DiskSuite questions

DiskSuite questions

I want to start experimenting with DiskSuite 4.2.1 on an Ultra 10
running Sol 8.

I have managed to get my hands on the following hardware:

1 x Ultra SCSI Multipack
2 x 9g Gb 7.2rpm disks
2 x 9 Gb 10k rpm disks
2 x 18 Gb 10k rpm disks
2 x 36 Gb 10k rpm disks
1 x Sunswift PCI scsi/hme

I have trawled Sunsolve and google and had no joy seeking answers to the
following questions:

1. Will the 10k rpm disks work effectively in this multipack? The Sun
Systems Handbook only refers to 7.2k disks in these packs.

2. If the 10k disks function OK what will be the affect of mixing disks
of different speeds when it comes to reading and writing from them in a
cat, stripe or mirror scenario.


I suspect that Software will cause data read and write speed to be
determined by the speed of the slowest disk.



3. I need to learn more about Data Storage but can’t afford to attend
formal courses. I plan to spend time mastering DisksSuite before
progressing to Veritas.


Any information or pointers to indicative reading will be much
appreciated.


This is request only for personal home/self education use and not for a
production system, if that makes any difference.

Thanks

Jon

Due to the mixed Hardware/Software/OE nature of this request, I am
posting to more than one group.

Thanks again

In article <>,
John Stafford <> wrote:
>DiskSuite questions
>1. Will the 10k rpm disks work effectively in this multipack? The Sun
>Systems Handbook only refers to 7.2k disks in these packs.

You may have heating issues.

>2. If the 10k disks function OK what will be the affect of mixing disks
>of different speeds when it comes to reading and writing from them in a
>cat, stripe or mirror scenario.

RPM differences will be least felt in a concat. In a concat, data is
only written to one disk at a time.

It can make performance a bit funky, particularly in a mirror. In general
you want mirrored drives to be mirrors of each other (same geometry, same
speed, same vendor, etc.)

>I suspect that Software will cause data read and write speed to be
>determined by the speed of the slowest disk.

Pretty much correct.


>3. I need to learn more about Data Storage but can’t afford to attend
>formal courses. I plan to spend time mastering DisksSuite before
>progressing to Veritas.
>
>
>Any information or pointers to indicative reading will be much
>appreciated.

docs.sun.com

-tom

--

"You can only be -so- accurate with a claw-hammer." --me

On Thu, 03 Jul 2003 19:37:47 +0100, John Stafford wrote:

> DiskSuite questions
>
> I want to start experimenting with DiskSuite 4.2.1 on an Ultra 10
> running Sol 8.
>
> I have managed to get my hands on the following hardware:
>
> 1 x Ultra SCSI Multipack
> 2 x 9g Gb 7.2rpm disks
> 2 x 9 Gb 10k rpm disks
> 2 x 18 Gb 10k rpm disks
> 2 x 36 Gb 10k rpm disks
> 1 x Sunswift PCI scsi/hme
>
> I have trawled Sunsolve and google and had no joy seeking answers to the
> following questions:
>
> 1. Will the 10k rpm disks work effectively in this multipack? The Sun
> Systems Handbook only refers to 7.2k disks in these packs.
>
> 2. If the 10k disks function OK what will be the affect of mixing disks
> of different speeds when it comes to reading and writing from them in a
> cat, stripe or mirror scenario.
>
>
> I suspect that Software will cause data read and write speed to be
> determined by the speed of the slowest disk.
>
>
>
> 3. I need to learn more about Data Storage but can’t afford to attend
> formal courses. I plan to spend time mastering DisksSuite before
> progressing to Veritas.
>
>
> Any information or pointers to indicative reading will be much
> appreciated.
>
>
> This is request only for personal home/self education use and not for a
> production system, if that makes any difference.
>
> Thanks
>
> Jon
>
> Due to the mixed Hardware/Software/OE nature of this request, I am
> posting to more than one group.
>
> Thanks again


try docs.sun.com and search on disksuite. There is a "user" and
"reference" manual in PDF format Hope you have broadband.

John Stafford wrote:

> I have trawled Sunsolve and google and had no joy seeking answers to the
> following questions:
>
> 1. Will the 10k rpm disks work effectively in this multipack? The Sun
> Systems Handbook only refers to 7.2k disks in these packs.

Yes, they should. Note that your Multipack only holds 6 disks.
So you have 2 spare. I'd leave the 2 7.2K RPM disks out. Make
sure your environment is reasonably cool so you don't experience
heat related issues.

> 2. If the 10k disks function OK what will be the affect of mixing disks
> of different speeds when it comes to reading and writing from them in a
> cat, stripe or mirror scenario.

Performance will be affected. With mirroring, you could favour
the faster disks for reads. Note, see the above comment which
means this may not be an issue but it might be an idea to test
any setup with the slower disks too and make performance
comparisons. Gathering some metrics and publishing them might
be useful for others.

> 3. I need to learn more about Data Storage but can’t afford to attend
> formal courses. I plan to spend time mastering DisksSuite before
> progressing to Veritas.

Good idea. The DiskSuite docs are fairly good. If you get the
SVM docs for solaris 9 note that the metadb's are larger in
size than in your version and earlier (up from nearly 1K to
nearly 8K).

-am © 2003