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Thread: RAID Config for New Exchange 2003 Box

  1. #1
    Dave Leonardi Guest

    RAID Config for New Exchange 2003 Box

    Good Afternoon,

    I had a question regarding what type of Raid Configuration is most
    likely the best to use with an exchange 2003 Server.
    I was told a Raid 0+1 is the most practical, but I am unaware how to layout
    the disk design. I was wondering if someone can assist with a solution and
    how would I set up the array. I know I'm going to use smaller, faster 15K
    SCSI drives possibly 36Gb. I want to setup the disk storage to the best
    configuration for performance.Thank you.

    Brand New DELL PE Server Specs:

    Exchange Server 2003
    Win3K Server Enterprise Box
    4GB Ram
    Unknown Hard Drives, Possibly Six 36GB Drives


    OS will be mirrored
    Transaction logs will be on their own disks
    Information store will be on their own disks

    Information Store is currently about 2-3 GB with minimal growth in future
    200-250 End Users

  2. #2
    David Strome Guest
    hi Dave.

    I wouldn't recommend RAID 0+1 for your implementation. A simple RAID5 setup
    will do just fine. The performance increase in using RAID 0+1 will be
    negligible. The fault tolerance is not an improvement over RAID5. It's far
    more expensive to implement.

    I implement Exchange servers in environments similar to yours as:

    mirror OS (controller 0)
    seperate mirror Logs (controller 0)
    RAID5 stores (controller 1) minimum four drives, preferably 5 or 6 just to
    spread the operations across more spindles.
    either a global hot spare and/or a good support contract (I use Gold support
    4x7x24 with Dell)

    That's my ideal config anyways. If money is short, combine the OS and logs,
    but still keep the stores on their own RAID5. A PE4600 with a split
    backplane and drive cage will allow that config. You might have to go to a
    PE2600 with a PV220 to do the config above.




    "Dave Leonardi" <Cyberaccount72@yahoo.com> wrote in message
    news:OJUjtC%23YFHA.1868@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
    Good Afternoon,

    I had a question regarding what type of Raid Configuration is most
    likely the best to use with an exchange 2003 Server.
    I was told a Raid 0+1 is the most practical, but I am unaware how to
    layout the disk design. I was wondering if someone can assist with a
    solution and how would I set up the array. I know I'm going to use
    smaller, faster 15K SCSI drives possibly 36Gb. I want to setup the disk
    storage to the best configuration for performance.Thank you.

    Brand New DELL PE Server Specs:

    Exchange Server 2003
    Win3K Server Enterprise Box
    4GB Ram
    Unknown Hard Drives, Possibly Six 36GB Drives


    OS will be mirrored
    Transaction logs will be on their own disks
    Information store will be on their own disks

    Information Store is currently about 2-3 GB with minimal growth in future
    200-250 End Users

  3. #3
    Dave Leonardi Guest
    Thanks Dave I greatly appreciate it. I will highly consider your layout and
    propose it to my Network Engineer. Thanks again for your advice.

    Dave Leonardi

    "David Strome" <nospam@nospam> wrote in message
    news:u0nUgOAZFHA.2508@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
    hi Dave.

    I wouldn't recommend RAID 0+1 for your implementation. A simple RAID5
    setup will do just fine. The performance increase in using RAID 0+1 will
    be negligible. The fault tolerance is not an improvement over RAID5. It's
    far more expensive to implement.

    I implement Exchange servers in environments similar to yours as:

    mirror OS (controller 0)
    seperate mirror Logs (controller 0)
    RAID5 stores (controller 1) minimum four drives, preferably 5 or 6 just to
    spread the operations across more spindles.
    either a global hot spare and/or a good support contract (I use Gold
    support 4x7x24 with Dell)

    That's my ideal config anyways. If money is short, combine the OS and
    logs, but still keep the stores on their own RAID5. A PE4600 with a split
    backplane and drive cage will allow that config. You might have to go to a
    PE2600 with a PV220 to do the config above.




    "Dave Leonardi" <Cyberaccount72@yahoo.com> wrote in message
    news:OJUjtC%23YFHA.1868@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
    Good Afternoon,

    I had a question regarding what type of Raid Configuration is most
    likely the best to use with an exchange 2003 Server.
    I was told a Raid 0+1 is the most practical, but I am unaware how to
    layout the disk design. I was wondering if someone can assist with a
    solution and how would I set up the array. I know I'm going to use
    smaller, faster 15K SCSI drives possibly 36Gb. I want to setup the disk
    storage to the best configuration for performance.Thank you.

    Brand New DELL PE Server Specs:

    Exchange Server 2003
    Win3K Server Enterprise Box
    4GB Ram
    Unknown Hard Drives, Possibly Six 36GB Drives


    OS will be mirrored
    Transaction logs will be on their own disks
    Information store will be on their own disks

    Information Store is currently about 2-3 GB with minimal growth in future
    200-250 End Users



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