Using Xserve RAID as NAS

We have a serious need for a NAS system in our studio. And coincidentally, we have a 3 yr old XSERVE 5.6 TB RAID - just sitting around, unused.
The Xserve has the standard Fibre Channel ports for mounting it onto a your computer (as well as the Ethernet ports for admin).
My question is, has anyone used their XSERVE as NAS? I know I could hook-up a CPU to my xserve and make it work that way, but I don't have an extra G5 laying around.
Thanks,
Tom

Use some caution on the terminology here, as there are Xserve and Xserve RAID widgets, and these are quite different.
There needs to be a computer or controller here to act as a router between clients expecting to have Network Attached Storage (NAS) and a Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (FC SAN) widget such as the Xserve RAID.
There are controllers which allow SAN storage to be served via network, but these typically operate by providing a complete separate path (NAS) into the storage. Via iSCSI or AFP or SMB into the controller, for instance. (And I'd expect there isn't much in this product space for an Xserve RAID array; I am aware of a few vendors that do offer storage arrays that can be acquired with one or both of iSCSI and SAN bus interfaces, but Apple doesn't AFAIK offer this with Xserve RAID.)
I'd probably look to sell the Xserve RAID and (if you have it) the FC SAN Host Bus Adapter (HBA) you were using, and use any profits to offset the cost of acquiring a replacement NAS storage array widget, or to acquire a Direct Attached Storage (DAS) storage array that can be served off one of your existing host(s). A SCSI or SAS shelf hanging off FireWire 800 or a SAS controller can do quite well in this regard.
I'd tend to guess you'll spend more - if you don't already have a Mac Pro or Xserve and FC SAN giblets you can connect to the Xserve RAID - than wholesale replacement with a DAS or NAS widget. 5.6 TB is approximately three current-generation disks, or four of the previous 1.6 GB generation disks. A four- or eight-bay Drobo is in this range, as are many other solutions. Or "just a SCSI or SAS storage shelf" configured as DAS can work fine, too. (And disk storage shelves are available from various vendors.)

Similar Messages

Clarification on how to use Xserve Raid and Fibre Channel without xsan.

First let me apologize for not responding earlier to your response, I tend to get busy and then forget to check back here.
Tod, the answer to your question is No, only one computer is accessing the xserve raid files at any one time and that is via Fibre Channel. However I do have the xserve raids set up as share points via ethernet.
Maybe I should turn that off and only access the files with the one computer that can connect via fibre channel.
I never thought of that. I will try that while I await for your answer, thanks again.
Todd Buhmiller
I have the following setup:
Xserve: 2x2Ghz Dual Core Intel Xeon, 5Gb of Ram, Running 10.5.8 Leopard Server
Xserve Raid with firmware version 1.5.1/1.51c on both controllers, and
Qlogic Sanbox 5600
Apple Fibre Channel Cards in Xserve, and Mac Pro Tower; Apple 2 Port 4Gbs Fibre Channel Card
Mac Pro Tower-Quad Core Intel Xeon 2.8Ghz, 16Gb of Ram, Running Snow Leopard 10.6.4
Here is the problem.
The directory for the xserve raids keep getting corrup, and I use disc warrior to rebuild them. Is there a way to keep the directories from getting corrupt? I am a few pieces of equipment before I can build an Xsan as that is the ultimate goal, but until then, I just need to be able to have the raids funciton as storage without having to rebuild the directories all of the time.
Anybody have any suggestions?
Thanks
Todd Buhmiller
Widescreen Media
Calgary, Alberta Canada
Tod Kuykendall
Posts: 1,237
From: San Diego
Registered: Oct 11, 2000
Re: Xserve Raid Mounts, Corrupt Directory tired of rebuilding directory
Posted: Jun 27, 2010 1:25 PM in response to: Todd Buhmiller
Are multiple computers accessing the same data on the RAID at the same time?
If so then NO. This is the source of your data corruption and I'm surprised if you were able to get all your data back every time if this is how you've been running your system. Each fibre channel assumes it has full and sole control of every volume it has mounted, no data arbitration is practiced and data corruption will occur if this assumption is wrong.
The only way this set-up will work is to use partitions or LUN masks so the volumes are accessed by one computer at any time. As long as one computer relinquishes control before another mounts it you will dodge arbitration issues but this is a dangerous game. If you screw up and mount an already mounted volume - and there is no easy way to tell if a volume is mounted - corruption will then occur. Sharing data simultaneous at fibre speeds is what XSAN does and to do this you need it.
HTH,
=Tod
Intel Xserve, G5 XServes, XRAID, Promise

