This moduleintroducesbasicSANcomponentsandconceptsincludinghostinitiators,blockstorage

devicesandmultipathing.EMCVNXandVMAXstoragearraysandConnectrixproductsarealso
introducedalongwiththetoolstomanagethem.

Copyright2013EMCCorporation.Allrightsreserved

Module 1: SAN Management Overview

ThislessonintroduceshostHBAs(initiators),blockstoragedevices,andMultipathingsoftwarewith
anemphasisonEMCPowerPath.

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Module 1: SAN Management Overview

TherearemanytypesofHostAdapters.Inthiscourse,wediscussthefollowingthreetypes.
Hostbusadapters arehardwarecomponentsinstalledinanopensystemshosttoaccessstoragein
aSAN.ThesedriversareresponsibleforencapsulatingandunencapsulatingSCSI3protocol
(commandsanddata)withinthepayloadofFibreChannelframes.Inseveralenvironments,hosts
alsouseHBAstoboottheOSfromaSANattachedstoragearray.Inthissituation,theHBAhasa
specialbootcodeonittoallowthehosttoprobeforSCSIdisksduringboottime.
iSCSIHBAsareidealinitiatorsforiSCSIconnectionstostorage.TheiSCSIHBAoffloadsTCP/IPand
iSCSIframes,reducingthestrainfromthehostsCPU.iSCSIcanbeaccomplishedthrougharegular
NICcardbyinstallingasoftwareiSCSIinitiatorintheoperatingsystem.
ConvergedNetworkAdapters areintelligentmultiprotocoladaptersthatprovidehostLANand
FibreChannelSANconnectivityover10GbpsEthernetusingFibreChanneloverEthernet(FCoE)and
EnhancedEthernetfunctionality.Theyofferunrivaledscalabilityandindustryleadingvirtualization
support.FullhardwareoffloadforFCoEprotocolprocessingreducessystemCPUutilizationforI/O
operations,whichleadstofasterapplicationperformanceandhigherlevelsofconsolidationin
virtualizedsystems.Cuttingedge10Gbpsbandwidtheliminatesperformancebottlenecksinthe
I/Opathwitha10Xdatarateimprovementversusexisting1GbpsEthernetsolutions.

Copyright2013EMCCorporation.Allrightsreserved

Module 1: SAN Management Overview

InaUNIXenvironment,aphysicalstoragedevice(diskdrive)attachedtothesystemisaccessedvia
adevicespecialfile.AdevicespecialfileiscreatedbytheoperatingsystemtoprovideI/Oaccessto
thephysicaldevices.Devicespecialfilesarelikeordinaryfilesinthattheyhavenames,appearin
thedirectorystructure,haveaccessprotection,andcanbeusedinalmosteverywaythatordinary
filescanbeused.
IntheearlydaysofUNIX,theentiredrivehadtobeallocatedtotheoperatingsystemortoan
application(theentiredrivewasallocatedtoafilesystemifafilesystemwasneeded).The
obviousdisadvantagewasthelackofflexibility.Ifafilesystemranoutofspace,therewasnoeasy
waytoextendthesizeofthefilesystem.

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Module 1: SAN Management Overview

Filesystemscanresideondisks,diskpartitions,oronalogicalvolumecreatedbyanLVM.Afile
systemorganizesdatainastructuredhierarchicalmanner,viatheuseoffilesanddirectories.Apart
fromfilesanddirectories,thefilesystemisalsomadeupofanumberofotherstructures,which
arecollectivelycalledtheMetaData.TheMetaDataconsistsoftheSuperblock,theInodesand
thelistofdatablocksfreeandinuse.TheMetaDataofafilesystemhastobeconsistentforthe
filesystemtobeconsideredhealthy.
Superblock Containsimportantinformationaboutthefilesystem:Filesystemtype,
creation/modificationdates,size/layoutofthefilesystem,countofavailableresourcesandaflag
indicatingthemountstatusofthefilesystem.TheSuperblockmaintainsinformationonthe
#inodesallocated,inuse,andfree; andthe #datablocksallocated,inuse,andfree.(Thisisset
whenthefilesystemiscreated.ThenumberofInodesallocated=FileSystemSizedividedbythe
numberofbytesperInode(NBPI)).Eachfileordirectoryneedsaninode.Newfilesordirectories
cannotbecreatediftherearenofreeinodes.
Inodes AnInodeisassociatedwitheveryfileanddirectory,andhasinformationaboutfilelength,
ownership,accessprivileges,timeoflastaccess/modification,numberoflinksand,finally,the
blockaddressesforfindingthelocationonthephysicaldiskwheretheactualdataisstored.
ThemetadataofaFileSystemistypicallycachedintheHostsMemoryBuffers.Hostlevelbuffering
isimportanttokeepinmindinaSymmetrixEnvironmentwithSRDFandTimeFinder.The
informationinaHostsmemorybufferisnotavailableontheBCVsortheSRDFtargetdevicesuntil
theyareflusheddowntothestandarddevices.

