Re: Mobile Users and Home Directories on XSAN Volume

We recently tested a basic AFP environment.

Our Xsan has two controllers, eight XRAIDs, 45 clients. We added an Xserve with 6TB RAM and dual fibre connects as an AFP server. 10 iMacs were connected via ethernet on a separate fabric -- the Xserve bridged the two fabrics. We typically keep our working projects local, with backups posted to a common area on the SAN. Projects on the iMacs, opened a little slower, but they did open. Writing to the SAN via AFP worked fine -- no project corruption, though our test was limited.

Performance is diminished. We used OLRT media, so there's plenty of bandwidth, but complex sequences and editing were nowhere near as crisp as a fibre client. But then, that's not what we intend to use these for. As viewing stations and for rudimentary stringouts, they seemed to work fine.

I think it's all about how many AFP clients you try to hook up to a server. Not much trouble with bandwidth, but more keeping the media calls rolling along without hesitation. Our next step will be install 20 iMacs into two Xserves -- that'll be at the beginning of May, so by June we should have some more solid data.



JB
Blue Smoke & Mirrors Ltd.
FCP Finishing
Xsan Integration
310-292-0416