+The xserve raids will mount automatically to any computer that I connect the qlogic fc switch to+
This is source of the corruption to your data. Any computer that attaches to a drive/partition via fibre channel assumes that it alone is in control of the drive and data corruption is inevitable.
+Is that the issue, should I disconnect the xserve from the fc switch and leave it connected via ethernet?+
Short answer: YES. The ethernet connections are fine because the server is controlling the file arbitration through the sharing protocol. Fibre channel connections assumes complete control over the partition and no arbitration of the file access is performed. It's like two people independently driving trying to drive the same car to different locations.
Depending on your set-up it is possible for the two machines to see and use different parts of the Xserve RAID storage but they cannot access the same areas without SAN doing the arbitration.
Hope that's clear,
=Tod

Using xserve raid with Linux

I have an Apple Xserve raid that I connected to a Dell PowerEdge 1950 using a QLogic Sanblade QLE2460 card. I currently have 7x750GB drives installed in the raid that yields around 4TB of usable capacity. I am running Red Hat 4 AS and created an ext3 file system. I have unfortunately had two occasions where the file system has gotten corrupted somehow. The file system seems fine until I shutdown cleanly and reboot. After booting, the partition table appears corrupt showing the file system is 4GB put the drive is much smaller. Is there a better file system type that is known to work with the xserve raid? Could this be a driver or kernel issue? Thanks!

Hello RandyMartin and welcome to the Apple boards,
I don't know how many people here are running your set-up, but hopefully someone will chime in with some ideas.
The general clearinghouse for all things Xserve RAID attached to non-Apple machines is: http://alienraid.org/
Good luck,
=Tod
G5/2.0x2, Dual XServes x2, XRAID, beige G3 501Mhz

Configure Xserve RAID as a single RAID 5 array?

We just picked up a used Xserve RAID with 14x750GB drives, and we want to configure the entire unit as a single RAID5 array. RAID Utility will let us configure each side as a separate array, but not both sides in a single array. Is this not possible or are we just missing something simple?

No, each side of the RAID is logically separate so while you can create a RAID 5 on either side there is no way to create a single RAID5 of the unit. You can create a RAID 50 and make the 2 RAID5s into a single volume software RAID 0 by using Disk Utility to join the two 5s into a single volume but that's as close as it comes.
HTH,
=Tod

How to low-format disks in XServer RAID

I am new to the macworld and have been assigned a mission to low-format 2 XServer RAID with 28x400Gb Hitachi Deskstar disks. I need to low-format it because the customer is about to sell the servers, and are therefore obliged by law/or insurancecompany to make sure that no data can be restored.
I have tried to extract the disks and run them in a PC with a software called KillDisks, which writes zeros to the disk 10-fold times. However the PC will not accept the disk, im getting errors that states that no sectors can be read. Also, in BIOS the disk are supposedly 126 Gb...when in fact its capacity is 400 Gb.
Sounds like the Apple firmware is not compatible.
So, my question is...can I perform this task from inside the XServer, via some webinterface or perhaps the remote adminapplication?

I see you point but I mostly meant the need to extract/take apart the drives.
The job was to make the data (reasonably) "unrecoverable"?
(The KillDrive application can maybe even "destroy" drives for Xserve RAID use?)
Maybe not relevant here but the Xserve RAID woun't "buy"/just work with "any" drive/firmware.
He shouldn't even have to "reformat" raid-sets as you can write zeroes to each whole raid-set volume from the Disk Utility using the "security option" (will take a lot of time though - but probably much less time than doing it for each drive individually - if JBOD or otherwise).
Maybe even possibly started from OS X install DVD (if servers are "wiped"). Don't know if FC drivers are present on the DVD, but think they are.
(Also a "Mirror Door" G4 or Xserve G4 can probably "format" (really initialize) these drives and can at least hold up to 4 drives at a time.)
And you can manage (but not erase drives/volumes on) the Xserve RAID from any computer (if you know the IP) using the Java RAID_Admin.jar file that is "extractable" from The OS X version file (.app) "package". And it can be run on (most?) OSes that can run Java. Certainly from Windows with Java installed.
And you don't buy a couple of old preowned used Xserve RAIDs and spend a huge amount to restore data if you don't think/know it's REALLY worth the while.

