C H A P T E R 1 - Planning Your File System

C H A P T E R 1

Planning Your File System

This chapter provides an overview of the Sun StorEdge QFS software and explains some of the design considerations that should be taken into account before you begin to install and configure your software. It also provides a high level overview of the software installation process.

This chapter contains the following sections:

Product Overview

Installation Process Overview

Product Overview

Sun StorEdge QFS software is a high-performance file system that can be installed on Solaris x64 AMD and SPARC platforms, and on Linux x86/x64 platforms (for shared clients only). This high-availability file system ensures that data is available at device-rated speeds when requested by one or more users. The Sun StorEdge QFS file system's inherent scalability enables the storage requirements of an organization to grow over time with virtually no limit to the amount of information that can be managed. This file system enables you to store many types of files (text, image, audio, video, and mixed-media) all in one logical place. In addition, the Sun StorEdge QFS file system enables you to implement disk quotas and a shared file system. This file system also includes the following features:

Metadata separation

Direct I/O capability

Shared reader/writer capability

Sun Cluster support for high availability

File sharing in a storage area network (SAN) environment

About the SAM-QFS File System

The SAM-QFS configuration is one in which the Sun StorEdge QFS file system is used with the Sun StorEdge SAM-FS storage and archive management software. The SAM-QFS file system enables data to be archived to and retrieved from automated libraries at device-rated speeds. This file system manages the online, nearline, and offline data automatically and in a manner that is transparent to the user or application. Users read and write files to a SAM-QFS file system as though all files were on primary storage. In addition, the SAM-QFS file system backs up work-in-progress continually, automatically, and unobtrusively. Multiple file copies can be archived to many media types in a standard format. This minimizes the need for additional backup and provides fast disaster recovery in an effective long-term data storage solution.

The SAM-QFS file system is especially suited to data-intensive applications that require a scalable and flexible storage solution, superior data protection, and fast disaster recovery. This file system also includes the following features:

Storage policy management

Complete volume manager

Disk-to-disk copying and archiving

Shared tape drives

Read-behind capability

File segmentation

For more information on the Sun StorEdge SAM-FS product, see the Sun StorEdge SAM-FS File System Configuration and Administration Guide, the Sun StorEdge SAM-FS Installation and Upgrade Guide, and the Sun StorEdge SAM-FS Storage and Archive Management Guide.

About Shared Sun StorEdge QFS File Systems and the Linux Client

A Sun StorEdge QFS shared file system is a distributed, multihost file system that you can mount on multiple Solaris Operating System (OS) hosts. One Solaris OS host acts as the metadata server, and the others act as clients. You can also designate one or more clients as potential metadata servers, enabling you to switch metadata servers. FIGURE 1-1 illustrates the configuration of a simple Sun StorEdge QFS shared file system.

FIGURE 1-1 Sun StorEdge QFS Shared File System Configuration on Solaris Hosts

Figure of a Sun StorEdge QFS shared file system on multiple hosts. [ D ]

Within a shared file system, the Sun StorEdge QFS software can be installed on Linux clients as well as on Solaris clients. The Sun StorEdge QFS Linux client software supports the following Linux distributions:

Red Hat Enterprise 3.0, AS, ES, and WS for x86/x64 platforms

SuSE Enterprise Server 8 for x64 platforms

Unlike a shared Sun StorEdge QFS Solaris client, the Linux client is restricted to client-only behavior. It cannot be configured as a potential metadata server. The Linux client supports interaction with Sun StorEdge SAM-FS software, but has Sun StorEdge QFS file system functionality only.

The Sun StorEdge QFS software functionality is largely the same for the Solaris and Linux clients. For more information about the Sun StorEdge QFS Linux client software, see the Sun StorEdge QFS Configuration and Administration Guide and the README file on Disk 1 of the Sun StorEdge QFS Linux Client installation package.

About the Sun Cluster Environment

You can install a Sun StorEdge QFS file system in a Sun Cluster environment and configure the file system for high availability. The following configuration methods are available, depending on whether your file system is shared or unshared:

In a shared file system, when the Sun Cluster software fails over, it moves the Sun StorEdge QFS file system operations from the failing server to a different server. The Sun Cluster software moves the metadata server's operations from a failing node to another node without requiring you to enter commands to move the metadata server to another host.

Make sure that your environment meets the requirements listed in Hardware and Software Requirements.

An unshared Sun StorEdge QFS file system configured in a Sun Cluster environment is a highly available file system. Such a file system is configured on one node but is enabled as a highly available resource within the cluster. When the node hosting the file system fails, the Sun Cluster software moves the file system to another node.

Note - Sun StorEdge QFS version 4U4 does not support a Sun Cluster environment on an AMD x64 hardware platform.

Installation Process Overview

The following list is a high-level overview of the software installation process. For detailed installation instructions, see Chapter 3 of this manual.

1. Verify that the hardware and software requirements have been met (see Hardware and Software Requirements).

2. Install the software packages (Installing the Software Packages).

3. If you want to configure the system using File System Manager, install the File System Manager software (Installing and Using the File System Manager Software).

4. Configure the Sun StorEdge QFS environment (beginning with Setting Up the Environment Configuration).

5. If applicable to your environment, complete the configuration tasks specific to a shared Sun StorEdge QFS or Sun Cluster environment (Configuration Tasks for a Shared or Sun Cluster Configuration).