MeowserM
asked on
EMC vs Nimble Storage SAN
Hello:
We have been looking to virtualize our old servers. We currently have 2 quotes that are reasonable but the SANs vary in price. The EMC SAN is much less expensive than the Nimble Storage SAN.
The EMC SAN has 500GB SSD and 12TB disks. The Nimble Storage SAN has 320GB SSD and 12TB disks.
I am told that the Nimble Storage SAN will have more 'usable' space because the snapshots are handled more efficiently.
I do not have any prior experience with SANs and could use a little advice from some experts.
Thank you
We have been looking to virtualize our old servers. We currently have 2 quotes that are reasonable but the SANs vary in price. The EMC SAN is much less expensive than the Nimble Storage SAN.
The EMC SAN has 500GB SSD and 12TB disks. The Nimble Storage SAN has 320GB SSD and 12TB disks.
I am told that the Nimble Storage SAN will have more 'usable' space because the snapshots are handled more efficiently.
I do not have any prior experience with SANs and could use a little advice from some experts.
Thank you
ASKER
Yes the EMC SSD are larger and it is considerably cheaper. Unfortunately it is with a Vendor that we have never used before and I have a strange feeling that there is some kind of hidden surprise.
I would go with the EMC. Paying more for "usable space" may not be worth it in the end.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
gmbaxter - what licensing are you referring to? The only licensing on the 2 quotes are for the VMware not the hardware.....maybe I am not understanding. thank you for the Compellant tip.
Jeff Perry - with both EMC and Nimble storage quotes we are getting 2 hosts. The Nimble storage vendor also told me to be careful about a decrease in performance with the EMC. I am told that Nimble has advanced compression. We plan on starting out virtualizing our ERP system, CRM system, and possibly our domain controllers. So performance would be an issue with ERP and CRM.
Jeff Perry - with both EMC and Nimble storage quotes we are getting 2 hosts. The Nimble storage vendor also told me to be careful about a decrease in performance with the EMC. I am told that Nimble has advanced compression. We plan on starting out virtualizing our ERP system, CRM system, and possibly our domain controllers. So performance would be an issue with ERP and CRM.
When buying a San you generally buy hardware and software. When you replace an EMC you will have to buy the software element again. Sorry I should have been clearer.
Remember a SAN is not just about space. Consider the following;
How many IOPS is each solution proposing?
How many IOPS do you need?
What are your projected space and IOPS requirements over the next 5 years?
What are the year-on-year costs from each vendor to meet all of the above?
Also, are they proposing SLC or MLC SSD?
What speed are the disks?
Hope that helps.
Remember a SAN is not just about space. Consider the following;
How many IOPS is each solution proposing?
How many IOPS do you need?
What are your projected space and IOPS requirements over the next 5 years?
What are the year-on-year costs from each vendor to meet all of the above?
Also, are they proposing SLC or MLC SSD?
What speed are the disks?
Hope that helps.
The advanced compression will get you a higher usable data count but that is not really a plus when your main use for the san is virtualization.
For the virtual environment the number of Input/output per second is the number to track.
You can use performance monitor to gauge the I/O that each of your proposed host will use.
From there you compare which solution will better serve not only the initial vm's but the others that are (at least in my experience) likely to follow.
You didn't mention which models of san's you were quoted but the higher up the model chain you get the more features (licenses) you are likely to be pitched. With EMC there are quite a few but at the lower levels they are usually bundled with the device.
For the virtual environment the number of Input/output per second is the number to track.
You can use performance monitor to gauge the I/O that each of your proposed host will use.
From there you compare which solution will better serve not only the initial vm's but the others that are (at least in my experience) likely to follow.
You didn't mention which models of san's you were quoted but the higher up the model chain you get the more features (licenses) you are likely to be pitched. With EMC there are quite a few but at the lower levels they are usually bundled with the device.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
Thank you all for your questions. It gives me information that I can ask the vendors.
The EMC is a VNXe3300 with dual controllers. I can't seem to get a clear answer on IOPS.
The Nimble is a CS 220 with dual controllers. Again, not clear on the IOPS.
Thanks again for your insight. Very appreciated
The EMC is a VNXe3300 with dual controllers. I can't seem to get a clear answer on IOPS.
The Nimble is a CS 220 with dual controllers. Again, not clear on the IOPS.
Thanks again for your insight. Very appreciated
In actuality if both solutions are quoted with ssd drives I have a hard time believing that you will hit the I/O limit before using up all the available storage.
The typical 15k SAS drive is rated around 175 I/O's while an SSD drive is rated in the thousands of I/O's.
The typical 15k SAS drive is rated around 175 I/O's while an SSD drive is rated in the thousands of I/O's.
That would depend on whether the SSD is used as cache or a data tier. If a data tier, then not everything will utilise the SSD IOPS, and if auto tiering is present it will depend on the granularity offered whether the SSD fills up too quickly impacting performance.
ASKER
I just spoke to the EMC vendor and they seem to be pulling ahead of the competition.
They changed thier quote to include Flash SSD at 500GB usable space and 15K disks at 3TB of usable space and 7200 disks at 14TB of usable space.
I kinda like the varying levels of Flash speed, performance speed, and capacity "file server" type speed.
It seems to keep the costs down.
They changed thier quote to include Flash SSD at 500GB usable space and 15K disks at 3TB of usable space and 7200 disks at 14TB of usable space.
I kinda like the varying levels of Flash speed, performance speed, and capacity "file server" type speed.
It seems to keep the costs down.
The EMC has bigger disks but is cheaper?