HA per volume and memory usage for Caching

[jweel5]

I am trying to make a tactical decision on how to use SSD within Starwind. For the sake of consistent performance I am not sure that SATA SSD behind a RAID controller is entirely intelligent over years of service compared to some of the PCIe connected devices that can TRIM. I see that Starwind HA monitors per volume and am just looking for confirmation that in the event a PCIe storage device containing volumes "dies" in node A, that the matching volumes in node B will take over. Even if the remaining volumes on node A continue to function.

In Starwind Native SAN for Hyper-V, how can I control how much memory Starwind is using for caching? I want to make sure that memory usage doesn't conflict with the reservation I need for my VMs.

[anton (staff)]

Until we'll have properly implemented automatic tiering (AFAIK not earler then summer 2012) the best way is to use use active-passive scenario, active node should be all-SSD and passive - all-spindle. Search forum to see people using referenced config.

Rule of thumb is: allocate for cache not more then 60% of free physical memory. So if you have 16GB RAM installed, hypervisor uses 1GB, 5 running on persistant basis VMs use another 5GB you have 10GB left - allocate 6GB for write-back cache and keep 4GB as a spare.

I am trying to make a tactical decision on how to use SSD within Starwind. For the sake of consistent performance I am not sure that SATA SSD behind a RAID controller is entirely intelligent over years of service compared to some of the PCIe connected devices that can TRIM. I see that Starwind HA monitors per volume and am just looking for confirmation that in the event a PCIe storage device containing volumes "dies" in node A, that the matching volumes in node B will take over. Even if the remaining volumes on node A continue to function.

In Starwind Native SAN for Hyper-V, how can I control how much memory Starwind is using for caching? I want to make sure that memory usage doesn't conflict with the reservation I need for my VMs.

[lohelle]

Look here for my setup.

starwind-f5/starwind-combine-ssd-and-sas-storage-t2567.html

[anton (staff)]

Yes, it's exactly the one I've been keen to point to