Hardware Spec Lessons Learnt....
So, last time I posted I was dribbling on about Hardware requirements and what to look for when choosing a vendor or partner to work with...Now I'm going to point out a couple of small things that next time I take this path, I will have under my belt...
Have Yourself, Your Solution Provider or Partner, and a 3rd party person go over your Infrastructure Solution Design....You should map out, every part of the system that you are buying, and look at what they do, how they integrate and any potential pitfalls. Dont trust any one person, you want multiple eyes on this
For Example: A Blade Centre Can hold 16 Blades (Dell or HP)....So you need adequate Bandwdith for these systems...yet a standard enclosure ships with 4Gb....You need to purchase 10Gb Modules for your internal Switches (Chassis Mounted) or else you share 4Gb of Data between 16 servers.....A small thing that is so easily looked over...
Another Exmaple: Certain Vendors (Won't wont mention names) Ship different Fibre Switches with different licences....If you dont have the appropriate licences, they wont talk, and you are in trouble...Something that again, is so small, yet hinders installation and progress and adds to out of budget costs
I can go on with a few more, but the basic point is, sit down, and map out how every component integrates. Then have it reviewed and signed before you spend the money...You dont want to be slapped around by Management when your costs blow out due to not doing it...
Finishing SAN Installation and Configuration soon, Will post on SQL optimized disk arrays once documented :)
James