We are implementing a new vSphere 5.0 enviroment using enterprise plus. Two ESXi hosts connecting via FC to a MSA P2000 with 12 300GB SAS 15k drives. Total amount of VMs will be between 8 to 10 servers including Exchange and a database server for 50 users. Average server size, including OS is 100GB.
The MSA has two controllers, however, when a vDisk is created is is owned by one controller. Volumes (LUNs) are then carved out of the vDisk. HP recommeds spreading out the vDisks between controllers. This will considerable reduce the amount of drives available for 2 RAID 10 configurations.
Should the vDisks be split between controllers?
What would be an ideal size for the volume (LUN) and should the whole size be used as a datastore, carving out partitions for the VMs and data volumes?
If the volumes are split, there would be at least two datastores. Should we consider a datastore per server?
For this size is it worth using RAID10 vs RAID5?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance for any assistance.