test

NFS Server Performance and Tuning Guide for Sun Hardware

Disk Expansion Units

This section describes an overview of the following disk expansion units:

SPARCstorage Array Subsystem

To expand your disk storage, consider the SPARCstorage Array subsystem. This disk array is a high-performance and high-capacity companion unit for the Sun Enterprise 4000, 5000, or 6000 systems, SPARCcenter 2000 or 2000E, SPARCserver 1000 or 1000E, Sun Enterprise 150 system, Sun Enterprise 2 system, and the SPARCserver 20 system.

The Model 101 uses 1.05 Gbyte single connector 3.5-inch disk drives. Each disk array contains three drive trays. Each drive tray supports up to ten 3.5-inch single-connector SCSI disk drives. All disk drive SCSI addresses are hardwired. The position of the disk drive in the drive tray automatically sets the SCSI addresses. Each disk array uses six internal fast, wide SCSI buses. Each drive tray contains two SCSI buses that support five disk drives for each SCSI bus.

Figure 2-9 shows a front view of the SPARCstorage Array subsystem.

Figure 2-9 Front View of the SPARCstorage Array Subsystem

Graphic

Figure 2-10 shows how you can connect the SPARCstorage Array subsystem to your NFS server.

Figure 2-10 SPARCstorage Array Subsystem Installation Options

Graphic

The SPARCstorage Array subsystem uses RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) technology. RAID 0 stripes data without parity, RAID 1 does disk mirroring, RAID 0+1 does mirroring optimized stripes, and RAID 5 does striping data with parity.

Within the disk array, independent disks plus RAID levels 5, 1, 0, 0+1 are available at the same time so you can easily match data layouts to meet the specific requirements for capacity, performance, high availability, and cost.

If any disk in a RAID-5, 1, or 0+1 group fails, an optional hot spare (if configured) is automatically swapped to replace the failed disk. Continuous, redundant data protection is provided, even if a disk fails.

Warm plug service lets you replace one or more disks without powering down the system and the disk array, or rebooting the system. You can obtain warm plug service if multiple disk arrays are configured.

Using the SPARCstorage Array subsystem can improve NFS performance because its processor manages and schedules disk I/O.

The SPARCstorage Manager software is provided with the disk array and provides similar functionality to Online: Disk Suite software. Since there are often many more disks to manage in the SPARCstorage Array subsystem, the SPARCstorage Manager software has an intuitive GUI interface.

Sun StorEdge A1000 RAID Disk Array

The Sun StorEdge A1000 unit is a RAID controller-based configuration. It is designed as a RAID solution for workgroup servers and contains the following:

The RAID Manager controller module provides disk array management services. It supports dual SCSI hosts on a 16-bit SCSI-2 bus. The two SCSI controllers inside the controller module manage data distribution and storage for up to twelve disk drives. The controllers also perform system status and fault detection functions.

The RAID Manager software allows you to reset the disk array in different RAID configurations

Figure 2-11shows a front view of a twelve drive system.

Figure 2-11 Sun StorEdge A1000 Front View of a Twelve Drive System

Graphic

Sun StorEdge A3000 Subsystem

The Sun StorEdge A3000 subsystem is a redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) product. It is offered as a companion unit for the following systems:

It is a high performance rack-mounted disk array controller that features redundant power and cooling by incorporating hot-plug technology to support the unexpected loss of one controller, one fan, or one power supply. Failed disk driver can be hot-plugged without stopping I/O activity to the subsystem.

The controller module, which is installed in the subsystem, supports dual SCSI hosts on a 16-bit SCSI-2 bus. In addition, the unit provides the same SCSI-2 bus interface for up to five differential drive trays in the expansion cabinet.

There are two SCSI controllers inside the controller module that use five independent drive channels to manage data distribution and storage for up to thirty-five disk drives. The controllers perform system status and fault detection functions as well.

The controller module combines disk array technology with redundant modular components to provide fast data transfer rates, plus reliable, high-volume data retrieval and storage functions across multiple drives. It works with the RAID Manager software, a disk array management program for configuring, monitoring, and troubleshooting the disk array and provides high-performance disk array management services.

As part of this overall disk management system, the controller module supports the following disk array elements and configurations:

With RAID 3, data and parity are striped across a drive group. One drive is used for redundancy. All other drives are available for storing user data. Figure 2-12 shows a front view of the Sun StorEdge A3000 subsystem.

Figure 2-12 Front View of the Sun StorEdge A3000 Subsystem

Graphic

Sun StorEdge A5000 Subsystem

This high-performance and high-availability storage subsystem is designed for the Sun Enterprise 3x00, 4x00, 5x00, and 6x00 family of servers. It replaces the SPARCstorage Array. This subsystem uses 100 Mbit/second Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) to create disk arrays that offer two to four times the performance of SCSI-based disk arrays.

The hardware features of this product are:

The software features of this product are:

This subsystem can store up to 112 Gbytes of information (using 1.6-inch disk drives) or 88 Gbytes of information (using 1-inch disk drives). You can attach up to four disk enclosures using one host adapter. The components in the enclosure are redundant and can be replaced while the subsystem is operating.

Figure 2-13 shows a front view of the array.

Figure 2-13 Front View of the Sun StorEdge A5000 Subsystem

Graphic

Sun StorEdge A7000 Intelligent Storage Server

The Sun StorEdge A7000 Intelligent Storage Server is a mainframe-class disk array system containing nearly 3 Terrabytes of disk storage. It is designed for the Sun Enterprise 6000 or 6500 data center system.The system contains Symmetric Multiprocessor (SMP) nodes as storage processors. The DataShare software, which runs on this disk array, permits both mainframe and open systems' hosts to directly share the data on the same data volume.

Hardware features of this disk array include fully redundant hardware controllers, cache, hot-pluggable disks, fans, power, and power cords.

Software features include configurable RAID levels, self-diagnostics, health-monitoring, environmental-monitoring, and performance-monitoring.

Serviceablity features include automatic "phone home" and problem reporting supports by on-line diagnostics and repair capability.

Sun StorEdge MultiPack

The Sun StorEdge MultiPack enclosure, which is Fast Wide SCSI, can adapt to 50-pin or narrow hosts. It is self-terminating but it can be chained with units that require external termination.

The Sun StorEdge MultiPack uses single connector disks and it is hot plugable. The enclosure can either contain from two to six 1.5-inch disk drives or from two to twelve 1-inch disk drives. To accommodate from two to twelve 1-inch disk drives you must use an SBus SCSI host adapter.

This unit is an excellent RAID solution for desktop servers when you use the unit with Sun StorEdge Volume Manager or Solstice DiskSuite. You can also use the Sun StorEdge MultiPack with the Netra NFS server for fast and reliable network attached storage.

Figure 2-14shows a front view of the Sun StorEdge MultiPack

Figure 2-14 Front View of the Sun StorEdge MultiPack

Graphic

Sun StorEdge UniPack

The disk model of the Sun StorEdge UniPack enclosure (Figure 2-15) contains a self terminating hard disk drive. Models containing a tape drive or a CD-ROM drive are also available. The unit is Fast Wide SCSI.

This expansion unit can be used with the following desktop server systems: SPARCstation 5 system, SPARCstation 10 system, SPARCstation 20 system, Sun Enterprise 1 system, Sun Enterprise 2 system.

This unit can be a very good RAID solution for desktop servers when used with Sun StorEdge Volume Manager or Solstice DiskSuite. You can also use this unit with the Netra NFS server for fast and reliable network attached storage.

Figure 2-15shows a front view of the unit.

Figure 2-15 Sun StorEdge UniPack

Graphic