Xserve RAID all 14 hard drive lights yellow

Hey guys,
I just bought a used Xserve RAID to go with my Xserve G5 cluster node. All 14 of the hard drive lights are yellow. Any one have any idea what's going on? Previously, most of them were green with a few yellows. After restarting the Xserve RAID they are now all yellow.

Hey zacharyziegler,
The Yellow status light usually means the Lock is engaged. For more information, see the following User Guide (pg 46):
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/XserveRAID_UserGuide.PDF
Thanks,
Matt M.

Xserve raid (14 drive) / several problems

Hi, I have bought a used xserve RAID (the one with 14 drives). It's using 1.5.1 firmware. I have equipped the RAID with 14 WD5000-AAKB-00H8A0 500GB drives.
I first installed 4 drives (slot 1-4), created a RAID array and later on extended the RAID with 10 drives. But those 10 drives never worked without problems.
The problems we have are:
- drive-modules working in slots 8-14 are not working in slot 7
- some drive-modules don't start-up at all. Only red led showing in the front panel.
- The lower controller slot sometimes makes problems, even when swapping upper & lower controller.
Has anybody good experience with this RAID system and can give me some tips what to do?

This is all a bit odd.
You say you have extended the RAID with 10 drives. Bear in mind that you can't create a proper hardware RAID volume across the two controllers/sides of the RAID. You can make arrays over 1-7 then over 8-14.
Did the bad drives ever work? If they are new, have you been in to RAID Admin and made them available for use? Under RAID Admin > Components, click the drives radio button. Do the drives show up here as installed?

XServe RAID on GenToo server?

Hello,
We are using multiple FC and SCSI RAID-subsystems at work and we need a bigger one by the end of the year.
By now we are using an Infortrend FC>FC RAID.
Regards
Nicolas

I know of many people using Xserve RAID on Linux, so it should work on Gentoo.
What kernel version will you be using? I do know of a number of cases previously where Xserve RAIDs didn't appear as LUNs to Linux, because Linux has this lame "feature" where a storage device must be explicitly listed in a kernel header file . If your kernel lists the storage, it will see the RAID, without issue. If it does NOT have the Xserve RAID lists, then the Xserve RAID will show up only if you do not use sparse LUNs. Basically meaning you shouldn't slice the volumes. Which could be an issue if your kernel version doesn't understand LUNs > 2 GB.
I've also seen some Linux versions which had poor performance with the RAID, again due to kernel tuning issues. 2.6 is a lot better than 2.4 was... but you should ensure you have a pretty recent build of the Linux kernel. With Gentoo, that shouldn't be much of an issue... just recompile world, lol.

Which 750GB drives used in an XServe RAID?

Could somebody with an XServe RAID with 750GB drives please tell me, which drives are used in this configuration? You can look it up in the XServe RAID admin utility, under Arrays and Drives when selecting a drive in "drive" mode.
Thanks a lot,
Floh

ST3750640 NA P
Revision 3.BTF
it is a seagate

Xserve Raid - use it as standalone storage?

hi there!
i have a small network with some pcs (3 running winxp, 1 win2000), 2 os9 macs and 2 g5s. i need big data storage in the size of 7-10TB. can i use the Xserve Raid as standalone storage in the network, or does it need the xserve as server?
do i need soomething else apart from the Xserve Raid to setup the storage bank?
is it a good idea to connect the pcs via ethernet and the g5s via fibrelink? (because our files we are working on are very big and need to have fast access on the storage drives)
thx for ur help
manuel

The XServe RAID needs a host system. That host system doesn't need to be an XServe, or even a Mac - people are using them quite happily on Solaris servers, Linux servers and even Windows servers.
However, it does need a system that had Fiber channel.
ALL disk activity happens over the fiber channel connection. The ethernet ports are not used for file activity, only for administering and monitoring the box.
If you hook the XServe RAID to a single host via fiber channel, that host can share the volume over the network to other clients so they get indirect access. Alternatively you can use a fiber channel switch to connect multiple systems, but care needs to be taken with regards to multiple clients reading/writing the same file at the same time (which is typically why you need SAN software to manage this kind of setup).

