original sender. You are advised to carry out a virus check before opening any attachment as Stemcor does not accept liability for any damage sustained as a result of any software viruses. You should be aware that Stemcor reserves the right to read incoming and outgoing emails. === ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~