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Module 1: SAN Management Overview

Multipathingsoftwareisaserverresident,performanceandinformationavailabilityenhancing
softwaresolution.ItprovidesmultiplepathI/Ocapabilities,automaticloadbalancingandpath
failover.
Withoutapathfailoversoftwarepackage,thelossofachannel(dottedline)meansoneormore
applicationsmaystopfunctioning.ThiscanbecausedbythelossofaHostBusAdapter,Channel
DirectororStorageProcessorontheArray,FCALhub,orafailed(kicked)cable.InastandardUNIX
environment,thisisasinglepointoffailure.Inthiscase,allI/Othatwasheadingdownthe
highlightedpathisnowlost.
Tomultipathingsoftware,thelossofachannelmeanstheloadmustbebalancedacrossn1
channels.Thisdoesntmeanthatperformanceisnotaffected,buttheapplicationscontinueto
operateattheirbestwithoutdowntime.

Copyright2013EMCCorporation.Allrightsreserved

Module 1: SAN Management Overview

Theserverviewseachdiskresourcetobeonasinglepath.TheconfigurationspreadsI/Oloadacrossthe
paths.Eachapplicationissetupwithitsownstorage.ThestorageisallocatedtoChannelDirectorsor
StorageProcessorsbasedonexpecteddatarequirementsoftheapplications.Thissetupisdonebasedon
snapshotmeasurements,guesstimatesofaverageloading,andpredictiveloads.
Thisdiagramdepictsasnapshotofthesystematamomentintime.ThedepthoftheI/Oqueuesisvery
unbalanced.Hostapplicationssittingontopofdeepqueuesarenotgettingthedatatheyneed.Ifthiswas
theaverageloading,theSystemAdministratorwouldreconfigurethesystemtobalancetheloadbetter.In
anysystem,therewillbepointsintimewhentheloadisunbalancedduetooneapplicationreceivingheavy
I/Orequirements.
Intheexampleshownhere,twooftheapplicationsarecurrentlycausinghighI/Otraffic.Atthispoint,two
channelsareoverloaded(depictedbythereddisksontheoutside,andthependingrequeststack)whiletwo
otherchannelsarelightlyloaded.Inawhile,therequestswillhavebeenhandledandthesystemwillreturn
toamorebalancedload.Inthemeantime,theapplicationsarebeingdatastarvedandtheusersor
applicationsareexperiencinglessthanoptimalperformance.
WithMultipathingsoftwareinthesystem,applicationstransparentlyaccessmultipathingdevicesinsteadof
theSD(SCSIdriver)devices.Multipathingallocatestherequestsacrosstheavailablechannels,reducing
bottlenecksandimprovingperformance.Thisdiagramshowsasimilarsnapshot,withmultipathingusing
multiplechannelstominimizethequeuedepthonallchannels.
SincetheChannelDirectorsorStorageProcessorsarewritingtocacheandnottodisks,anyChannel
Director/StorageProcessorcanhandleanyrequest.Thisallowsmultipathingtoconstantlytunetheserverto
adjusttochangingloadsfromtheapplicationsrunningontheserver.
Multipathingimprovestheperformanceoftheserver,enablingittomakebetteruseofthestorage.This
resultsinbetterapplicationperformance,lessoperationalresourcesspentonthecareandfeedingofthe
system,andmorefinancialvaluefromyourserverinvestment.
MultipathingdoesnotmanagetheI/Oqueues;itmanagestheplacementofI/Orequestsinthequeue.

