[Beowulf] Any recommendations for a good JBOD?

[Alex Chekholko]

On Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:53:22 -0600
Rahul Nabar <rpnabar at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 12:14 PM, Alex Chekholko <chekh at pcbi.upenn.edu> wrote:
> > On Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:37:36 -0600
> > Does it need to be rack-mount?  What kind of interface?
> 
> Preferably rack-mount. But cost is a compelling argument . I could be
> convinced if a non-rack unit was significantly cheaper.
> 
> I was thinking SAS / SCSI / iSCSI is probably easiest and cheapest.
> 

Do you already have a suitable SAS or SCSI controller in the host
machine?  If not, then you have to factor in the cost of the controller.

If you want iSCSI, then you're looking at a low-end SAN as opposed to a
DAS.  But the SAN/NAS distinction is blurry these days, as many devices
can give you either block or file-level access.

> > If performance is really not an issue, a consumer-level NAS box is
> > probably your cheapest option.  A QNap TS-410 is ~$450 plus 4 x 2TB
> > drives...
> 
> Hmm...NAS. I was more thinking in terms of a DAS. Don't the NAS's come
> with their own CPU's / RAM and stuff? (Like the Sun Thumper)

Yes, they do.  But if you want to access 5TB via iSCSI (or NFS), that's
likely the cheapest option.

The cheapest 4-bay NAS I can find via the comparison charts here:
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/nas
is only $281 (plus drives).

-- 
Alex Chekholko   chekh at pcbi.upenn.edu