N9900SAS Pre-Sales Questions

[rah]

These are pre-sales questions. I'm trying to decide if the Thecus 8800SAS would be a good fit for us.

I need to add storage to our network to support backups. I currently have a Dell 2650 Windows 2003 server with an external 1.4 TB RAID running Arcserve to do Disk-to-Disk-to-Tape backups of our servers. The RAID also has a shared volume to store Acronis images of PC workstations.

My immediate need is to move the Acronis images off the RAID to free up capacity for server backups. Long term, I want to have free storage capacity to support storage expansion for our other 10 servers.

We've never had a NAS, always depending on server storage so I have some fairly basic questions about I can integrate a NAS.

- I was reading the Thecus manual and I saw all the options for supporting NFS, AFP, etc. but I didn't really see any discussion of setting up Windows file shares. What's the procedure for creating a volume to support NTFS files shares? (Note: Our network is exclusively MS currently.)

- I would want to use the Active Directory integration to manage file access and rights. The manual says that you import Active Directory users and rights. How does the NAS handle updating user changes/additions in Active Directory after the import?

- The 8800SAS has dual gigabit ethernet connections. Would it be possible to use one gigabit ethernet port for general network connectivity and use the other for a direct connect to the Win2003 backup server to support a dedicated iSCSI connection? If so, do you use a crossover cable to do that?

- Say you start with (4) 2 TB drives and configure them into a single RAID 5. Then later you add a 5th 2 TB drive. Can you simply add that drive on the fly and its capacity is automatically added to the RAID 5 storage capacity?

The other 2 NAS units I'm considering are the QNAP TS-809U-RP and the Drobo Elite. Why should I pick the Thecus?

Thanks.

[akuma]

I think what you mean is N8800SAS

As to your questions :

1. Windows file share is via SMB/CIFs, which is one of the primary feature of any Thecus NAS. thecus NAS uses Lin O/S, therefore the file system cannot be NTFS. There are a couple of File System choices to decide during RAID creation process, both of which are transparent to the client workstation that maps to it.



Once thing that is different is that, you have to create Shared folders using the Thecus Web Admin, and therefore have to configure ACL using the same Thecus Web Admin. Cannot use Windows File Explorer to configure ACL for Shared folders that reside on Thecus NAS. At this time, Thecus doesn't support complicated ACL types, only support Read Only or Write permission. Sub-Folder ACL is supported but an AD object that is granted permission to the Root Shared Folder, will automatically have rights to Sub-folders within the same Root folder.



2. Yes, Thecus Enterprise and SMB NAS supports AD integration. Once the NAS is joined to AD, it will pull up to 1000 AD Objects, that you can assign either Read Only or Write permissions to. Even after the AD objects are "pulled", password updates and AD Group Objects updates are still reflected.



3. Yes on both questions. You can use both NICs (Intel Gigabit NICs) for 2 separate LANs. Or you can use one for management LAN, and the other direct connect using a straight Ethernet cable to a Server. We have the exact setup, one NIC is connected to general network for management GUI access, and file sharing access. The other NIC is direct connected to a VMware Server for iSCSI and NFS Datastore access.



4. Yes, Thecus call it RAID migration. Able to migrate from 4x2tb RAID 5 to 6x2tb RAID 5 Array. But do keep in mind that RAID 5 is most vulnerable during this process, therefore it's recommend some type of backup, in case there is a bad NEW drive added, or an existing drive go bad, it can cause the Migration process to fail.

If you need more info I will suggest to call their tech support line.

[rah]

Thanks for the response.

Just one other question. I want to create a network share on the NAS where PCs will save Acronis images. Periodically, I want to back these images up to tape.

If I attach our server that performs backups directly to the 2nd gigabit ethernet port, is the only thing I can access through that port iSCSI volumes? I wouldn't be able to access the network share where the Acronis images are? I could only access them through the primary gigabit ethernet port that's for general network access?

[softdux]

Feb 19, 2010 4:29:10 GMT 7 rah said:

Thanks for the response.

Just one other question. I want to create a network share on the NAS where PCs will save Acronis images. Periodically, I want to back these images up to tape.

If I attach our server that performs backups directly to the 2nd gigabit ethernet port, is the only thing I can access through that port iSCSI volumes? I wouldn't be able to access the network share where the Acronis images are? I could only access them through the primary gigabit ethernet port that's for general network access?

You'll be able to access all services, i.e iSCSI / NFS / SMB /web interface / etc via both network ports

[jacklinapeter]

- I was reading the Thecus manual and I saw all the options for supporting NFS, AFP, etc. but I didn't really see any discussion of setting up Windows file shares. What's the procedure for creating a volume to support NTFS files shares? (Note: Our network is exclusively MS currently.)