HUGE Troubles with xServe RAID formatted 10.4 and using it with SLS 10.6

Hi All,
We met today a huge trouble using an Apple xServe RAID (formatted HFS+ with a Mac OS 10.4 Server PowerPC G5).
This RAID has been plugged with a new xServe Intel Xeon (Model xServe 3.1), MacOS X 10.6.2, Apple FiberChannel card 4 GB, the link is at 2 GB.
There is also an Infortrend RAID FiberChannel 4 GB Fiber to SATA RAID attached to this new Intel Xeon server : this RAID drive mounts correctly, no troubles.
BUT the "old" xServe RAID is not able to mount at all while plugged with this new Intel Xeon, DiskUtility claims the volume needs repair !!! We try a repair = failed !!!
The xServe RAID has been formated under 10.4.6, HFS+ Journaled.
The Infortrend has been formated under 10.6.2, HFS+
Does anyone met a such case ??? We tried using SFP to SFP Copper cable or Optical Fiber + SFP/LC Transceiver = same results
Many thanks a lot for your opinion !!!
Regards.

What if you connect your "old" xServe RAID to a non SLS server if you have one available? Preferably one running 10.4.x server to match your HFS format. If the data on the old RAID is so critical that you can't afford to lose it, you could always pickup a used PPC w/ a fibre channel card and install 10.4 server on it just so you can transfer the data. Curious to see what you end up doing.

XSERV RAID FIBER CHANNEl

We have XSERV RAID MODEL A1009 with 4 Hard disk RAID 5.
Now I have installed CISCO 1000Base SX Module in 3 COM Switch & other same Module in XSERVER RAID. Now XSERVE RAID & switcted with Transeiver cable. Now I check RAID ADMIN TOOL FIber Channel Option the links shows down.
Let me know what is solution. Please also let me know how can I know that fiber link is up if any way.

Finisar makes a nice SFP to LC transceiver (available on the Apple Store for $99.95 for 2 Gbit and $119.95 for 4 Gbit) that you can use in the Xserve to allow it to accept LC optical cables. You'll need 2 of these, and then you can hook up LC optical cables.
I'll echo the other post -- be aware those ports are for fibre channel communication ONLY. You must hook it to a fibre channel card (HBA) in a host, or to a fibre switch (i.e. Cisco MDX 9000 series). You cannot hook up a network connection to those ports -- Xserve RAID provides data ONLY over fibre channel, it is not a NAS device. You must connect it to a host which can re-share the data over Ethernet, for example Xserve RAID with OS X Server which can reshare using AFP, SMB/CIFS, NFS, FTP, DAV, and more.

4 xserves + xserve raid setup?

Hello,
I have ben using xserves independently (no raid storage) for many years now.
Now, I would like to hook all my xserves (G4, G5, intel) to a xserve RAID and have the xserves all share the storage on the raid.
I know this is a broad question, but what do I need to set this up?
These servers are primarily web servers, so no user files are involved.
TIA for any tips/pointers given
P.S. Should I wait on the new RAID (rumored to have switch and sata drives)?
MaBook Pro 2.4 GHZ | 4GB RAM, 7200 HD Mac OS X (10.4.10)

First you have to look at the volumes. Are you planning/hoping to have all servers directly access the same files? If that's the case you're going to need some kind of SAN solution such as Apple's XSAN ($1000 per node, plus a dedicated controller server)
Then, in order to physically connect multiple servers to a RAID you will need a fiber channel switch. This will let the four servers connect to the two ports on the RAID.
All in all, you're probably looking at a $10K solution.
The alternatives are to:
a) divide the RAID into four separate slices and give each node its own slice of the array. This still requires a fiber channel switch, but doesn't need XSAN (you then have to work out synchronization between the different servers), or
b) Turn one of the servers into a NAS server (using either AFP or NFS) and have the other servers mount the XServe RAID over the network.
This solves the synchronization issue (there's one copy of the data that everyone sees), but isn't as fast as a fiber channel-based solution (everything has to go through that one server). It is, however, free.

