SAN Fundamentals
Advantages: |
- Centralized shared storage pool for heterogeneous platforms
- Performance - Hardware protocol; 100MB/s per FC bus
- Separate network dedicated to storage traffic
- Scalable - Easy to connect multiple servers and storage arrays
- Higher ROI
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The explosion of data in today's networked computing environments stresses the abilities of many Information Technology groups while the demand to store and access data doubles each year.
Since information, and the storage infrastructure that holds it, are critical to a company's success, the management of the storage becomes a serious issue, where reliability, availability and improved disaster recovery are all key factors.
Documents, databases, web pages, and other sorts of media each have their own rules for accessibility, retention and backup. Estimates of the cost to manage storage range from 5 to 10 times the actual cost of the storage hardware itself.
The Storage Area Network (SAN) is a dedicated network devoted to data storage and is a solution that meets the storage requirements of many businesses today. SANs address many of the reliability and availability issues for data storage. Essentially, SANs apply networking methodologies to the problems of storage, expanding the management possibilities for storage.
Synchronix SAN |
SAN Gateway
6 Independent Fibre Channel Ports
4 UWD SCSI Channels
SAN Performance
100 MB/s per Fibre Channel Port
SAN Scalability
Up to 42 Host Connections per Gateway
Via Vixel FC Switches
4 Synchronix Arrays per Gateway
8.6 TB (using 72GB drives)
Virtual Private SAN (VPS)
LUN Masking
Channel Zoning
SANergy FS
Filesystem Sharing via FC SAN
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Click on the PDF Icon to download the following literature:
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Synchronix SAN Data Sheet |
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Synchronix 3000 |
Hardware RAID
Levels 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, 30 and 50
Modular Scaleable Design
FAE (Fibre Array Enclosure)
Full Fault-Tolerance
2N Component Redundancy
RAID Controllers
Mirrored Cache
Power Supplies/Plugs
Cooling Fans
Hot Swap Component Replacement
All FRU's customer replaceable
Array Based Failover
No software drivers required
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Click on the PDF Icon to download the following literature:
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Synchronix 3000 Data Sheet |
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Scalability |
FAE (Fibre Array Enclosure)
2 Independent Fibre Host Loops
2 Independent Fibre Target Loops
1 - 6 FAEs
1st FAE with controller pair
2nd - 6th FAEs with no controllers
10 Disk Drives per FAE
Seagate 15K RPM 18 GB Drives
Seagate 10K RPM 86 GB & 73 GB Drives
Seagate 15K RPM 36 GB Drives (Q3 2001) |
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Synchronix 4000 |
The demand for data storage is exploding. The need to deliver low cost, high capacity storage, yet still provide enterprise-quality performance and reliability, has never been greater.
Designed to meet the needs of today's business-critical applications, the SX4000 combines existing Fibre Channel technology with cost-competitive ATA. A single or dual Fibre Channel front end allows for easy integration into existing Fibre Channel infrastructures, and enables full SAN support. Built around Storage Engine's existing SYNCHRONIX family of enclosures, the SX4000 incorporates the same rigidity, backplane, electrical and cooling technology as our enterprise-class, full-Fibre solution. All components, including the 16 drives, are hot-pluggable, and reliability is further enhanced through the use of a switching interposer card that allows for support of dual pathing on each drive.
Shipping today with native Serial-ATA drives, but capable of supporting Parallel-ATA drives in the future, the SX4000 takes advantage of low cost commodity IDE drives and drive size to redefine near-line storage. SATA sets a new standard in scalable storage, being the first disk technology to compete head to head with the cost of tape automation, allowing over 81TB to be offered in a single floor tile. Targeted at customers with large data storage demands, the SX4000 is ideally suited for near-line solutions where cost, reliability and performance concerns are of the utmost importance. Bandwidth customers can now maximize storage efficiency and allocation, while protecting mission critical applications and cutting rebuild and load times when processing large data files.
• Single or Dual Active/Active
RAID Controllers
• RAID 0, 0+1, 3, 5, 10, 50
• Enterprise class reliability
and scalability
• High package density
with 5.12 TB in 3U rack
mountable unit
• Fully redundant
hot-swappable components
• SAN Ready
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Click on the PDF Icon to download the following literature:
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Synchronix 4000 Data Sheet |
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Synchronix 5000 |
Designed for the demands of today’s data intensive applications, the SX5000 sets a new standard for midrange Fibre-to-Fibre storage solutions. With four back-end loops and exceptional read/write levels, this subsystem is an ideal solution for high-bandwidth applications such as video streaming, medical imaging and high performance computing.
The SX-5000 delivers sustained sequential data transfer rates of 690MB/sec, and can support a capacity of over 72 terabytes of RAID storage. The SX5000 is both robust and flexible. Support for dual active redundant configurations, synchronized cache communications and 72-hour battery backup deliver maximum availability and system security. In addition, redundant hot-swappable power supplies, cooling systems and disk drives further enhance system reliability and uptime. This enclosure’s modular architecture allows for cost-effective scalability and flexible configuration options. Four independent Fibre Channel host ports are configurable to ensure dual host access to all drives. The SX5000 is easy to configure and manage. It’s platform-independent Storage Array Manager (SAM), a Java-based system management and configuration tool, allows for both in band and out-of-band management of your storage subsystem. SAM supports a wide variety of configuration options, is compatible with any Java-based web browser and supports all major operating systems. Continuous runtime monitors use graphical presentations for ‘at a glance’ status reporting, and displays can be customized to suit your environment.
About the SX-5000 Enclosure
The Storage Engine, Inc. SX-5000 supports 16 hot-swappable disk drives in just three standard EIA units of rack space, providing industry leading capacity in this form factor. Designed with hot-swappable data path logic, power supplies and cooling modules, this fully redundant array is designed to meet the demands of 24/7 operation. The SX-5000 can be branded according to your requirements. Customization services are available for drive carrier and chassis bezel plastics. Please contact your sales representative for details on how the SX-5000 can fit into your company’s solution.
• Raid Levels 0, 1, (0+1), 3,
5,10, 30 and 50 supported
• Four independent fibre
Channel host ports
• Multiple data-gate
architecture
• Active-active failover
with dual hot-swappable
controllers
• Support for up to 240
drives, 16 partitions per
array and 128 LUNs
• Remote array configuration
and monitoring
• Java based GUI
management software over
out-of-band 10/100 Ethernet
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Click on the PDF Icon to download the following literature:
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Synchronix 5000 Data Sheet |
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WHY SETTLE FOR A SIMPLE SAN WHEN YOU CAN HAVE MORE?
Synchronism - A Better SAN |
Built on the Strengths of Standards:
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SCSI/iSCSI/Fibre Channel for Storage Aggregation
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iSCSI/IP for Provisioning/Connectivity
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Integrated SAN + NAS + Storage Services
Leverage existing IT resources & know-how to maximize ROI:
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IP backbone and IP add-on (e.g. IPSec), Gigabit Ethernet
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Switches, NIC, Cabling and Storage Engine existing &
new storage devices (RAID, Library, etc.)
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Smooth learning curve will accelerate enterprise deployment
Realize present and future technical advancements:
Facilitate the delivery of 'Storage Services' over IP |
Click on the PDF Icon to download the following literature:
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Synchronism Data Sheet |
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