New build for XenServer iSCSI Storage Repository

[pvanulden]

Hello!

Putting together a custom build for FreeNAS which will be used as a storage repository to host XenServer VMs and I'm looking for any and all recommendations. Here is what I have so far:

1) LCAP capable switch which will sit between the host servers (Dell R310s) and the FreeNAS box

2) FreeNAS hardware:

Supermicro X9SCL+-F-B mATX LGA1155 DDR3 ECC 2GBE IPMI 3PCIE 6SATA2 9USB2.0 Motherboard OEM (MIN. 10)
Intel Xeon E3 1230 V2 Quad Core Processor 3.3GHZ 8MB LGA1155 69W Retail Box
6x Western Digital Red 2TB SATA3 64MB Cache 3.5in Internal Hard Disk Drive HDD
2x Kingston KVR1333D3E9SK2/16G 16GB 2X8GB Kits DDR3-1333 CL9 DIMM ECC Dual Channel Memory

The plan is to setup a mirrored volume out of he 6x 2TB drives which would give 6TB of usable space. I know I could use a stripe volume to get more space but performance is more important in our situation. Also, I was thinking about getting an SSD for the ZIL but I think I will hold off and see how the performance is first.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

 

[pvanulden]

Just thought I would pipe in here to say that all is well with the new server. It is definitely a huge upgrade with respect to data throughput over the Iomega storcenter that we were using previously.

 

[vangroover]

Did you manage to get the XS Tools installed? Or are you running in legacy mode?

 

[Makje]

What kind of VMs are you running and how are you connecting to it? NFS or iSCSI ?
Are you using a LCAP trunk for your 2 gbit NICs? I've heard that NFS doesn't use both connections very well, how is it working out for you?

 

[pvanulden]

Did you manage to get the XS Tools installed? Or are you running in legacy mode?

I'm not running FreeNAS in XenServer. I'm using FreeNAS as a storage repository for VM disks.

 

[pvanulden]

What kind of VMs are you running and how are you connecting to it? NFS or iSCSI ?
Are you using a LCAP trunk for your 2 gbit NICs? I've heard that NFS doesn't use both connections very well, how is it working out for you?

We are a small company and use XenServer to host our secondary internal network services as well as development and staging servers for our web projects. OS's include Windows Server 2003-2008 R2, Windows XP/7, CentOS and FreeBSD. There are roughly 20 VM's running on three (3) Dell R310's. The FreeNAS SR is connected via iSCSI using LCAP with both NICs on it's own private network via a Netgear GS108T-200. We use NFS to connect to some other SR's on the network.

Performance is decent. You can definitely notice a slow down if there is heavy I/O so I wouldn't recommend it for applications which you expect that from. Overall, it works very well for us.