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PowerPathsoftwareisaserverresidentmultipathingsoftwaresolution.Itcombinesmultiplepath
I/Ocapabilities,automaticloadbalancing,pathfailover,andlogicalvolumemanagementfunctions
intooneintegratedsolution.PowerPathmaximizesapplicationavailability,optimizesperformance,
andautomatesonlinestoragemanagement,whilereducingcomplexityandcostallfromone
powerfuldatapathmanagementsolution.SomeoftheadvantagesofPowerPathare:

Automatic:PowerPathalgorithmsallowtheincreaseofapplicationI/Oratesthrough
SymmetrixandVNX,withautomaticdatapathloadbalancingallowingforgreatest
efficiencyandthroughput.PowerPathsvolumemanagercapabilitysimplifiesdisk
administrationtasks.Itfurtherreducestotalcostofownershipthroughhighlevel
commandsthathidestoragecomplexity.Itautomaticallymanagesworkloadsandvolume
expansion.

Nondisruptive:PowerPathprovidesusersaccesstostorageautomation,seamlessdata
migration,andautomaticimportofvolumegroups,andsimplifiesthegrowthoflogical
volumeswhileapplicationsremainonline.PowerPathoptimizesserveranddatapath
utilizationbyavoidingdowntime.

Optimized:Byleveragingyourserver,SAN,andstorageassets,PowerPathmaximizesyour
investmentbyincreasingstorageutilization.

Copyright2013EMCCorporation.Allrightsreserved

Module 1: SAN Management Overview

Thislessoncovered hostHBAs(initiators),blockstoragedevices,andEMCPowerPath.

Copyright2013EMCCorporation.Allrightsreserved

Module 1: SAN Management Overview

Thislessoncovers basicfeaturesofVNX,andSymmetrixVMAXstoragearraysandtheir
managementoptions.

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10

InaSANenvironment,astoragedevicecommonlyknownasTarget usesdisksandtapes.
Diskdrivesarethemostpopularstoragemediumusedinmoderncomputersforstoringand
accessingdataforperformanceintensive,onlineapplications.Diskssupportrapidaccessto
randomdatalocations.Thismeansthatdatacanbewrittenorretrievedquicklyforalargenumber
ofsimultaneoususersorapplications.Inaddition,diskshavealargecapacity.
Diskscomeinseveraltypes,andcanbegenerallydividedintotwocategories:HighPerformance
andHighCapacity.EnterpriseFlashDrives(EFD)arethehighestperformingdrivesavailable
becausetheyhavenomovingpartsanddonthavetowaitforaphysicaldisktorotatetoa
particularpositionbeforeaccessingdata.FastspinningdriveswithFibreChannel(FC)orSerial
AttachedSCSI(SAS)arethenextleveldowninhighperformance.SerialATA(SATA)andNearLine
SAS(NLSAS)arehighcapacitydrivesthatspinslowerthanhighperformancedrives.Highcapacity
driveshavereplacedtapeformostapplications.
Tapesarestillusedsometimesforbackupbecauseoftheirrelativelylowcost.However,tapehas
variouslimitations;dataisstoredonthetapelinearlyalongthelengthofthetape.Searchand
retrievalofdataisdonesequentially,invariablytakingseveralsecondstoaccessthedata.Asa
result,randomdataaccessisslowandtimeconsuming.Thislimitstapesasaviableoptionfor
applicationsthatrequirerealtime,rapidaccesstodata.Inasharedcomputingenvironment,data
storedontapecannotbeaccessedbymultipleapplicationssimultaneously,restrictingitsuseto
oneapplicationatatime.Onatapedrive,theread/writeheadtouchesthetapesurface,sothe
tapedegradesorwearsoutafterrepeateduse.Thestorageandretrievalrequirementsofdata
fromtape,andtheoverheadassociatedwithmanagingtapemedia,aresignificant.

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VNXarraysmeetallthecriteriaformidtierstoragearrays.

Performance:Midtierstoragearchitecturesareideallysuitedforapplicationswith
predictableworkloadsthatneedfastresponsetimesandhighsustainedthroughput.

