e2010 server build. need advice on SAN or NAS

[mlchris2]

Ive been asked to plan an upgrade to e2010 from e2003. I've also been asked to think about using the new Archiving features and implement a 7 year retention policy. The server I was planning on using was a single server with 2 RAID arrays; RAID1 (120GB) for OS and RAID5 (750GB) for EXCH data. We have about 75 mailboxes, about 50 users.

Now that I need to plan for the Archiving and the 7yr retention, I need to make some changes to the server/disk configuration I believe.

I have done some research and haven't come across an answer to my question... Can I use single server that runs e2010 and then have a NAS with 1-2TB of space that stores the exch db???

Mark C.

 

[mlchris2]

update...

Could I use a DAS attached to the e2010 server instead of a NAS with iSCSI SAN capabilities (windows 2008 Storage Server 64bit)???

Mark C.

 

[58sniper]

NAS isn't supported. It needs to be SAN (fibre or iSCSI), DAS, or JBOD.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[mlchris2]

ok, thanks Pat. I am looking at upgrading server or going the SAN or DAS route. Im not familiar with either of those so I will be doing research.

Mark C.

 

[58sniper]

For 75 users, DAS is likely going to be the best solution from a cost perspective.

Just a note that RAID5 isn't the best solution for Exchange (2007 or 2010). It's a performance bottleneck. Use the Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator to figure out the best setup for your needs.

Pat Richard MVP
Plan for performance, and capacity takes care of itself. Plan for capacity, and suffer poor performance.

http://www.ucblogs.net/blogs/exchange/

 

[mlchris2]

that is what I am thinking as well. I've got a management group that wants all the bells and whistles but doesn't want to pay for them. I'm sure we all know how it goes.

I ran the calculator and the results show RAID 5 as the Optimal RAID configuration...

Mark C.