Help Needed with Multi-Node setup

[lionwolf]

Hi there,

I'm looking at implementing a new Hyper-Converged cluster in our lab for use with various VMs as our current Hyper-V cluster is suffering with the current linux based iSCSI NAS.
Currently I have 5 server all with the following:
2x 1GB NIC
1x 300GB SAS HDD
3x 600GB SAS HDD
1x RAID controller

All the servers have the same CPU and RAM and they are all 1U servers with only 4 bays so I can add anymore drive space and my bosses refuse to let me spend any money to upgrade anything.
I also have only 2 switches available, a 100MB Cisco & a 1GB 3com which doesn't support Jumbo frames(can't find an option for it anywhere), both switches support VLANs though.

I was originally considering either of the following solutions:

1. smaller drive to host OS and witness image, other drives not in raid and have a single volume on each drive and add them to the cluster

2. smaller drive to host OS and witness, RAID0 remaining drives and create 5 volumes on the single RAID volume and attache to cluster with each node in charge of a single volume

Can anyone please assist by recommending the best setup for my available hardware or pointing me in the right direction?

[Oleg(staff)]

Hi lionwolf,
We suggest using 2x 1GB NIC as dedicated only for ISCSI and Sync traffic and organize management on another network connection.

2. smaller drive to host OS and witness, RAID0 remaining drives and create 5 volumes on the single RAID volume and attache to cluster with each node in charge of a single volume

This option is more preferable, you can also put the witness on the single RAID volume, 1 Gb size is enough for witness volume.