Availability:Forapplicationsthatrequirefivenines(99.999%)availability,midtier
architecturesaredesignedwithredundantcomponents

Functionality:Midtierstorageshouldalsohavefunctionalcapabilitiestomakepointin
timelocalreplicasanddoremotereplicationforbusinesscontinuity.

Flexibility:MidTierstoragehavetheabilitytoscaleforincreasedcapacity.Designedfor
multiprotocolconnectivity.

Management:Centralizedmanagementofthestorageenvironmenttomanageservice
levels.

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TheEMCunifiedstoragesystemsaregroupedintotwodifferentseries,theVNXeandVNXseries.
TheVNXeseriesincludestheVNXe3150andVNXe3300whichisbothaFileandiSCSIblock
solution.TheVNXseriesincludetheVNX5200(whichisFCblockonly),VNX5400,VNX5600,
VNX5800,VNX7600andVNX8000.UnifiedstorageplatformscombineBlockarrayandFileserving
componentsintoasingleUnifiedBlockandFile,Fileonly,orBlockonlystoragesolution.TheVNX
seriesimplementsamodulararchitectureconcurrentlysupportingnativeNAS,iSCSI,FibreChannel
andFCoEprotocolsforhostconnectivity.Thehighendsystems(VNX5800throughVNX8000)utilize
StorageProcessorEnclosure(SPE)architectureandthemidrangemodelsutilizeDiskProcessor
Enclosure(DPE)architecture.
ModelsVNX5200 andaboveemploytheMCxarchitecture.MCxstandsforMulticore
Optimization.ThisnewhighperformancearchitectureisappliedinVNXarraysasMulticoreRAID,
MulticoreCache,andMulticoreFASTCache.InconjunctionwithMCx,alsoincludedareenhanced
hardware,increasedmemoryandnumberofprocessorcores,4TB7200RPMdrivesaswellasthe
availabilityofFLASHbasedSSDdrives.PleaseseetheFrequentlyAskedQuestions:EMCVNXSeries
documentavailableonPowerLinkformoreinformation.

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PhysicalDisksareheldinDAEswithinthearrayandaresubsequentlycombinedintoRAIDGroups.
ARAIDGroupisasetofdisksthatareusuallyboundtogetherforthepurposeofprovidingsome
typeofrecoveryfromdiskfailure.ALogicalUnitisaportionofaRAIDGroupthatismadeavailable
totheclientasalogicaldisk.LogicalUnitsallowuserstosubdividetheirRAIDGroupsinto
convenientsizesforhostusage.WithaTraditionalLUN,all ofthespaceonitisallocatedforusage
atthetimeofitscreation.

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ARAIDgroupisasetofdisks(upto16inagroup)withthesamecapacityandredundancy,on
whichyoucreateoneormoretraditionalLUNs.ARAID6groupmusthaveanevennumberofdisks
withaminimumnumberoffour.ARAID5groupmustincludeatleastthreedisks.ARAID3group
mustincludefiveorninedisks,andaRAID1/0groupmusthaveanevennumberofdisks.The
storagesystemmodeldeterminesthenumberofRAIDgroupsthatitcansupport.
Allthecapacityinthegroupisavailabletotheserver.AnyRAIDGroupshouldconsistofallSASor
allFlashDrivesbutnotamixofSASandFlashDrives.MostRAIDtypescanbeexpandedwiththe
exceptionofRAID1,3,6,andHotspares.MostRAIDtypescanbedefragmentedtoreclaimgapsin
theRAIDgroup,withtheexceptionofRAID6.

