VMware NAS/iSCSI recommendations - smallish organization

Posted by Bubnoff on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by Bubnoff
Published on 2011-01-13T23:38:09Z Indexed on 2011/01/13 23:55 UTC
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virtualization

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nas

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iscsi

I have two VMware servers - ESX + ESXi. Two backup NAS boxes. The current NAS boxes are low-cost and unsuitable for running VMs from. Support NFS only. Slow.

My plan is to have a dedicated iSCSI/NAS for storing and running VMs. Two additional low-cost boxes for backup.

I'm looking for advice regarding 2 things really:

Recommendations as far as VMware architecture/design for a smaller organization. Less than 20 Virtual Machines. 2 servers + 2 x 1.5 terabyte backup NAS boxes.
A good NAS/iSCSI box with your recommendation on RAID config ...I would go with 6 or better.

I'm trying to design an installation that is both fast and reliable/redundant. If you have any experiences to share or your current configuration including network design ( switches, fiber ...etc ), I will be enormously thankful. I'm not married to this idea, so if you have a design not using iSCSI NAS boxes ...let er rip. Cost? Can we stay around $5,000 ( on top of already stated components )?

Links to info are welcome also.

Thanks for reading!

Bubnoff

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