W00t! A new version of the Exchange Server 2007 Mailbox Server Storage Cost Calculator (sheesh, that's a lot of words) has been released, and the Exchange team has updated their original blog post on the subject to reflect the changes in the tool. (The calculator can be downloaded here.)
Why am I so excited? Well, I've been doing a lot of work around clustering and storage as of late (and having a lot of fun with it), and the work Microsoft has done for the calculator helps back up some of the work that I've done. Also, there seems to be a feeling among much of the Exchange community that SANs are best for Exchange, and I disagree with that viewpoint - I think a solution that the Exchange administrator can remain in control of is the best solution. Storage administrators don't really get Exchange, and have a tendency to say stuff like, "disk is disk", which drives me right up a tree. So my preference has always been to let the storage folks play with their bits, and have other folks let THEIR stuff reside on the SAN, and to keep Exchange away from their unappreciative hands. The storage cost calculator shows that there really are HUGE savings to be gained by following my preferred model, so I dig that too.
Anyway, the storage cost calculator is pretty cool stuff, and it definitely worth an afternoon's time to play with!