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Sebas.NYC
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Q: New XSan setup requirements questions

Hello All,

We're in the process of installing XSan in our facility, swapping out our current SanMP configuration. I had three questions about metadata controllers.

1) How CPU intensive is the XSan MDC function? I wanted to repurpose one of our MacPro 1,1 as an XSan metadata backup controller, but I'm a bit worried that the cpu won't be Zippy enough, it's a 2.8ghz dual-core x2 xeon. This would be the back up controller and exclusively dedicated to the task.

2) I understand that running XSan requires an OS X Server to manage permissions etc. But if I recall from our experience with XSan 1, the MDC could run on OS X client version just fine. The current Apple lit says otherwise. Would I be able to run our backup MDC on OS X client? We already have another xserve functioning as our OD master/file serve. So the Primary MDC running on OS X Server would already be the redundant OD.

3) How fast does the MDC FC connection need to be? If my clients are all on 4/8gb x2 connections, can I run my MDCs on 2gb? or single 4gb? My understanding is they are generally just accessing the metadata LUN, in which case, that LUN itself is the bottle neck to performance.

Thanks in advanced for all your help.

XServe, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Apr 27, 2010 9:40 PM

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Q: New XSan setup requirements questions

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  • by Nicholas Stokes,Helpful

    Nicholas Stokes Nicholas Stokes Apr 27, 2010 10:04 PM in response to Sebas.NYC
    Level 2 (490 points)
    Apr 27, 2010 10:04 PM in response to Sebas.NYC
    Hoorah to you for ditching SanMP.

    Now all the answer I give your are based on my experience, they may not be Apple best practices but they work for me.

    Answer to question #1:
    - That spare MacPro will work fine, but beware I would try to use is as a multi purpose system, use it as a dedicated Backup Xsan MDC with potentially Open Directory configured on it. I would also pack it with at least 6GB to 8GB or RAM

    Answer to question #2:
    - This will work, but I wouldn't recommend you look at how do I get into Xsan using the cheap route, buy Snow Leopard Server it's like $499 I believe for all your MDCs and OD Master for that matter. Just further proof yourself.


    Answer to question #3:
    - This too will work, but again don't go the cheap route with Xsan. It will be managing very important data for you right?

    Hope this helps.

    Nicholas Stokes
    XPlatform Consulting

  • by Strontium90,

    Strontium90 Strontium90 Apr 29, 2010 2:35 PM in response to Sebas.NYC
    Level 5 (4,087 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Apr 29, 2010 2:35 PM in response to Sebas.NYC
    Speaking metadata, I suggest you look into this: http://www.getactivestorage.com/pr041210-1.php

    Active is onto something here and this answers a huge problem when scaling a SAN. Now your storage arrays can all use the max number of drives per box.

    As for your other questions:

    1: CPU is not a huge deal but do things right. Get an MDC and an MDB and let them do just SAN control. Scale your RAM needs to allow for 4 GB of RAM per SAN volume if you are doing AD permissions and (gasp) Spotlight. Thus, if you have one ingest volume and one work volume, have 8 GB of RAM + another 4 for the OS. More is better. Don't expect to use the devices as cluster nodes either. Leave the processing elsewhere.

    2: Using server is recommended and the official way to do it. If you already have an OD Master, then just connect the MDC and MDB to the domain. They do not need to be replicas.

    Just my two cents. Enjoy Xsan.