On 11/24/12 5:51 PM, "Erik Trimble" <tr...@netdemons.com> wrote:


>On 11/24/2012 5:17 AM, Edmund White wrote:
>> Heh, I wouldn't be using G5's for ZFS purposes now. G6 and better
>> ProLiants are a better deal for RAM capacity and CPU core countŠ
>>
>> Either way, I also use HP systems as the basis for my ZFS/Nexenta
>>storage
>> systems. Typically DL380's, since I have expansion room for either 16
>> drive bays, or for using them as a head unit to a D2700 or D2600 JBOD.
>>
>> The right replacement for the old DL320s storage server is the DL180 G6.
>> This model was available in a number of configurations, but the best
>> solutions for storage were the 2U 12-bay 3.5" model and the 2U 25-bay
>>2.5"
>> model. Both models have a SAS expander on the backplane, but with a nice
>> controller (LSI 9211-4i), make good ZFS storage servers.
>>
>
>Really?  I mean, sure, the G6 is beefier, but I can still get 8 cores of
>decently-fast CPU and 64GB of RAM in a G5, which, unless I'm doing Dedup
>and need a *stupid* amount of RAM, is more than sufficient for anything
>I've ever seen as a ZFS appliance.   I'd agree that the 64GB of RAM
>limit can be annoying if you really want to run a Super App Server + ZFS
>server on them, but they're so much more powerful than the X4500/X4540
>that I'd think they make an excellent drop-in replacement when paired
>with an MSA70, particularly on cost. The G6 is over double the cost of
>the G5.

My X4540 wasn't lacking in power... Just the annoyance of SATA drive
timeouts. Regardless, recommending a G5 ProLiant nowadays is a bad deal.
I've nearly replaced all of the G5 units I installed between 2006 and
2009. You're limited to 3G SAS and the constrained (super $$$) RAM supply
is an issue.

>One thing that I do know about the G6 is that they have Nehalem CPUS
>(X5500-series), which support VT-D, the virtualization I/O acceleration
>technology from Intel, while the G5's X5400-series Harpertown's don't.
>If you're running zones on the system, it won't matter, but VirtualBox
>will care.

VT-D can be handy. As can HyperThreading, *moar* RAM, DirectPath, etc.

>
>Thanks for the DL180 link.  Once again, I think I'd go for the G5 rather
>than the G6 - it's roughly half the cost (or less, as the 2.5"-enabled
>G6s seem to be expensive), and these boxes make nice log servers, not
>app servers. The DL180 G5 seems to be pretty much a DL380 G5 with a
>different hard drive layout (12x2.5" rather than 8x2.5")

While there is a DL180 G5, the DL180 G6 is the right recommendation
because it fixes a lot of the ugly issues present in the G5. The 180 G5
platform is nothing like the DL380 G5. Different system boards, backplane,
management.

Not sure where you're looking, but eBay and a couple of the HP liquidators
are good sources for these systems. E.g. http://r.ebay.com/p0xrLu

-- 
Edmund White
ewwh...@mac.com

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