SAN RFP Questions and Answers Questions for week ending 10/4/13 Questions from Sterling Computers What is the snapshot retention policy is and percent of change for the primary SAN? a. Is it just a 1 day policy with a 3% change? Need to know this in order to size it properly Currently, we do not perform snapshots on the SAN. We would like to have the snapshot feature available for future use. Currently, all backups are done using a combination of Avamar and Backup Exec. For backup purposes, the estimated change rate for the data will be 10% over 24 months. File level backup for the archiving is mentioned, do you also require file level storage for the primary and DR SAN? File level storage on the on the SAN is not a requirement; however, it may be a needed component for the long-term data backup/archive solution. What backup software is currently being used for the archiving? Currently, we use Backup Exec version 12.5. Questions from 10/7/13 Questions from Prime Communications 1. Can the achieve solution be an extension of the primary SAN? Yes, the archive solution can be an extension of the primary SAN. 2. What is your growth expectations for IOPS? Also, do you have any projects on the roadmap that would affect IOPS? (ex. ERP, VDI, etc.) The IOP values supplied in the RFP were taken on a typical usage day. We do not have history stats for IOP usage and therefore we are unable to provide growth projections. We do not anticipate the IOP rate would change dramatically. 3. How many physical SANs are part of this bid? Do you plan to have another SAN at DR now or in the future? There is a minimum of 1 primary SAN included in this bid. Currently, we have no plans to replicate the primary SAN to a DR SAN, but may desire to add this option in the future. The primary SAN must provide the ability to replicate data to an offsite node. 4. What types of 10 gig non blocking switch ports are you looking for? SFP+ ports or Copper ports? The 10 Gig switches must provide connectivity for a minimum of 10 redundantly connected hosts that should be less than 50 feet from the SAN. We will accept any proposal that supports this. 5. Are you wanting a stacked pair, an active/passive pair or are you looking for a single switch? The solution must be completely redundant and automatically failover in event of a failure. We will accept any configuration that supports this.
6 Are you wanting 24 or 48 ports? The 10 Gig switches must provide connectivity for a minimum of 10 redundantly connected hosts. We will accept any proposal that supports this. 7. Layer 2 protocols or licensed for something more? The 10 Gig switches must provide connectivity for a minimum of 10 redundantly connected hosts. We will accept any proposal that supports this. 8. Are you looking for ISCSI and jumbo packets capability? The 10 Gig switches must provide connectivity for a minimum of 10 redundantly connected hosts. We will accept any proposal that supports this. 9. Can you give more information about how you would like to see the labor portion of each quote. How would you like it broken out? Please provide detailed breakdowns of all costs, for example, installation, configuration, and knowledge transfer. Questions from 10/8/13 Questions from Prime Communications Do you require server NICs in this proposal if the solution is for sfp+? If so do you have a part identified? The solution must include all necessary hardware to connect the servers to the storage. This would include NICs and any sfp+ hardware. We are not specifying part numbers. Questions from IP Pathways Please identify the type of hosts (make/model/service tag), number of available PCIe slots with slot IDs, slot IDs that existing HBAs reside in, current firmware levels of hosts, CPU type and quantity, and memory installed. HOST vsphere1 Dell PowerEdge R710 Service Tag DS6HVH1 Intel E5520, 2 physical processors BIOS Version 1.1.4 48 GB Memory HOST vsphere2 Dell PowerEdge R710 Service Tag DS6GVH1 Intel E5520, 2 physical processors BIOS Version 1.1.4 48 GB Memory HOST vsphere3 Dell PowerEdge R710 Service Tag DS6FVH1 Intel E5520, 2 physical processors BIOS Version 1.1.4
48 GB Memory HOST vsphere4 HP ProLiant ML350 G6 Service Tag USE2225PHX Intel X5650, 2 physical processors BIOS version D22 192 GB Memory HOST vsphere5 HP ProLiant ML350 G6 Service Tag USE2225PHY Intel X5650, 2 physical processors BIOS version D22 192 GB Memory HOST6 Dell PowerEdge 2950 Service Tag BK8NF1 Intel E5410, 2 physical processors BIOS Version 2.7.0 16 GB of Memory HOST7 Dell PowerEdge R610 Service Tag 2SLQCP1 Intel E5620, 1 physical processor BIOS Version 6.3.0 16 GB of Memory Please list quantity, versions, size of db/logs for all instances of SQL. SQL SRV1 Number of DBs 18 All DBs 145 GB All Logs 1 GB SQL SRV2 Number of DBs 18 All DBs 67 GB All Logs 1 GB SQL SRV3 Number of DBs 70
