From: Kirk Bocek <t004 at kbocek.com> > Yes, I understand. I also don't have an unlimited budget > If I can get most of the benefit without needing a $300-800 > add-on, that's a big plus. You're talking about an $500-600 mainboard. Then you're talking about $500-800 _per_ dual-core CPU. And then you're gotta factor in the Registered ECC RAM costs. And you're worried about a $125 (3Ware Escalade 8006-2) or $300 (3Ware Escalade 8506-4) controller? Furthermore, the SATA on the nForce MCP is typically only a single, 133MBps PCIe x1 channel. You'll get 533MBps out of the 8506-4 in a PCI slot at 64-bit @ 66MHz. > I conceptually understand iSCSI, but how would I use a GbE > NIC in a backup solution? What do you think iSCSI is? It's storage over IP, but just with an additional a host processor in the GbE to off-load overhead. If you don't have the money for a HBA GbE, then just do straight GbE. Build an out-of-band IP network segmented off on a 2nd GbE connection in each system. [ HINT: I'm exploring the issues of real-time backup and discuss near-line storage, virtual tape libraries and, in a future article after that, out-of-band networks and "cheap" SANs. All from the standpoint of a sysadmin, and not so much network/storage engineering. ] > Don't forget that a backup solution would depend on > hot-pluggability. That's why I was thinking of USB/IEEE- > 1394. Mistake on a server. You don't want to hot-plug consumer interconnects. One issue, bam! Kernel panic. Use an out-of-band IP network over a 2nd GbE connection to what you need elsewhere on the network. I have been recommending this where cost is a factor. > Cool, I will take a look at HP's offerings. Do you have any > motherboards alone that you would recommend? It's difficult because of the limited designs. A lot of mainboards "cut corners" for cost considerations. Even the Tyan 4885 puts _all_ I/O on _one_ CPU. The HP DL585 follows the AMD reference. -- Bryan J. Smith mailto:b.j.smith at ieee.org