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  1. #1

    Hardware recomendations for a backup server

    Hi

    We plan to buy a new backupserver, where we want to store the backups of our servers.

    In the past we had the problem that the disk usage is quite high that the IOwait value was always very high.

    Can someone recomend what kind of hardware would be good for a backupserver? We had supermicro servers in the past and would like to continue with them.

    What disks are recomended? SCSI, SATA, SAS?

    What type of CPU should be used?

    Michael

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    140
    Hi Michael,

    How much data are you backing up, over 2TB?
    Are all the servers "local" (at the same location) or at different locations?
    What application/method are you using for backup?
    Can you colo equipment at the DC or only lease what they have?
    Damian | i n f i n i x | Are you a hosting refugee?

  3. #3
    Hi

    At the moment we have about 1.5TB Data which we store on different servers, which we would like to consolidate on one new server.

    All the servers are local and we have access to it. We can put what ever we want to our rack in the datacenter.

    At the moment we use the cpanel backupfiles. Creating them localy on the server and rsync them to the backupsserver.

    But we plan to use a backup software and looking at the moment at r1soft.com.

    Michael

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    140
    A couple of options:

    1. Directly Attached Storage - plug into an existing or mid-spec server: HP MSA 60/70 or Dell PowerVault MD series.

    2. A small SAN device such as HP's MSA10xx <- Much more expensive but more potential for growth (starts at 4TB)

    There is plenty of I/O in each of the above, spec your head-end to your backup software & load estimates (simul backup/restores/client requests). 2xXeon3.0 + 2GB RAM should suffice (fast local disks for the OS/apps and scratch).
    Last edited by Infinix; 01-23-2007 at 11:04 AM.
    Damian | i n f i n i x | Are you a hosting refugee?

  5. #5
    Thanks a lot for the informations. What's the advantage to use one of your solutions instead of just taking a 3H server with 16 SATA 300GB disks and use a 3ware raid controller?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    140
    Well you have more room to grow with a DAS disk shelf, and you can use an existing server. The SAN scales to 48TB but as I mentioned is the most expensive option (but you can also task a slice for other use such as near line storage which will increase it's ROI).

    You can always put a 3ware 9550 or similar into a case and get 16 SATA channels, which will give you 4.8TB of raw space, but I guessed you had already thought of that option and were looking for alternatives.

    With that many disks you need an excellent chassis and DC cooling.
    Damian | i n f i n i x | Are you a hosting refugee?

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