All DBs 12 GB All Logs 1 GB SQL SRV4 Number of DBs 56 All DBs 95 GB All Logs 1 GB SQL SRV5 Number of DBs 41 All DBs 112 GB All Logs 18 GB SQL SRV6 Number of DBs 14 All DBs 36 GB All Logs 4 GB Please list quantity, versions, size of db for all Exchange instances. Version Exchange 2010, 2 Clustered DB servers in DAG, 1 Front End Server Databases - 16 Database size - 285 GB Database log size - 8 GB Please list the number of mailboxes, size of average mailbox, deleted item retention period, full back up schedule, and public folder sizes. 1625 Mailboxes 120 MB average MB size Deleted items retention period 14 days Backed up once daily DB backups 5 day retention Public folders are not used Section VII. B. listed 8 hosts currently connected. Are the 10 Windows servers in addition to the 8 noted? If so, please refer to the clarification question for section VII. B. regarding host information. The system needs to provide connectivity for a minimum of 10 hosts. The 10 hosts as not in addition to the 8 noted hosts. What is the desired topology for uplinking to the 6509 if IP storage is proposed? 1000Base-T would be desired for connectivity. If other connectivity would be required, please include any additional components in the proposal. Are layer 3 services desired on the 10g switches?
Layer 3 switches a not a requirement of this RFP, however the switches need to function fully with the storage environment. What type of snapshots are desired (copy on write, redirect on write, etc.)? The type of snapshot is not specified in this RFP. Is a particular number of snapshots required or desired? The number of snapshots is not specified in this RFP. Is cloning of a snapshot required (r/w for testing or other non-read only use)? Cloning of a snapshot is not specified in this RFP. Is zero cost snapshotting required or desired? Zero cost snapshotting is not specified in this RFP. What type/frequency of replication is required or desired? The type/frequency of replication has not been specified in this RFP. Is the ability to replicate only changed data required or desired? The type of replication has not been specified in this RFP. Please list all host/server operating systems and versions The hosts connected to the storage environment will include, but not be limited to, Vmware ESXi 4.1, Vmware ESXi 5.x, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008. What type of power connectors are required or desired? The type of power connectors has not been specified in this RFP. We have the ability to provide 110V or 220V power to the proposed solution. If 110V is proposed, we have NEMA 5-15 connections readily available. If 220V is proposed, power circuits will need to be installed to accommodate equipment power needs. Please define how much migration assistance is desired. Please include costs to guide ESU #3 staff with migrating data between storage environments. If the migration work is repetitive, ESU #3 staff may be able to migrate data for repetitive tasks once proper instruction is provided. What level of training is desired? Daily operational use? Please include recommended training options deemed appropriate by the proposer. Define complete functionality with Vmware vsphere 4.1 and newer, Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and newer, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and newer, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and newer. For example, is SMB 3 support needed with Windows 2012? The storage environment needs to be completely visible to our existing Vmware vsphere 4.1 environment to migrate data from the old HP EVA6000 storage. Once the data is migrated, we plan to upgrade our virtual environment to version 5.x. The storage environment must also be completely visible to other Microsoft host servers.
Are file sharing services such as CIFS, with full member server security services (licensed Microsoft SMB stack) required? These functions have not been specified in this RFP. Optional Components Is any incumbent backup/archive solution in place to produce the archival data? If so, what? Currently, we use Backup Exec version 12.5 with a 24 slot tape media library. Is there desire to migrate to a proposed archival solution rather than the current system? We will consider migrating to the proposed archival solution. Are there any non-disruptive operation requirements that allow the controllers to be hardware upgraded or controller capacity scaled with no downtime? These requirements have not been specified in this RFP. Is SharePoint utilized? If so, in a production capacity? If so, what verion(s)? Will this be running on the SAN? Will it be backed up/archived? Is RBS used? A virtual server running Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 is currently used in production. It is planned to be running on the new storage environment and be backed up/archived. RBS is not being used. Questions from 10/9/13 Questions from Sirius Computer Solutions Can you please provide the exact model and serial number of the HP EVA6000 system to allow us to determine an accurate trade-in value? The current SAN is an HP EVA6000-A, serial number USE07180M9. Is the Avamar backup solution connected via fiber or IP in your current/existing environment? The Avamar short-term backup solution is connected via 1000Base-T Ethernet and uses TCP/IP. What is the available bandwidth for storage replication between your production and backup/dr data centers? We currently have a 30 Mbps link to a backup site in which Avamar replication traffic traverses. What type of connection exists between your production and backup/dr data centers? There is a leased 30 Mbps point-to-point link between our production network and backup site. Questions from Sanity Solutions For the SAN project: How many Windows 2003 servers are applicable to the SAN project? 1 physical Windows 2003 server is directly connected to the current SAN. 15 virtual Windows 2003 servers reside on SAN storage. Are there plans to upgrade or phase out the Windows 2003 servers? No plans at this time.
