StorageWorld - Fibre Channel SAN RAID Solutions

RAID Systems technology from Discovery StorageWorld

StorageWorld Fibre Channel-Fibre Channel RAID Series

Key Specifications | Controller Options | RAID Support | Performance

Level: Mid Range to Enterprise RAID Solution
Scalability: 36Terabytes (36,000MB)

This is an example configuration, ideal for desktop storage and scaleable to mid-level enterprise storage applications including audio, broadcast, prepress, compact servers, high-speed backup, server disk farming, and data serving. This system was designed to provide a specific solution to a client requirement. New systems would be conceptually identical but with the addition of newer revisions of hardware/firmware, more robust cabinets, and/or additional comms or management features. Best of breed combinations are always utilised.

The solution was designed to be fully host independent and in conjunction with 73GB hard drive modules is still capable of scaling to over 36TB of storage per controller.

Although no longer available (controller modules now supplied by IBM), an internally embedded Mylex SANarray FFx or Mylex SANarray Pro FF Fibre Channel to Fibre Channel RAID controller provided support for professional fault tolerant data configurations and high data throughput for maximum system uptime. Full support for point-to-point, loop configurations and switched fabric environments, made this system ideal for server farm storage environment and Storage Area Networks. Comparable systems specifications using latest hardware modules are currently available.

10/15 Hot Swappable Drive Bays per shelf

2 or 4 Fibre Drive Channels

Host & Operating System Independent

Point-to-Point, Arbitrated Loop, and Fabric Ready

100MB/s transfer rates (per drive channel in simplex mode)

No single point of failure

Massive increase in data storage capacities

Modular, expandable tower and rack configurations

10 bay hot swap rackmount drive enclosures

Dual Controller Option

More than 15,000 IOPS

Scalable to 36 Terabytes

JMR Fortra drive enclosures

Controller Option: Mylex SANArray Pro FF2:

2 Fibre Host Channels
4 Fibre Drive Channels
Intel i960RN RISC processor
Up to 512MB cache memory
Support for up to 496 hard drives
RAID Levels: 0, 1, 0+1, 3, 5, 10, 30, 50, JBOD
Support for up to 496 drives

Controller Option: Mylex SANArray FFx:

1 Fibre Host Channel
2 Fibre Drive Channels
StrongArm SA110 RISC processor
Up to 128MB cache memory
Support for up to 248 hard drives
RAID Levels: 0, 1, 0+1, 3, 5, 10, 30, 50, JBOD
Support for up to 248 drives

RAID Level Support:

Level 0 (Striped /Disk Spanned Array)
Level 1 (Mirrored Array)
Level 0+1 (Striping / Disk Spanning in a Mirrored Array)
Level 3 (Striped Array with Dedicated Parity Drive & Parallel Access)
Level 5 (Striped Array with Interspersed Parity & Independent Access)
Level 10 (Striped Array whose segments are RAID 1 Arrays)
Level 30 (Striping across a number of RAID 3 sub-arrays)
Level 50 (RAID 0 Array striped across RAID 5 elements)
JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Drives)

Performance: Ideal for the fault tolerant mission critical environments, with the capability of sustaining over 189MB/sec sequential RAID-5 reads from a single controller, 360MB/sec in duplex. The solution is host independent and in conjunction with 73GB 10,000rpm Fibre Channel drives, offers scalability to over 36 Terabytes of storage per controller. The SANArray controller can handle in excess of 15,000 IOPS making it extremely fast in OLTP and multimedia rich applications.



Key Specifications: Internally embedded Mylex SANArray RAID controller Supports RAID Levels: 0, 1, 0+1, 3, 5, 10, 30, 50, JBOD Intel i960RN (Pro FF2) or StrongArm SA110 (FFx) RISC processor Support for up to 128MB (FFx) or 512MB (Pro FF2) of cache memory Industry standard hard drive interconnect, Single Connector Attachment (SCA-2) Hot-swap drive bays Cable-less design; multi-layer backplane for high signal integrity Dual hot-swap blowers provide cooling Dual hot-swap, auto-ranging power supplies 2 or 4 Fibre Channel drive channels 1 or 2 Fibre Channel host interfaces Dual loop 1Gigabit Fibre Channel connectivity Fibre Channel switched fabric support for enterprise SANs Operating system independent			Fibre to Fibre RAID Ideal for Enterprise SAN applications • audio • broadcast • pre-press • compact servers • high-speed backup • data serving • data consolidation • SAN

For more detailed technical specifications, ordering, and pricing information,
please contact us at Discovery.