Networker

Re: [Networker] Advice on a specs for a Sun

2003-12-02 14:32:57
Subject: Re: [Networker] Advice on a specs for a Sun
From: George Sinclair <George.Sinclair AT NOAA DOT GOV>
To: NETWORKER AT LISTMAIL.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 14:32:52 -0500
Our network is a standard switched 100 mbit ethernet for most hosts and
gigabit ethernet for a few of the heavy hitters. The backups run across
the same wires as all the rest of the network traffic. Backups typically
run at night so there's little network traffic to interfere. Compression
is done on the devices, not the clients. Our original justification for
the storage node was to free up some of the burden on the main server as
more and more clients were coming under the backups, especially ones
with large file systems. I guess we could have just bought a bigger,
more powerful server, but the idea of the storage node, the cheaper cost
of licensing, etc. jsut appealed to us.

Also, having a storage node gave us the opportunity to play with running
NetWorker under Linux without having to switch the primary server from
Sun to Linux until we could first evaluate how well the libraries worked
under Linux. If we'd never had these problems, I would have migrated
everything to the Linux storage node, set it up as the primary server
and then made the sun a storage node, keeping in mind, of course,
possible problems with little versus big endian. Having a storage node
server also seemed like a good way to increase the parallelism, but
perhaps most importantly, it seemed like a good way to cover ourselves
in the event that the library on the main server was not responding. I
think having a storage node server is a nice thing and not so much a
burden as long as it works,  but we've had nothing but problems with the
SCSI communication so this is really the justification for replacing it
with a Sun to see how the SCSI works there.

George

Stan Horwitz wrote:
>
> On Tue, 2 Dec 2003, George Sinclair wrote:
> >
> >Additional needs:
> >We will need enough SCSI slots for at least 2-3 SCSI cards, and we will
> >also need to be able to run 2 ethernet cards in each Sun.
> >
> >Can anyone offer any recommendations or advice on a suitable Sun? I'm
> >looking to save money where I can (gee, shoulda bought a PC. LOL!), but
> >I just need a recommended model(s), so I can work up a price quote to my
> >boss real quick.
>
> Please clarify why you are running a storage node. There might be an
> opportunity for you to combine your NetWorker server and storage node
> into a single Sun system, but it depends on details you did not disclose
> such as why the storage node is in your environment. Also, what kind of
> network do you use for doing your backups?
>
> --
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