Need help recommending a high end workstation with 6TB of storage...

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tigercorp

662 posts

Ultimate Geek

#112725 18-Dec-2012 12:35

I've never been much of a desktop hardware guy and don't have much time to research so hopefully someone can help.

The short story is that a customer needs to replicate our server based solution onto a workstation form factor which will be transferred to another site.
It can't be a server as it'll never be racked and this workaround is temporary in nature.

The software is MS SQL Server based and will access 6TB of storage that will be local to the workstation.

The client software itself normally runs on a high end HP Z420 workstation so I was thinking the 'server' can also do the same but I'm not sure if it can hold 6TB of fast storage.

In an a perfect world I'd like a single box containing:
- 8 core CPU
- 16 GB RAM
- 2 x 128 GB SSD in Raid 1 for OS and application
- 6 TB of 10k Raid 10 (for performance) disk

Is this possible? If not then whats the next best option to get 6 TB of fastest reads possible with some level of raid/redundancy.

Thanks!

clinty

1129 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#734276 18-Dec-2012 12:44

HI,

An HP ML350p Gen8 server can do that, and is available in full tower format as well as rack.

What OS do you need to run?

PM me and i can get you a pricing

Clint

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clinty

1129 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#734285 18-Dec-2012 12:50

The HP Z620 or 820 workstation can do RAID 10 with SATA 7200RPM up to 14TB. 10K up to 3.6TB if you are happy with 6 cores instead of 8

this is the base models but can have them custom ordered

Intel Xeon E5-2620 Six Core 2GHz 15MB Cache 1333Mhz 95W Processor, 16GB DDR3 1600 MHz Ram (4X4GB), 1X 256GB Solid State Drive and 1X 1TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, nVidia Quadro 4000 2GB Dedicated Graphics Card, 16X SuperMulti DVDRW, USB Optical Mouse, USB Standard Keyboard, 850W 88% Efficent Power Supply, Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit Preinstalled with 64 Bit Media.

edit: removed previous post as redundant

Zeon

3876 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#734290 18-Dec-2012 12:59

No point buying overpriced HP SAS disks. If you can't get the IOPs you need from SATA in RAID 10 either look for pure SSD (which is infinitely faster and probably the same price as HP SAS disks) or hybrid SSD/SATA array using an LSI or Adaptec RAID controller with SSD caching.

If its just for backup and won't be processing queries I doubt you will need the huge IOPs in any case so SATA should suffice.

Speedtest 2019-10-14

tigercorp

662 posts

Ultimate Geek

#734347 18-Dec-2012 14:28

clinty: The HP Z620 or 820 workstation can do RAID 10 with SATA 7200RPM up to 14TB. 10K up to 3.6TB if you are happy with 6 cores instead of 8

....

Brilliant, thanks for that, I didn't know about the 620/820 options. Also the revised estimate on storage is now closer to 8TB so the 7.2k rpm looks more and more likely just from a cost point of view.
I appreciate the offer but a quote isn't required as I'll be passing the info on to the customer in Aus for them to source.

Zeon: ...

If its just for backup and won't be processing queries I doubt you will need the huge IOPs in any case so SATA should suffice.

Big IOPs in short bursts are desirable but that's the performance hit they'll have to take if they want to save money on a workstation/sata based solution.

I know its how long is a piece of string question but for 8TB of fast redundant storage at a 'reasonable' price, a bunch of large 7.2k drives in RAID 10 is the way to go, right?

Zeon

3876 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#734390 18-Dec-2012 15:43

tigercorp:
clinty: The HP Z620 or 820 workstation can do RAID 10 with SATA 7200RPM up to 14TB. 10K up to 3.6TB if you are happy with 6 cores instead of 8

....

Brilliant, thanks for that, I didn't know about the 620/820 options. Also the revised estimate on storage is now closer to 8TB so the 7.2k rpm looks more and more likely just from a cost point of view.
I appreciate the offer but a quote isn't required as I'll be passing the info on to the customer in Aus for them to source.

Zeon: ...

If its just for backup and won't be processing queries I doubt you will need the huge IOPs in any case so SATA should suffice.

Big IOPs in short bursts are desirable but that's the performance hit they'll have to take if they want to save money on a workstation/sata based solution.

I know its how long is a piece of string question but for 8TB of fast redundant storage at a 'reasonable' price, a bunch of large 7.2k drives in RAID 10 is the way to go, right?

Yea SATA should be fine in RAID 10, might be worth looking at a RAID card though as you will at least get offloading of storage from the CPU and also the cache. If you go with an HP workstation perhaps a a p410 which i think is there medium level card used these days.

Speedtest 2019-10-14

clinty

1129 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#734495 18-Dec-2012 18:21

Yep, would definitely look at separate card with good cache and battery backup