Link to home
Start Free TrialLog in
Avatar of willp2
willp2

asked on

HP Storage Recommendations - VMware - Veeam

Hello, we are looking for some new primary storage for a VMware 5.5 essentials plus cluster. There will be a MS SQL based ERP system and reporting server that need solid performance. Looking at about 5TB+ minimum usable and reasonably quick storage.

We've traditionally used Dell storage, but this time we'd like to go with HP so we can take advantage of Veeam's tighter integration with HPs SANs.

At the moment we are looking at one or hopefully two Storvirtual 4330's with 8 X 900GB drives in a network RAID 10. We'll also be adding PernixData FVP SSD cache to the servers themselves for added performance.

This setup is a lot more expensive than going the more traditional (for me anyway) Dell dual controller SAN and we end up with less usable space for the money and perhaps a slower array.

So I have a few questions:

From the Veeam side, does the Veeam integration work great with the HP products? It looks terrific, which is why we are here
How is performance on the network RAID 10 setup compared to a single unit, dual controller, assuming both are RAID 10
How is it to live with the HP / Lefthand arrays from a manageability and stability standpoint?
Assuming around a $40k budget, the Veeam compatibility need, would you do something different here? VSA is interesting, but we've never worked with it and I'm a reluctant to experiment. I should add that at the $40k budget would have been for two arrays on the Dell side as well, but the second would be used as a replication and backup target. So it would be one faster array for production and one larger slower array for replication and backup

Thanks for any thoughts on this
Avatar of Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)
Flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland image

Have you considered anything from NetApp, Tegile, Nimble or Tintri, the newer kids on the block of storage excluding NetApp, and then you'll not require the added "fudge" from PernixData, which is rather odd, because VMware implementations usually add these to existing storage to boost performance, when they already have invested in a SAN.

Top performance today is from Tegile, and their Flash Arrays or Hybrid Flash Arrays.

Where would you store your backups ?
Avatar of willp2
willp2

ASKER

Veeam doesn't support Tegile, Nimble or Tintri etc. Netapp is supported, but I am sort of shying away from them as I just had a horrible experience with the product and support a while back.
Depends what type of rocket performance you desire, it's early days for Veeam and SAN vendors.

We would not be going with a SAN vendor from new, and purchasing another booster pack to improve performance.
It doesn't support SAN snapshot integration but if it's VMware it will support the backups depending on what you're doing (integration with Veeam should be out in a few revisions from everything I've read)

http://info.nimblestorage.com/rs/nimblestorage/images/veeam-sb-nimble-storage-data-protection.pdf

Netapp is actually nice because you can use SnapManager for SQL and for in your price range you can get an all flash model with ~4TB of usable on a single 8020 (2 node cluster)
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
Avatar of Justin Paul
Justin Paul

Link to home
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Start Free Trial
Avatar of willp2

ASKER

Finally ended up settling on EMC as it was actually cheaper and less complicated that the HP solution. I do agree with the 3PAR recommendation, however it is much more pricey than what we were looking for.

Thanks all for the comments.
You will enjoy the EMC ... Ive installed hundreds of VNX's and they all do very well when sized properly
We would love to hear about your experience with the EMC solution on our user review site, www.ITCentralStation.com. Users had very positive things to say about the HP 3PAR solution alongside Veeam Backup http://www.itcentralstation.com/product_reviews/veeam-backup-review-33904-by-richard-haverly and here's an in-depth review from a user comparing 3PAR to EMC, incase you decide to re-evaluate. http://www.itcentralstation.com/product_reviews/hp-3par-flash-storage-review-32688-by-chris-gurley. Good luck with all your purchasing decisions.