The informational reason for writing this article was the official support from Qsan for connecting third-party expansion shelves to storage systems. This fact highlights among other vendors and even to some extent breaks the usual position in the storage market. However, it seemed to us that it was not so interesting to simply write about the Qsan + "alien" JBOD storage system than to touch on the somewhat holistic topic of using third-party components.
The topic of confrontation between storage vendors (as well as other Enterprise equipment) and their users who want to use third-party components will be eternal. After all, money is at the heart of the confrontation. And sometimes a lot of money. Each of the parties has very convincing arguments in favor of its point of view and often takes certain actions so that this point of view is the only correct one. Let's try to figure out if there is a possibility of a compromise, so that both parties are satisfied.
Typical arguments of a storage vendor requiring the mandatory use of "their" branded components are usually the following:
- "Own" components are 100% compatible with storage systems. There will be no surprises. And if they arise, the vendor will solve them as soon as possible;
- One-stop support and warranty for the entire solution.
All this translates into the fact that the cost of branded components sometimes significantly exceeds the cost of similar products sold on the free market. And users, of course, have a desire to βdeceive the systemβ by slipping components that are not officially intended for storage systems. It is worth noting that not only yesterday's schoolchildren, but also quite serious organizations were noticed behind such actions.
The most popular third-party components that seek to install in storage systems are by far drives. This is due to the fact that the cost of branded discs is quite easy to compare with store counterparts. And therefore, in the eyes of users, it is in their price that the "greed" of the vendor is hidden.
For their part, storage vendors cannot just look at the actions of users that are illegal from their point of view and in every possible way put spokes into their wheels. Here, there is a vendor lock on "their" components, and a refusal to support the device in case of using illegitimate disks (even if the problem is obvious and has nothing to do with them).
So is the game worth the candle? Let's consider whether it is possible to win in this situation and at what cost.
100% compatible
Let's be honest, admitting that the number of real manufacturers of HDD and SSD drives is small. The lineup of each of them is finite and is not updated with cosmic speed. Therefore, if not all, then at least a significant part of the drives can potentially be tested by the storage vendor. This fact is confirmed by the support of third-party drives in their compatibility lists by a number of popular storage vendors. For example, at .
Support and warranty for the whole solution
Free cheese, you know where it is. Therefore, vendor support (and not only warranty support) is never free.
When buying drives on the side, you need to be prepared for the fact that, in case of problems with them, the user will need to resolve issues with their supplier (drive vendors rarely provide their own support for their users). It is quite realistic to encounter, for example, a situation where a disk is rejected by the storage system during operation, but the supplier recognizes it as serviceable. Also, the speed of replacing a faulty drive will be regulated by the buyer-seller relationship. And hardly available as soon as possible.
If the user is ready to put up with such restrictions, then you can try to "lay a straw for yourself." For example, buy backup disks in advance. Such actions, of course, will require additional investments, but in some cases they will still remain financially attractive.
Behind all these disputes about the use of compatible components, one should not forget why, in fact, this was all started. Storage is one of the business tools. And each tool should work out the funds invested in it by 146%. And any simple storage system, and even more so the loss of data on it, is simply an unaffordable luxury and a serious loss of money. Therefore, when making a decision to use unvalidated disks in order to save money, it is worth remembering the serious consequences of your actions.
Without a doubt, look preferable to "shop" in many respects. But, as practice shows, in the life of companies of any size there are times when there are not as many funds for the development of IT infrastructure as we would like. Therefore, the ability to use is a huge plus. The obvious advantage of storage systems that simultaneously support the use of both βownβ and compatible drives is the flexibility in making decisions and minimizing your own risks during operation.
And if you can hardly surprise anyone with the support of third-party disks (let's be honest: is not the only vendor that allows this). That is, support for JBOD expansion shelves for all vendors is always limited only to their own models. Yes, in some cases, some of their shelves are the result of an OEM collaboration between a storage vendor and another manufacturer. But such JBODs always have their own unique firmware version (including for the implementation of vendor lock), are sold through the channels of the storage vendor and are provided with its support. The case with Qsan is unique in that it is βforeignβ shelves that are supported. The following models currently have compatible status:
- Seagate Exos E 4U106 - 106 LFF drives in a 4U chassis
- Western Digital Ultrastar Data60 - 60 LFF drives in a 4U chassis
- Western Digital Ultrastar Data102 - 102 LFF drives in a 4U chassis
All supported shelves are High Density. It is understandable: to create competition with your JBOD series obviously not planned. At the same time, it is precisely such shelves, although they are not needed as often as JBODs of a standard form factor, but they are still in demand in a number of tasks that require a large number of drives.
As with drives, users have the choice of where and how to purchase a compatible JBOD. If you need support for a complete solution, then you should contact Qsan. If you are ready to resolve warranty issues from different vendors, then you can purchase a JBOD on the side. In any case, when planning to use third-party shelves, you should carefully read the relevant documentation, which indicates the limitations on possible configurations and hardware/software requirements for all components.
Again, returning to the issue of choosing "friend / foe" in relation to JBOD, it is worth mentioning that collaboration is not forbidden and third-party manufacturers within a single system. Therefore, during operation, you can flexibly approach the issue of expanding capacity, depending on current requirements and financial capabilities.
Rather ill-conceived on the part of some customers is the purchase of a storage system from a certain vendor and further attempts to equip it with incompatible components in order to save money. Indeed, in this case, the whole point of owning such a storage system is often lost, because. there will be no full support from the vendor. It makes more sense to simply choose a storage vendor that does not have these limitations. it is just such a vendor, leaving users to decide for themselves which components to use and where to purchase them.
Source: habr.com