SATA, SAS or SSD

[bsa-nc]

Putting together specs for a new 2008 R2 server that will definitely host many VMs. 20-25 users with growth to 50.

So far, the specs are:

(1) COOLER MASTER HAF 932 Case (Have found no better case for air flow issues)
(1) Cooler Master Silent Pro M850 PSU RSA00-AMBAJ3-US Active PFC PSU (One of the few w/2 CPU 12v Connectors)
(1) SUPERMICRO MBD-X8DTH-6F-O Motherboard
(2) Intel Xeon DP Quad-core E5520 Processors (Board will allow X5500 Series as future prices drop)
(2) 6 (3x2) 1333 Registered Memory module kits, (6M for each processor to start)

Was planning (2) Velocity raptor 300G RAID 1 for OS and (2) WD Blacks 1T RAID 1, for Data storage. (SQL, Exchange Store, other Dbs, documents, etc.)

The MB supports 6 SAS or SATA drives using LSI RAID for SAS and Intel for SATA.

Primary Boot Server
Windows Server 2008 R2 64 Bit Standard Edition
SQL Server Standard Edition 64 Bit 2008
Systems Center Data Protection

Exchange VM Server
Windows Server 2008 R2 64 Bit Standard Edition
Exchange Server Standard 2007 X64
SharePoint Server 2007 Standard

Web IIS VM Server
Windows Web Server 2008 R2
Dedicated Web Application available to the outside world which does not connect/require to internal assets.
Believe this is the best way to prevent possible intrusion to the internal assets, HTTP is only required.

Legacy-1 VM Server
Windows Server 2008 Standard 32 Bit Edition
(Still have some legacy 32/16 Apps that won't run on 64-bit OS)

Legacy-2 VM Server
Windows Server 2008 Standard 32 Bit Edition
Application Testing for 32 Applications on 32 Bit OS

Lynx VM Server
Red Hat
Need for testing Lynx Fileserver features with Win OS clients connected to a lynx server.

In theory, the Boot OS for the primary and secondary VMs would be configured to use the Raptors for Boot and related core applications. The VMs would also be configured to access a Drive D partition on the WD Blacks for their respective Data.

Should I be considering SAS drives for the Boot OS (Drive C)? If so, would 300G be enough space to provide for future growth? Are there any brands that you have found to be better than others?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[evongugg]

SAS=SCSI=manageability, especially under load and also better prefailure diagnostics and tuning capability. Spendy and low capacity

SATA=value, capacity and adequate performance for many loads but be aware that 99%+ of SATA drives aren't designed to work 24/7/365 under duress. Also putting them under busy server workloads can dramatically affect their MTBF.