Elmer, I have been in the NAS / SAN arena for many, many years in the states. I have designed and built some of the biggest SAN's in use today in the world (several thousand nodes) and might be able to help you.
First, know that SAN and NAS are VERY different technologies. NAS is simple, reliable storage for files. It SHOULD NOT (I can't emphasize this enough) SHOULD NOT be used for Databases or Email. It isn't designed for it. NAS general has two formats. NDMP is a protocol designed and used by Network Appliance for many years. That has now spread to other vendors. You will also see CIFS. Both have their benefits and challenges, ESPECIALLY when it comes to backup. NAS should be thought of as nothing more than an electronic filing cabinet for your files. Not something you want to hit as the backend for an application. SAN on the other hand was built with Databases, Email and redundancy in mind. It is great for backup and restore. It rocks for clustering. But it is also VERY pricey. Administration isn't a big deal as long as you have the tools to do it, which normally carry 1/2 of the price of the SAN Hardware itself. Without these tools...forget it. Depending on the size of your environment, you might consider iSCSI SAN, which will scale up to about 20 servers. Much more than that, forget it. iSCSI is cost effective, and gives you similar finctionality to SAN without the cost headache. However, when it comes to scaling, you can end up in a world of hurt if you're going to grow. You'll end up ripping out your iSCSI environment and spending the money on a Fibre Channel SAN. I would be willing to help you make this decision and scope out what you would need complete with a Visio diagram if you'd like...no charge, because I don't want to see you make the wrong choice. The technology is great if you know what you have, what you are going to have, and what you REALLY need, not what someone wants to sell you. If that is of interest, please email me directly at [EMAIL PROTECTED] and I'll hook you up. Dave --- Elmer Rivera <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > whats the best device? > as per requirements: > -> a backup device > -> will act as file server as well > -> nfs for my mail > > or I maybe wrong? > > Regards, > -- > Elmer Rivera > HomePage: http://www.hcg.com.ph > Blog: http://elmer.i.ph > Mobile: +639274958328 > Linux User #379418 > > * Stop Software Patents: http://noepatents.eu.org/ > > -- > Lincoln: What's god?? > McCord: Well you know when you close your eyes and > wish for something really > badly?.. God's the guy that ignores you > > _________________________________________________ > Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List > [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) > Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists > Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph David R. Meyer Director, Business Development QCD Microsystems, Inc. tel: +1 813.857.4308 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.interstructures.com _________________________________________________ Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [email protected] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Read the Guidelines: http://linux.org.ph/lists Searchable Archives: http://archives.free.net.ph
