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damothedude

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Anyone used or installed dell md3000i, is it any good , what steps, do i need to install it, how would you mange backups?

Hi, i have the task of collecting in info about upgrading you current servers.  At the moment we have several NAS devices new and old, using mostly server 2003 and one NT.  Our main file server is running out of space, the NT server is lacking processor/ram/hard disk space and backups are taking a long time.  We use ultrium 3 backups. we do full backups each night file server 550 Gig amd exchange 250 Gig, and about 100 Gig databases.  The files database and exchange are becoming more and more mission critical so i would like a better form of disaster recovery.

I was thinking of buying a Dell MD3000i because of the cost benefits of iscsi ( assume i am creating a Vlan with a Gig Switch )
is it any good ,
what steps do i need to integrate it,
 how would you manage backups?
What effects will this have on exchange and sql server 2000/2005
Does anyone know if this san supports boot from san?
Would you suggest using separete Nic cards or iscsi adapters as i have heard the isci processing hits the processors hard
It only supports 4 snapshots/ vitual copies per disk volume
Could you reccomend any whitepapers on the subject
I was going to replace the old NT server with a with a dell 2900 series tower and maybe get a another 2900 for backups during the day assuming the the snap / volume copy works well

How would you say the md3000i compares to AX150i

Cheers
Damien
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lnkevin
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damothedude

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hi, i managed to find out alot of info about it including the articals you mentioned,  it is possible to boot from san in a MD3000I. There is a video tutorial on the www.dellstudio.com website.  

i know it is relatively new but  has anyone actually used or implemented one? and if so how do they manage there database/ email integration and management on the san
cheers
I followed the link that you provided for the video tutorial, but it is leading to nowhere. Are you sure the given info is legitimate? I wouldn't believe the verbal words until there is some proof on this.

K
hi, sorry, last time i checked the link worked will have a look in work to get url .  i watched a video of a dell tech installing it and configuring it , so looked ok.  Maybe only compliant on certain dell servers / dell network cards with firmware patches, will forward will i have more details.   , still not enough info on the md3000i for me to implement,  this is damothedude by the way, cheers for the reply
You can close the question if you are no long interested in, but I would like to have a correct info on iSCSi booting. I could not find any information about it. Close the question and feel free to post back discussion when you have a ligitimate info.

K
hi, found it - google 'studiodell' and will bring to to Dell's video blogging site , there click the knowledge base and choose boot from iscsi
cheers
Thanks for the info. I will watch the video when I have chance and post back my comment.

K