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An SSD, NIC & RAM Question

This is for a large commercial installation.  Services on this appliance will be full guard with top of the line XEON processors and loads of RAM.

I was originally going to be using 2 600GB SAS 15k drives in a RAID1 Mirror (similar to a 625 appliance) but I then thought that 2 500GB SSD drives (Crucial) in a RAID1 may have a good effect for web proxy and just general access times.

So I then read that there are some issues with TRIM and SSD's not working quite right until v9 comes out.  Are these concerns real and I should just use SAS drives?  Are there certain SSDs that are approved for commercial use?

Secondly, I am looking at a super micro chasis/mobo that has 4 intel internal NIC cards.  Are there any advantages to using Intel PCI-E gigabit NIC cards over the internal super micro intel nice?

Thirdly, is there a maximum amount of RAM that Astaro will recognize?  If I load this thing up with 48/96GB of RAM will this help or is it just going to stop utilizing it after a certain level, e.g. 8 or 16GB?

Thanks

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0 BarryG over 13 years ago

Hi, there are 'Enterprise' SSDs, but they are extremely expensive.

As long as the onboard Intel NICs are recognized by Astaro, they should work fine.

I don't know how much RAM the proxy will use, but I'd suggest starting with 8GB and seeing how it does. Make sure you choose the 64-bit version during installation.

If your load is extremely high, you may wish to consider an active-active dual server configuration, otherwise an active-passive would be a good idea if high uptime is desired.

Barry
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0 William Warren over 13 years ago

This is for a large commercial installation.  Services on this appliance will be full guard with top of the line XEON processors and loads of RAM.

I was originally going to be using 2 600GB SAS 15k drives in a RAID1 Mirror (similar to a 625 appliance) but I then thought that 2 500GB SSD drives (Crucial) in a RAID1 may have a good effect for web proxy and just general access times.

So I then read that there are some issues with TRIM and SSD's not working quite right until v9 comes out.  Are these concerns real and I should just use SAS drives?  Are there certain SSDs that are approved for commercial use?

Secondly, I am looking at a super micro chasis/mobo that has 4 intel internal NIC cards.  Are there any advantages to using Intel PCI-E gigabit NIC cards over the internal super micro intel nice?

Thirdly, is there a maximum amount of RAM that Astaro will recognize?  If I load this thing up with 48/96GB of RAM will this help or is it just going to stop utilizing it after a certain level, e.g. 8 or 16GB?

Thanks

SSD's in RAID 1 is going to be serious overkill.   Your twin 15k drives should more than suffice.  How many users and what features are you going to be using?

4 intel nics internal should be just fine without having to worry.  The only advantages would be dependent on the chipsets used in the internal nics.  Which super-micro board?

The only thing limiting you on ram is the chipset on the motherbaord...as above which board?

going above 16 gigs might not be helpful depending on the load.  Please provide full details on your deployment scenario.

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0 BrucekConvergent over 13 years ago in reply to William Warren

I would not use SSDs in this box... ASG does not have TRIM support as of yet.

The Intel NICs on most Supermicro boards should be fine.... just check the chipset against the HCL. I do like using cards, as those can be swapped if something gets cooked.

If you are really looking at an Enterprise application, consider building 2 and running them in HA mode.

CTO, Convergent Information Security Solutions, LLC

https://www.convergesecurity.com

Advice given as posted on this forum does not construe a support relationship or other relationship with Convergent Information Security Solutions, LLC or its subsidiaries. Use the advice given at your own risk.
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