Where is the best place to set up a file server?

Question

System administration

The point is this. There is a server rack, it has an esxi server and a VNX3100 storage system, there is a domain on WIndows Server 2008. The

question is:
1. Use a ball on the storage system, thereby registering the storage system in the Domain.
2. Use a Windows\*nix virtual server for a file server with virtual storage on storage.

Doubts:
1. Is storage in a domain as a ball normal?
2. Virtual server on esxi with storage of the image on the storage system and using it as a file server. Is it stable/safe?

Answer 1

SHD in the domain as a ball is it normal?

And what is abnormal? She was created for this.

Virtual server on esxi with storage of the image on the storage system and using it as a file server. Is it stable/safe?

Virtual machines already work for tasks that are much more demanding in terms of reliability and stability than a primitive file server.
So the choice is yours. I would use a storage system. The only reason why, in the presence of a specialized storage, you can prefer a "universal" server is if you want to use something extremely new, such as SMB 3.0 or BranchCache from Server 2012 (of course, if you have real tasks for this), unfortunately built-in tools "iron" storage systems here usually lag behind in implementation for a year or two.

Answer 2

There is experience in using storage systems as balls in a large IT infrastructure for several thousand users.
(used Netapp storage systems).
In general, the experience is positive.
Nuances:
- The absence of anti-virus agents that would “spin” on the storage system and scan file balls and, accordingly, would remove all sorts of viruses, trojans, etc. In the absence of these, you have to "set" the server to scan the "ball" over the network, but, as you understand, this affects and rests on the speed and bandwidth of the network.
- If you need to change NTSF permissions in batches, then this again depends on the speed and bandwidth of the network.

Answer 3

The absence of anti-virus agents that would “spin” on the storage system and scan file balls and, accordingly, would remove all sorts of viruses, trojans, etc. In the absence of these, you have to "set" the server to scan the "ball" over the network, but, as you understand, this affects and rests on the speed and bandwidth of the network.

It is “and so and not so”, in fact. Firstly, there is a built-in antivirus in Data ONTAP 8.1
. Secondly, for 7.x and 8.x 7-mode, this is done using a dedicated external anti-virus server, and this is not “share scanning over the network”, but using a special www.netapp protocol. com/us/system/pdf-reader.aspx?m=tr-3107.pdf&cc=us