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Is RAID Dead?Paul Ferrill, CTO, Avionics Test and Analysis Corp | 8/10/2012 |
With all the chatter coming from Redmond about the new storage features in Windows Server 2012, you might get the impression that RAID is dead. If that's true, what will you do with all the storage you already have configured with some version of RAID?
 10 commentsI put the question of the future of hardware RAID to the Microsoft Windows Storage team and got this response through the PR agency: Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 platforms fully enable 3rd party (hardware and software) RAID implementations. The Windows platform remains the premier platform enabling 3rd party value-added storage solutions and, therefore, will continue to support such RAID implementations. In fact, Windows Server 2012 includes new support for offloaded data transfers (ODX) with external storage arrays and for a new class of clusterable hardware RAID controllers. So how do you decide between RAID and JBOD for your new storage? The answer may lie in several places. If you're planning on a clustered configuration with Windows Server 2012 managing the storage, you'll want to go with JBOD and dual-ported SAS. This type of approach will give you maximum flexibility to architect a system that can implement all the new Windows Server 2012 storage features. You will want to check with the manufacturer of your hardware if you plan on repurposing storage configured for JBOD. If you want to take advantage of new features like offloaded data transfers, you'll have to go with a NAS or SAN solution with support for ODX. For workloads where you copy a lot of files, like creating new virtual machines from a baseline image, ODX offers the opportunity for huge performance gains. Most of the major storage vendors either support ODX now or have announced plans to support it. If you're implementing standalone servers with local-attached storage, you definitely want to look at implementing Storage Spaces and ReFS. These two together make the most sense for a departmental or branch office server where everything is inside a single server box. It gives you the most bang for the buck in terms of implementing the key Windows Server 2012 storage features, and it should work on most servers that were purchased in the last few years. New hardware purchases should be approached with an eye toward these different scenarios. If you plan on building clusterable systems, you definitely want to look at SAS-based storage. The lower cost of building a highly available, highly scalable file system using commodity hardware and Windows Server 2012 should make the big storage vendors nervous. It could also be a boon to the vendors of key building blocks such as dual-port SAS controllers, 10 GBe network cards and switches, and even Fibre Channel adapters. The bottom line is that you have a lot of options. The rumors of RAID's untimely death are definitely premature. Don't be surprised if RAID hangs around for the foreseeable future. The blogs and comments posted on EnterpriseEfficiency.com do not reflect the views of TechWeb, EnterpriseEfficiency.com, or its sponsors. EnterpriseEfficiency.com, TechWeb, and its sponsors do not assume responsibility for any comments, claims, or opinions made by authors and bloggers. They are no substitute for your own research and should not be relied upon for trading or any other purpose. |
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More Blogs from Paul Ferrill
Paul Ferrill 2/12/2013
7 comments Making the decision to migrate older versions of Windows Server over to the latest version is often avoided because of the headaches involved.
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1 comment Microsoft has released a number of versions of Windows Server 2012, including one with the Essentials label. It's meant to be a follow-on product to Windows Small Business Server (SBS) ...
Paul Ferrill 11/26/2012
2 comments Microsoft has a number of tools to help you with your transition to Windows Server 2012. I'll be looking at several of these to help lay out what each does and how they might be of benefit ...
Paul Ferrill 11/23/2012
10 comments If you're embarking on a Windows 8 migration -- or even if you're in testing mode for the time being -- you'll want to download the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 8.
Paul Ferrill 11/1/2012
29 comments Navigating the waters of Group Policy is not for the faint of heart and requires a combination of knowledge and experience to get it right.
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