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san advice
we’re a small editorial boutique w/4 2x3ghz quad core workstations running 10.5.8. the boxes are all kona 3’s w/bobs and atto fc42es fibre cards. we have a pair of fibres running to each workstation in additon to hd coax, machine control, etc. also have a blackmagic workhub.
i have an apple xsan (~2006 model), an infortrend 4gb 8tb array, and a gtech gspeed.
the san’s got a qlogic sanbox 5200 2gb switch and an xserve and i *think* we have 5 xsan seats.
the connectors to the san are 4gb finistars (sp?).we do mostly creative editorial and finish an occasional project in house. most of our editorial work is done locally off fw800 drives working at prores hq. we’re currently working on a feature @ prores and it’s on the xsan. only one of the cutting rooms is on the san. we also move files around via gige network.
i would say i’m about 3/4’s of the way through wiring this place.
my question: if i upgrade the switch to a 4gb model, will i have the option to work off any of these drives at any resolution i want? i.e. keep pro res stuff on the xsan and maybe do more uncompressed work on the infortrend from any of the rooms? or will performance drop based on the slowest device on the chain? should i just stick w/the 2gb switch and just run this gear into the ground and wait for a better solution down the road? will the xsan play w/the other drives?
figured i’d post here for some feedback before formulating a plan of attack.
thanks.
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2 Replies
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The “piecemeal” approach to SAN upgrades is tough. It is great to start fresh, but if budget is a concern you will have to take the most important sections at a time.
Your infrastructure will be the first bottle neck. If your arrays can’t handle your expectations, nothing will follow. Benchmark those, maybe add an additional RAID, bump your switch, and you might be able to hit some pretty decent numbers. Remember that cables and SFPs can wear out, so you might have to replace some of those if you are seeing issues outside of this upgrade.
-Jordan
Senior Systems Engineer
Active Storage
Los Angeles, CA -
thanks.
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