What is the most efficient layout for a server rack?

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I want to create a server rack for Virtual Machines, NAS & also Expand ability such as being able to add more nodes if the current server requires more ram or CPU power.

What would be the best layout? Would it be best to shove all of it into one large 4U server or should I get something like freenas & then VMware on another server?

I am so confused currently as is seems Windows Server 2012 should be could for everything I need whereas other people say that I should get separate server for different things...

It will be a 10GBE rack so if I need multiple servers it shouldn't be an issue
 
Solution
choucove
A NAS is the basic network storage container which shares out data at the file level within the operating system. This is like having a shared folder which you can connect with a mapped network drive in Windows, and access data in that folder on multiple computers. NAS is controlled by your SMB network share protocol and is authenticated usually using things like your user account and password.

SAN stands for Storage Area Network, and is a more complex idea to try and understand. This is a storage container (or groups of containers) on the network which is accessed at the block or physical level. Storage devices that are iSCSI connected can be virtually "attached" to a physical server as if it were physically attached to the...
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choucove

choucove

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It's really hard to make recommendations on what to look for because we don't know what kind of budget you are working with or your intended usage. What will your end operating systems be? Most of the time business servers are intended for consolidating hardware resources and running more of those services in virtual machines. However, some hardware is specialized for performing certain tasks above others. For instance, if you end up building a server system with plenty of processing power and RAM for virtual machines, you might not want to actually run all the storage for those VMs directly on the same physical server. You may want to set up a NAS or SAN to actually store the data for those virtual machines which can then be accessed from multiple separate servers.

Are you looking at purchasing brand new equipment, or used older equipment? And again what OS options are you looking into? Are you looking at VMWare for your hypervisor or Hyper-V in Server 2012?
 
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Hi,

I am looking into purchasing brand spanking new equipment for the servers. Could you tell me the differences between a NAS & a SAN? I have looked on Google but there in no clear explanation.... The operating system I was undecided about because I read that Windows Server 2012 could run VM's as well as be a large NAS. I once again, was reading into a little bit more & it seemed to be more efficient/cost effective to get a SAN or NAS & then run VMWARE ESXI for VM's. My intended use is to have massive amounts of storage for the VM's as well as miscellaneous files such as Movies or Games. My budget varies, we want to start small, like get a SAN/NAS & also a few server for the VM's & then add more the the VM Cluster as well as adding to the SAN/NAS in terms of storage/ Hardware.
 
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choucove

choucove

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A NAS is the basic network storage container which shares out data at the file level within the operating system. This is like having a shared folder which you can connect with a mapped network drive in Windows, and access data in that folder on multiple computers. NAS is controlled by your SMB network share protocol and is authenticated usually using things like your user account and password.

SAN stands for Storage Area Network, and is a more complex idea to try and understand. This is a storage container (or groups of containers) on the network which is accessed at the block or physical level. Storage devices that are iSCSI connected can be virtually "attached" to a physical server as if it were physically attached to the hardware in essence. Instead of just a folder hosting data that you connect to with a username and password, a server instead uses the iSCSI protocol to connect through a network to a physical drive (or virtual drive depending upon your configuration) which it has access to at the hardware level and not just through file shares.

SANs are expensive and very high performance devices for clustered environments. You can build your own SAN using standard server equipment and iSCSI configuration. Everyone is going to have different opinions and favorites for how to do this, but one nice thing is that, yes, with Microsoft Windows Server 2012 you can do EVERYTHING with it. You can build your NAS or SAN on it, you can run virtual machines in a highly available cluster environment, and you can run it in your VMs as well. Given all the features available, it does end up usually being the most cost effective solution.
 
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So, a SAN sounds like what we need... Do you think we should build a SAN with all the nodes connect with vmware ESXI or should we just use Windows Server for EVERYTHING in a single box which can be expanded upon?

 
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choucove

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A single box is not the solution. Even with Windows or ESXi you're looking at multiple servers to accomplish the overall goal here. ESXi and Hyper-V in Microsoft are just the tools by which you actually create virtual machines and run them. You have to buy the Microsoft licensing for Server 2012 anyways for your individual VMs, but that also includes the ability to do virtualization, where as with ESXi you still have additional licensing to purchase to do that portion. Still, it just comes down to personal preference. If you know how to work with ESXi, use that.

There are going to be several components to a virtualization cluster. First you are going to have your compute node. This is at least one server which will have the processing and memory capabilities to run your virtual machines. Depending upon the number of VMs you have, the demand, and available server configurations, you may use more than one physical server to run a greater number of VMs. Then, you need to have some form of high performance shared storage. If you are using Server 2012 you CAN use a NAS to host virtual machine hard drives for use on VMs in other servers. Otherwise you are looking at iSCSI or SAS connected SANs. There are SO many things to take into consideration with this that it is impossible to really cover without having a much more detailed idea of your needs, your environment, the demand you will be facing, the amount of growth you are expecting, your projected budget, etc. This is really an enterprise environment that you are talking about.

You can set up a basic two-node cluster with a few server systems for relatively cheap and easy, but it's not going to be something incredibly high performance either most likely. But it's a good way to learn it and get started. I can't really make any recommendations to you though without knowing much more about your intended usage and environment.
 
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Okay, so right now ESXI sounds like the best solution for the large Visualization Cluster but I don't know what OS I would use for the SAN. Can you give me any recommendations like Windows Server 2012? Also can I use regular SATA Hard Drives for SCSI?
 
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choucove

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If you are using ESXi then you will either need to set up an enterprise SAN server for iSCSI using Windows Storage Server 2012 or similar, or get an enterprise SAN device specifically built for that usage. There's no installing the OS on these types of devices and configuring it. Think of it as a very powerful RAID controller.

I would highly suggest you take a while to first play with your virtualization software before you look into further complicating things with a SAN device. This is a huge undertaking and takes a lot of know-how and hands on work to learn how to make it work properly. Start with a single server. Buy something cheap off of Ebay even. Set up your hypervisor and start installing some virtual machines. Once you are comfortable with that inside and out, then you can research more on what a SAN is. Yes, it's possible to build your own, but is that going to be the most preferred method for a true cluster datacenter environment? No.
 
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HI, sorry it has been so long.... I haven't been home for a week. But while I was out I have been looking into SAN's and whatnot a bit more. I have come to the conclusion that I will use ISCSI on freenas and also use ZFS for the storage... I will then create the visualization cluster with VMware ESXI. This will be an axciting project & also a very large one.

Thank you for your help! I couldn't have done it without you!
 
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