How to set up for shared SAS storage (Dell MD3200)

[Frosty]

I'm about to configure a new ESXi 4.1 environment: 3 x Dell R710 hosts with 48GB RAM each, running ESXi 4.1 ... and we are using shared SAS storage ... not iSCSI and not FC. There is nothing in the Veeam documentation that I can find which tells me how best to set up for this equipment. Obviously I would like to take advantage of all the advanced features of Veeam Backup if at all possible.

The ESXi 4.1 hosts will have 2 x HBAs each (for failover, etc). Our shared SAS storage will be a Dell MD3200 with 12 x 450GB 15000rpm SAS drives, plus a JBOD with 12 x 2TB 7200rpm nearline SAS drives. The MD3200 has dual controllers, each with 4 ports. Each port is capable of 4 x 6Gb/sec throughput. So my hosts and VMs should run like a proverbial rocket.

What is not clear to me is how best to set up with Veeam. How will Veeam interact with shared SAS storage? I was going to install it on a VM in the hope that stuff like CBT and so on would all "just work". Planning on creating some large LUNs to hold the backup files, then having a script to copy those off to some external storage.

Can anyone shed any light on this? What should I expect?

[Gostev]

Hello Stephen, best processing mode for shared SAS storage is the Virtual Appliance mode. And it will "just work"

[Frosty]

Thanks ... I will check that out ... cheers!