Are the Windows 2003 servers physical, or sitting on top of VMware? Both. If the Windows 2003 servers are physical, do they need MPIO access to the new storage array? Yes For the Backup/archive project: 1. Does solution need to integrate with both EMC Avamar and Backup Exec? No 2. Can they provide the following information? Backup Environment and Data Sizes Primary Site What is the total size of a Full Backup, including email & DB data? (not accounting for growth) What type of backup is run Daily on files? What is the total size of a Daily backup? Which days of the week are Dailys run? SMTWTFS 554 GB FULL 554 GB MTWTF Databases What type of backups are run Daily on Databases? What is the total size of the database data? MB, GB, or TB (compressed) How often are database & transaction logs dumps being done? Are database backups pre-compressed or encrypted? FULL 53 GB Daily Precompressed Email What type of backups are run Daily on E-mail? What is the size of the e-mail data? MB, GB, or TB Full, bricklevel 510 GB Specialty Data What is the size of the graphics or video data? MB, GB, or TB 600 GB
What is the size of pre-compressed or pre-encrypted data? MB, GB, or TB Environmental What is the average annual rate of data growth in the environment? estimated 10% Will tapes copies be made from the ExaGrid at this site? -Daily or Weekly tape copies Retention Requirements Primary Site What is the on-disk Daily retention requirement (in weeks)? 0 What is the on-disk Weekly retention requirement (in weeks)? 0 What is the on-disk Monthly retention requirement (in months)? 24 What is your long-term retention requirement? 24 months Replication Requirements Primary Site Will this site replicate data to another ExaGrid? How much data will be replicated from this site? Will this site be a replication target from other sites? How much data will be replicated to this site? What is the available bandwidth between this site and the other site? What is the distance between this site and the other site? Not at this time 30 Mbps 50 Miles Questions from Vital Support Systems Array / SAN Questions There s two requirements that I m hoping you can clarify. They are: the ability to snapshot data and ability to replicate data to an offside node. Does ESU3 simply want to know if these features exist or do they need to be included in the pricing of the RFP? The snapshot functionality must exist and be included in the proposal pricing. The solution must provide ability to replicate data to an offsite node, but we do not plan to use this feature right away. Please provide detailed pricing related to replication.
Do you need any other infrastructure to support this solution (i.e. a Rack, PDUs, FC or 10GB cabling, etc) that should be quoted? ESU #3 has limited space available in standard 30 deep 4 post round hole threaded enclosed cabinets. ESU #3 will provide any needed power circuits. Any Fiber Channel switch, 10 Gig Ethernet switches, NICs, transceivers, etc. should be included in the RFP response. Any installation costs associated should also be included. Data / Backup Questions Do you need the ability to replicate this solution whether it s immediately or in the near future? No, this is not specified in this RFP. Is a replacement for Avamar or a solution to backup new data? ESU #3 is looking for a solution to backup up data deemed critical and store for a period of 24 months. This solution is not planned to be a replacement for the Avamar backup system. What is the driver behind the backup solution if you already have Avamar? The current configuration of Avamar does not allow for a 24 month retention of data deemed critical. ESU #3 is looking for a solution to backup up data deemed critical and store for a period of 24 months. If the backup solution / target has the ability to provide data deduplication that doesn t have exactly provide 20TB of usable capacity, but can logically store 20TB or more of backups then is the 20TB of usable storage still a requirement? The backup solution must provide 20 Terabytes of usage storage in our environment. If this requirement can be achieved through the use of deduplication and less physical disks, ESU #3 will accept this solution. Please provide a breakdown of the exact capacity for file System data, compressed database, and TIFF images. Per Month Backups System data 12 GB Compressed DB 53 GB TIFF 600 GB Total estimated 24 month storage based on 10% growth 16 TB Will ESU3 accept a bid in which the quoted primary storage array also includes 20TB of capacity for backups? This isn t a recommended / best practice for storing backups Yes, ESU #3 will accept and consider this solution.