Pabs Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 Hey all IT folk on here...... If I were totally clueless when it comes to SANs, how easy is it to pick up the basics to a level whereby I could create usable logical drives for a Windows Server 2k3 system??? I think I have some very BASIC knowledge, but wouldn't really know where to start.... I understand from some basic research that you generally have 2 fibre cards in each server (HBA's) connecting to different fabrics of the SAN - allowing for redundancy should one of the cards/switches fall over, correct? Also get the idea that you have arrays of discs, which are then configured with "addresses" (LUNs) which can then be assigned to certain/individual hosts.... Does anyone have some useful links that would take me through step by step? Can anyone suggest what key skills one would require to set up a basic SAN? TIA all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 SAN's are relatively straight forward to be honest, there is I believe a book called 'SANS for dummies' and it isn't too bad and fairly accurate from what I've seen. Which SAN system are you talking about, as there is a lot of stuff out there. I normally use NetApp units on both fibre channel and iSCSI. SGI are about to release a new system which also features Infiniband connectivity which should be interesting. http://www.amazon.com/Storage-Networks-Dummies-Christopher-Poelker/dp/0764524801/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196450248&sr=8-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pabs Posted November 30, 2007 Author Share Posted November 30, 2007 hmmm ok might have to see if i can get hold of that...... i come from purely an MS background, just finished the 270/271 and 272 exams, and got 70-290 booked for Jan. Trying to learn a lot quickly but think this is biting off more than I can chew.... Long story short - I think I said yes to something on a phone interview without thinking, and looking back said yes to knowing my way about SAN's when I really don't :S oops.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 hmmm ok might have to see if i can get hold of that...... i come from purely an MS background, just finished the 270/271 and 272 exams, and got 70-290 booked for Jan. Trying to learn a lot quickly but think this is biting off more than I can chew.... Long story short - I think I said yes to something on a phone interview without thinking, and looking back said yes to knowing my way about SAN's when I really don't :S oops.... Give me 5 minutes..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGav Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 I would suggest you get yourself VMWare on your machine and look for something similar to the NetApp emulator so you can some experience playing with it. As far as SANS go, while the principles are the same, each vendor implements it with a large amount of difference. You might want to find out what particular SAN system and fabric they use and focus on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pabs Posted November 30, 2007 Author Share Posted November 30, 2007 yeh, from reading that seems to be the case - many different ways to achieve the same results from different manufacturers. They've asked me in for a face-to-face interview next week (which I probably can't make anyway because of our site-move and being ultra-busy) but I think I may have made myself out to look far more intelligent than I actually am from answering YES to that question...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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