Wednesday was a very exciting day! A delivery truck dropped off an EMC Celerra NS-120 SAN. The Celerra NS-120 is a modern entry-level unified storage solution which supports multiple storage protocols such as Fibre Channel (block), iSCSI (block), and NAS (file). This hardware is ideal for the lab, development, QA, small and medium sized businesses, or as a scalable building block for large production datacenters. The NS-120 is a supported storage platform for VMware Virtual Infrastructure which will utilize all three storage protocols mentioned above. It is also a supported on other VMware products such as Site Recovery Manager, Lab Manager, and View.
The Celerra arrived loaded in an EMC CX4 40u rack, nicely cabled and ready to go. Storage is comprised of three (3) 4GB DAE shelves and 45 146GB 15K RPM 4GB drives for about 6.5TB RAW. The list of Bundled software includes:
Navisphere Manager
Navisphere QoS Manager
SnapView
MirrorView/A
PowerPath
Many others
There is so much more I could write about the Celerra, but the truth of the matter is that I don’t know a lot about it yet. The goal is to get it set up and explore its features. I’m very interested in comparing FC vs. iSCSI vs. NFS. DeDupe, Backup, and Replication are also areas I wish to explore. Getting it online will take some time. The Electrician is scheduled to complete his work on Saturday; two 220 Volt 30 Amp Single Phase circuits are being installed. When it will actually be powered on and configured is up in the air right now. Its final destination is the basement and it will take a few people to help get it down there. Whether or not it can be done while the equipment is racked or during the winter is another question. I really don’t want to unrack/uncable it but I may have to just to move it. Another option would be to hire a moving company. They have strong people and are very creative; they move big awkward things on a daily basis for a living.
Unloading it from the truck was a bit of a scare but it was successfully lowered to the street. Weighing in at over 1,000 lbs., it was a challenge getting it up the incline of the driveway with all the snow and ice. We got it placed in its temporary resting place where the unboxing could begin.
The video
I’ve seen a few unboxing videos and although I’ve never created one, I thought this would be a good opportunity as this is one of the larger items I’ve unboxed. It’s not that I wanted to, but I get the sense that unboxing ceremonies are somewhat of a cult fascination in some circles and this video might make a good addition to someone’s collection. There’s no music, just me. If you get bored or tired of my voice, turn on your MP3 player. Enjoy!
EMC Celerra NS-120 Unboxing Video pt1 from Jason Boche on Vimeo.
EMC Celerra NS-120 Unboxing Video pt2 from Jason Boche on Vimeo.
EMC Celerra NS-120 Unboxing Video pt3 from Jason Boche on Vimeo.
Wow… nice kit to add to the home lab… Scared me how much power it may suck down when its running 24×7!!
It’s replacing an existing 3 shelf 42 spindle MSA1000 SAN which will be decommed. I won’t say it will be an even wash but it should be close enough. I have all my electrical draw calculated down to exact amounts on an Excel spreadsheet. I rented an Amp meter which told me the draw of each electrical cable in the rack while on dual as well as single power sources. I use this information to balance each of the circuits. VMware advanced cpu power management and DPM also save quite a bit per month.
One word; WOW, that’s realy realy cool. I wish I had one for my own
Wow!! I got to have envy of you!! Nice piece of storage to have at home! Don’t forget to have a good cooling system.
Nice gear. How much did this puppy set you back?
Hi Jason, Glad to see youve got your self a Celerra, looking forward to seeing what you think.
Regards
Brian
Just curious…What brand hard drives are being used? Seagates?
Seagate Cheetah
Entry level? What does that retail for?
Keep us inform on FC vs. iSCSI vs. NFS with this hardware.
At least your garage will stay warm this winter here in MN. I almost ended up with one of these at home. It came down to power and the fact I was moving. I kind of wish I did install it, but it serves me better in the office lab than at home.