Switching to Xserver/Xserve RAID

Hi boys and girls...
I was looking for a little assistance in switching over to Xserve. Let me give you some background info first.
Were a small studio in London, with only 11 people in-house and the majority working externally whether free-lance, from home or from another country etc. Were mostly Mac based, though 4 machines are those little beige pc things all running XP 2002. At the minute its 1 G5 and a collection of G4 tower's and G4 power book's, G4 cube's and so on. Were all connected to a G4 server running Mac OS X Server 10.2.8 with a very small dual 120GB HD raid thing running Retrospect.
Our problem is, this system was set up some time ago and were starting to outgrow it.
What were looking for is a way to backup all of our current work and archive all of our old work. Most users like to work directly off the server as theres so much file sharing between the macs and pc's, directly updating files so there isnt any duplication etc.
First question, is it possible (and a good/bad idea ?) to have 10-15 users working directly from a Mac server, that stores the archived work for users to reference and also current work which is backed up to tape and duplicated (as we currently have) to another HD?
Secondly, Is the ideal way to be running things? Is there a more efficent way?
Finally, what kind of spec should we be looking at? There's such a huge difference between servers, while were willing to invest, we dont want to go crazy (maybe a little) on costs.
I look forward to your responses and thank you in advance
Marcus

There are certainly some drawbacks with your current setup that mean you should make some changes.
In general, there's nothing wrong with working with files directly off the server, however, 10.2.8 has some issues with multiple users accessing the same files at the same time, so you should look to move to 10.4 ASAP to address that issue, regardless of any other changes you make.
I am assuming that the remote users don't work this way - uploading/download files as appropriate - it would be painful to work off the server remotely.
The only real disadvantage with working with files directly off the server is that if a file is changed erroneously and saved, there's no easy backup.
If the file was copied to the local drive and saved, it's easy to roll back to the previous version by re-copying it from the server, but if that change is saved directly to the server the only rollback involves pulling out Retrospect.
The other change that would make a difference is installing a gigabit switch and connecting the server to it. Even if all the host systems don't have gigabit ethernet, the extra bandwidth to the server will definitely help.
As for a new server, 10-15 file sharing users are not likely to stress the server, do you don't need a top-of-the-line configuration.
You should first decide how much disk space you need. With 500GB drives, the XServe can handle up to 1.5TB on its own, without any additional XServe RAID. However, you might want to consider RAID (using RAID you're limited to 1TB of RAID 5 storage, or 500GB of mirrored storage in the box).
In addition to your current data usage, consider using an online disk backup where multiple copies of the data is stored on the server itself before (or in addition to) backing up to tape.
While tapes offer several long-term archive advantages, they really don't work so well for quick restores of a file or two. Having a snapshot of the last couple of days data online makes it trivial to step back a day or so without having to resort to tapes. This may mean, though, that your 100GB of data requires 200 or 300GB of disk space.
If you do decide than an XServe RAID is the right solution, consider getting it right-sized from the get-go rather than buying it small (e.g. 4 drives) and adding later. While it can be done, adding drives to an existing array is a PITA.
If you do opt for an XServe RAID, and you don't currently have any rack-mounted equipment, consider using a PowerMac G5 as your server rather than an XServe. While similar in terms of performance, the PowerMac can work out cheaper depending on configuration.

Can't copy files to Xserve Raid

Hello,
I'm having serious issues copying files to my work's Xserve Raid. When I try to copy files to it, it stalls for several minutes trying to copy, but making no progress, before giving an error saying:
"The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "filename" could not be read or written. (error code -36)"
When I click ok, I get disconnected from the Raid.
Any thoughts as to what could be happening?

What do your logs say? I'd check your afp (or whatever sharing mechanism you're using) and I'd keep an eye out for any fibre channel or LUN messages that might indicate connection/communication problems with RAID itself. (These might show up as LIP messages.)
Sounds to me like an underlying communications issue rather than a file sharing issue but without more information it's hard to say.
Good luck,
=Tod

Using Xserve RAID as NAS

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