-
NAS/SAN – Storage Advice Before I buy
Hey everyone!
I need some advice or feedback… We are a fast growing company that is outgrowing our storage needs, and are looking to upgrade.
We are looking for a scalable storage solution that can:
Grow with us and is easy to scale and maintain.
Support different storage pools with different speeds and configurations to be tuned for our specific user needs (see below)…Designers:
Work with large files such as psd, ia, and a little bit of videoVideo Editors:
Work with everything from HD to 6k footage and need a lot of bandwidth for editing with streams from the storage serverBusiness User:
Work with standard business apps and files such as excel, pdf, keynote, ppt, etc…So the storage must be configured to all us to meet the needs of video, design, business storage, and dumb storage (archiving and backup).
The system are looking real hard at is iXsystem for a TrueNAS unit. We posted a few questions about storage here, but I would like your opinion about the specs and if you think this solution is an excellent one. Have in mind that our main requirements are: easy to manage, easy and cheap to scale (grow as we grow).
* TrueNAS Z35 3U (ZFS – NFS, CIFS, HTTP, FTP, iSCSI, AFP – Snapshots, Compression, Shadow Migration, Cloning, Remote Replication)
– 16 x 3.5″ Caching SAS Drive Bays
– 256 RAM
– TrueNAS Extreme-Performance Write Cache (SZR)
– TrueNAS High-Performance Read Cache: 800GB SSD
– TrueNAS 10 Gigabit Quad Port Controller
– Zpool #1 – VM OS Storage – (5 x 400GB SSD) – 2 x 400GB vdevs in RAID10 + 1 x 400GB Hot Spare ~745GB Usable
– Zpool #2 – Fast Storage (38 x 4TB SAS) – 18 vdevs (4TB Mirrors) in RAID10 + 2 x 4TB Hot Spares ~64.8TB Usable
-Zpool #3 – Backup Repository (24 x 4TB SAS) – 4 x 16TB vdevs (5 x 4TB) in RAIDZ + 2 x 4TB Hot Spares ~58.4TB Usable
Questions:
This system is being quoted for around $90k. What do you think about the company, system, and specs? Fair Priced?
How is ZFS file systems for a NAS/SAN and would it meet all our needs or is there a better option that you might know of?
What concerns would you have?
Can it scale well?
Is there a much cheaper solution that we should look hard at?
Thanks again and would love any feedback / suggestions (even willing to pay for consulting)
Cheers!
-
5 Replies
-
Hi Will,
I work for Maxx Digital and I can check to see if we can do it for a cheaper cost if you are interested? I can also get out workflow specialist involved also.
Thanks will and good luck!
Ryan
-
Hi Will –
always fascinated by posts like yours. You obviously read Creative Cow. You obviously see the countless forums that offer shared storage on Creative Cow. You obviously have a budget – you are willing to spend $90,000. I assume that your company has competitors, and I assume that you have seen some shared storage systems at your competitors, of which I bet NONE are TrueNAS.So instead of answering your question, I have a question for you –
when you can consider proven systems from these companies –
Edit Share
Facilis
Studio Network Solutions
GB Labs
LumaForge
ProMax
Archion
Maxx Digital
Small Tree
AVID ISIS 5500
Quantum StorNext
Apple XSAN
Tiger Technology
and even NetApp (there was just a big article on Cow on this)
and of course, the “cheapie” NAS solutions with 10G from –
QNAP
Synology
Thecus
Netgear ReadyNas
OWC JupiterWHY ON EARTH would you consider TrueNAS, with SO MANY proven solutions, all of which cost less than $90,000. Exactly what are you looking for, that these proven brands, that are discussed on Creative Cow on a daily basis, cannot offer you ?
bob Zelin
Bob Zelin
Rescue 1, Inc.
bobzelin@icloud.com -
Sorry I can’t answer really any of your questions -but thought I would point to another vendor that you might look into.
https://www.promax.com builds systems more specific to video editing, but I am in a similar situation as you – looking for a backup and workspace system used by photographers, designers, videographers and editors, as well as typical business user access.
The Promax system looked very capable, but I’m not sure about cost differences. I did like their UI and minor project management integration for the admin side of it. They have other add on units as well that I did not inquire about, but might be more useful for you.
For us, cost is going to be the breaking point, I think.
-Kyle
-
Will and Kyle,
I can help you with what you guys are looking for at a good price point. Feel free to shoot me an email ryan@maxxdigital.com and I can give you a free quote on the systems from Promax and other company’s.
Hope I can help,
Ryan
-
Take a look at Archion’s Editstor EO system. https://www.archion.com
A NAS designed for Media.
James Tucci
Archion
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up