2.4. Reflection Checkpoint
Key Takeaways
Before proceeding, ensure you can:
- Explain rack layout decisions (weight distribution, cooling management, PDU/KVM placement) and why each matters for server reliability
- Distinguish SFP, SFP+, and QSFP transceivers by speed and use case; distinguish single-mode from multimode fiber by distance and light source
- Calculate usable capacity for RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10 with a given number of drives and drive size
- Explain why RAID 5 is vulnerable during rebuild and how RAID 6 addresses this
- Distinguish NAS (file-level, NFS/CIFS) from SAN (block-level, iSCSI/FC/FCoE) and select the correct one for a given scenario
- Identify what hot-swap does and does not apply to, and why
- Explain why OOB management (iDRAC, iLO) is more powerful than in-band management (SSH, RDP) for server recovery scenarios
Connecting Forward
Phase 3 moves from the hardware layer to the software layer—installing operating systems, configuring network services, managing storage from the OS perspective, and building the high-availability and virtualization infrastructure that runs on top of the hardware you've just installed. The dependency stack concept from Phase 1 applies directly: everything in Phase 3 depends on Phase 2 being done correctly.
Self-Check Questions
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A storage administrator needs to provision storage for a VMware vSphere cluster of 15 hosts that will use vMotion (live VM migration between hosts). The storage must support simultaneous access from all hosts. What type of storage (NAS or SAN) is most appropriate, which protocol minimizes infrastructure cost, and what special requirement must the shared storage volume meet?
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You are planning storage for a new database server that requires maximum write performance, uses exactly 4 drives of 2TB each, and can tolerate one drive failure. Which RAID level should you use, what is the usable capacity, and what is the trade-off compared to RAID 6?
