Sharing options when using a PowerVault MD1220 with an R710 & T610 Server

Question

Hi all,

I have two existing servers in my home lab setup, a Dell PE R710 and PE T610 and have used up all the existing drive capacity. So I was looking at a PowerVault MD1220 to add storage capacity. I know I can connect half of the drives to the R710 and then the other half of the drives to the T610 and that is supported configuration. I would then need two H800 cards for that. I guess my question would be, is that best scenario?

What about iSCSI? Is there a speed sacrifice by using iSCSI vs. direct attached storage like the MD1220? What about connecting the MD1220 to just the R710 and then setting the R710 up as an ISCSI target?

Any input/suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!
Josh

DiegoLopez · Accepted Answer

Hello @Legacy777,

Yes, I can confirm you a the MD1220 is a SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) connected external hard drive enclosure. With a 2U rack dense chassis, it can house up to twenty found 2.5" hot-pluggable SAS 6 Gbps (a.k.a. SAS 2.0). The MD1220 is also a DAS (Direct Attached Storage) enclosure that can be connected to a SAS 6Gbps controller for use as a JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks). Alternatively, it can be connected to a Dell PERC H800 host-based RAID controller. When configured in "Unified" mode (rather than in "split backplane" mode), it can be daisy chained with up to three additional MD1220 enclosures. This provides support for up to 96 external hard drives per SAS channel in a 8U rack space.

While a DAS could be better in performance terms, a ISCSI SAN make possible redundant channels and better split and charge loading configurations. So it all depends on how much you want to invest in this configuration and your needs.

Regards.

Legacy777 · Answer

Hi Diego,Thank you very much for the reply, that's exactly the information I was looking for. Josh

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Sharing options when using a PowerVault MD1220 with an R710 & T610 Server

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