Re: Storage strategies

[rob@xxxxxxxxx]

Three ways to skin that cat pop to mind.

One is the iSCSI solution.  However, with that you still do not have 
granular save/restores available.  For example you either restore the 
entire server, or nothing at all if you get a request to restore a 
particular spreadsheet.  Here, we enhance our iSCSI experience with Tivoli 
Storage Manager, or TSM.  Since IBM dropped i5/os as a viable platform for 
TSM you'll need to put in on a Linux lpar or some such animal.  We have it 
on a Linux lpar.  We use it to back up all clients and non i5/os based 
servers.

You could use NetServer.  However the performance is not there.  In fact, 
I can use the same disk drives, etc, and run it on an IXS card and get 
better performance.  Last time I compared though was a release or two ago.

Linux lpar for file or print serving...  Granted if one of your servers is 
running SQL Server that won't buy you much.

Instead of iSCSI how's about i5/os on a blade based power 6?  It's a ways 
out there yet.  Then both wintel blads and i5/os blades would have their 
storage on a SAN.  I really don't know squat about SANs so I can't tell 
you about the granularity of backups with that solution.

You will not be able to control a i5/os power 6 blade via iSCSI.  IBM was 
rather scratching their heads on that one.  Perhaps they felt that you 
should just lpar that or some such thing?

Rob Berendt