State of Storage in SMB and enterprise (discussion and giveaway) #HPStorage

Forums › IT Pro and developers › State of Storage in SMB and enterprise (discussion and giveaway) #HPStorage

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

1585 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#720611 21-Nov-2012 10:18

An element in the whole topic of Storage is data protection and conforming to laws regarding the retention of data... how long should you be keeping data for?

The little things make the biggest difference.

webfish

35 posts

Geek

#720620 21-Nov-2012 10:24

Another note about using NAS storage over a network.

We run InDesign and this generates an .IDLK (In Design Lock File) when you open your main ID document. We have had issues when opening ID files off the NAS over our network where both files become completely corrupted and with total unrepairable data loss of that job. For that reason we NEVER open an InDesign document directly off the NAS, only off our working drive which is simply a shared foder on a networked PC.

I have never got to the bottom of this problem so if anyone has an idea ?

Note: All other file types are fine. PDF, Ai, EPS, PSD ... just not .indd !

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79270 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#720627 21-Nov-2012 10:37

Well, you shouldn't open Outlook PST files over the network either as you will find yourself in deep trouble, pretty much like the ID files you mentioned...

gjm

808 posts

Ultimate Geek

#720643 21-Nov-2012 10:57

Is anyone else subject to PRA compliance? This alone means we have to store huge amounts of data that we could otherwise delete. Having just a backup on tape doesnt really cut it so we have to store everything on disk as well as tape.

Do surveys for Beer money (referral link) - Octopus Group

Link for buying beer (not affiliated, just like beer) - Good George

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79270 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#720648 21-Nov-2012 11:02

For you folks using tape... When you folks do backup, do you dump to disk first for speed, then to tape, or backup directly to tape?

This is in special for that case with BackupExec not ending a backup before the next one should kick in...

Shindig

1585 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#720649 21-Nov-2012 11:04

All primary storage is disk (MagLib) and then goes off to tape as Aux copy.
For one off server backups, where for example the VM is being decommission, the backup is direct to tape.

The little things make the biggest difference.

networkn

Networkn
32351 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#720651 21-Nov-2012 11:05

freitasm: For you folks using tape... When you folks do backup, do you dump to disk first for speed, then to tape, or backup directly to tape?

This is in special for that case with BackupExec not ending a backup before the next one should kick in...

We have both options, but honestly, it's not THAT much faster than a decent LTO with a Decent Controller, so usually we don't bother, as the cost of storage + Tape.....

Wise

Send money globally for less with Wise - one free transfer up to NZ$900 (affiliate link).

gjm

808 posts

Ultimate Geek

#720652 21-Nov-2012 11:08

I used to do everything to tape directly but found my backup window was getting pushed pretty far. Have recently started using Veeam Backup and Replication as a lot of my servers are virtual and it is making a very big difference.

I now dump the VM backups directly to NAS and then come along during the day on copy to tape as well. Still have the problem with backing up physical servers but now my backups are normally finished by 2am, at least for my daily incrementals. Weekend fulls are a different story...

Do surveys for Beer money (referral link) - Octopus Group

Link for buying beer (not affiliated, just like beer) - Good George

networkn

Networkn
32351 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#720653 21-Nov-2012 11:08

We like VM Explorer for Vmware Backups.

indiginz

15 posts

Geek

#720773 21-Nov-2012 14:30

Hi there, i'm a photographer and have 3 hard drives for storage and back up. But I'm a little old school too I guess.
I also back up my photofiles to DVD. They are not my main back up or storage and yes i do know how unreliable dvd's can be.
I don't actually use them or view them and hopefully I will have to because my digital storage wont crap out on me.
BUT if they did!
And think about. DVD's will survive water damage, like floods, a leaking roof or tsunami's. The harddrives and computers wont. One day DVD's will be obsolete, mocies are already dying out. But as long as my dvd drive works I'll continue to do this.

Himiona

maxNaughty

3 posts

Wannabe Geek

#720849 21-Nov-2012 16:19

My home office has Gb network infrastructure with 2x NAS drives (1x RAID 5 4Tb + 1x mirrored 2Tb for a total 6Tb) and an HP ML110 running Windows Server 2008 with a 1Tb mirrored drive array.
There are 4x laptops, 3x smartphones, 2x tablets, 2x Xbox 360's, 1 LG Smart TV, Web server and Security DVR + 4 cameras on the LAN.
We have a VDSL connection (28Mb down / 10Mb up) with a 150Gb data cap from Vibe Communications + 2x VOIP lines.

The RAID 5 NAS uses active directory via the server to control access and has all the business data + a media share.
The Mirrored NAS has the family files + media and has dynamic shares with different permissions.

The major issue we have is the rate at which our storage requirements are growing. With most of the family now carrying digital cameras we are continually running out of storage.
All the key files are backed up via a 2Tb external drive that sits in the boot of my car and gets sync'd each weekend, but we will soon replace this with the old 4Tb NAS and install a new 12Tb NAS.

The NAS drives support setting quotas for each of the shares and send alerts when they reach 90% capacity.
I use Solarwinds to manage our network.

Currently HP provide the laptops, server, webserver and 1x Gb switch.

The NAS drives, server, web server, VDSL router and Gb switch sit in a rack in my office (picture attached).

Mark :-)

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#720875 21-Nov-2012 16:52

freitasm: Does anyone have pictures of their SMB or enterprise setups?

Running this QNAP NAS in our Lab Environment as a large NFS storage location for our ESXi cluster. It's got 5x3TB disks so 12TB usable. The beauty of the QNAP was I was able to easily move 9TB of data from one site which was a restricted area with no internet access to our lab.

There are bucket loads of SAN and backup which I have network access to (I forget how many TB there are, but there is a lot).. But don't have physical access so can't take a photo.

plambrechtsen

1948 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#720878 21-Nov-2012 16:57

webfish: Another note about using NAS storage over a network.

We run InDesign and this generates an .IDLK (In Design Lock File) when you open your main ID document. We have had issues when opening ID files off the NAS over our network where both files become completely corrupted and with total unrepairable data loss of that job. For that reason we NEVER open an InDesign document directly off the NAS, only off our working drive which is simply a shared foder on a networked PC.

I have never got to the bottom of this problem so if anyone has an idea ?

Note: All other file types are fine. PDF, Ai, EPS, PSD ... just not .indd !

Are you sure it's not opening with some opportunistic locking depending on if you mount the NAS via AFP or CIFS.
Have you tried disabling oplocks on your NAS, re-mounting the filesystem and see if that fixes the problem?