Copyright2013EMCCorporation.Allrightsreserved

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PoolsmayincludeSolidStateDisk(SSD),alsocalledFlashdrives,fortheextremeperformancetier,
SASdrivesfortheperformancetierandNearLineSASdrivesforthecapacitytier.Poolssupport
boththickandthinLUNs,aswellassupportfor featuressuchasFAST(FullyAutomatedStorage
Tiering)whichenablesthehottest datatobestoredonthehighestperformingdriveswithout
administratorintervention.
Poolsarerecommendedbecausethey givetheadministrator maximumflexibilityandareeasiestto
manage.
APoolissomewhatanalogoustoaRAIDgroup.However,aPoolcancontainafewdisksor
hundredsofdisks,whereasRAIDgroupsarelimitedto16disks.
Poolsaresimpletocreatebecausetheyrequireonlythreeuserinputs:

PoolName
Resources(Numberofdisks)
Protectionlevel:RAID5or6
Poolsareflexible.Theycanconsistofanysupporteddiskdrives.Arrayscancontainoneormany
poolsperstoragesystem.ThesmallestpoolsizeisthreedrivesforRAID5andfourdrivesforRAID
6.
Note:EMCrecommendsaminimumoffivedrivesforRAID5andeightdrivesforRAID6.
Poolsarealsoeasytomodify.Youcanexpandthepoolsizebyaddingdrivestothepool,and
contractthepoolsizebyremovingdrivesfromthepool.

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Unisphereiswebbasedsoftwarethatallowsyoutoconfigure,administer,andmonitorVNXseries.
Unisphereprovidesthe userwith anoverallviewofwhatishappeninginyourenvironmentplusan
intuitiveandeasierwaytomanageEMCunifiedstorage.

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TherearetwowaystousetheCLIfortheVNXSeriesPlatform:

TheControlStationisacustomizedLinuxkernelandoperatesVNXforfilemanagement
servicesthatconfigure,manage,andmonitorBlades.AsecondControlStationmayalsobe
presentinsomemodelsforredundancy.IfVNXforFileorUnifiedispresent,youcan
connecttoitviaserialorSSHtotroubleshootmanyVNXforFilehardwarecomponents.

IfVNXforBlockispresent,theNavisphereSecureCLIcanbeused.Itisaclientapplication
thatallowssimpleoperationsontheEMCVNXSeriesplatform,andsomeotherlegacy
storagesystems.ItusestheNavisphere6.Xsecuritymodel,whichincludesrolebased
managementauditingofalluserchangerequests,managementdataprotectedwithSSL,
andcentralizeduseraccountmanagement.

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Highendcustomershaveuniquerequirementsforsupportingtheinformationlifecycle
managementstrategy.TheserequirementsmeanthattheITorganizationmustprovide
uncompromisinglevelsofservicetosupporttheenterprisesoitcanoperateandmaintainthe
business.
DeliveringthesecapabilitiessetsSymmetrixVMAXapartastheworldsmosttrustedstorage
platform.

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19

Companieshaveuniquerequirementsforsupportingtheinformationlifecyclemanagement
strategy.TheserequirementsmeanthattheITorganizationmustprovideuncompromisinglevelsof
servicetosupporttheenterprisesoitcanoperateandmaintainthebusiness.
HerearesomeofthekeyreasonstochooseSymmetrix:

Symmetrixhastheuniqueabilitytosupportmultipletierswithinthearray,withsoftware
toolstomanagemorepredictableperformance,anditdoesmassiveconsolidation.

Symmetrixprovidesthelowesttotalcostofownershipbyreducingcostandbydelivering
higherservicelevelsthroughscaleoutandtiering.

Itsthemostadvancedandwidelydeployedbusinesscontinuityplatformwithunique
capabilitieslikenondisruptiveupgrades,multisitedisasterrecovery,andenterprise
consistency.

Simplifiedmanagementandoperationsenableseasierstorageallocationandmanagement
ofresourcesandstoragetiers.

TheSymmetrixfamilyoffersthewidestchoiceofsolutionsintheindustry.

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20

VirtualProvisioningwasfirstimplementedinEnginuity5773,andisavailableonDMXandsystems.
VirtualProvisioningpresentsanapplicationwithmorecapacitythanisphysicallyallocated. Insome
situationsitmayprovideamoreefficientwayofallocatingcapacityforapplicationsthatare
somewhatpredictableincapacitygrowthpatterns.
Thesethinvolumescanimprovecapacityutilizationbecausetheactualdataisstoredacommon
pool;onlywhatisusedisallocatedinthecommonpoolandthepoolissharedbymanyTDEVs.
Intheexampleillustrated,thehosthasa100GBTDEV,theTDEVusesnodiskspace,theThinpool
containstheactualdata,andonly20GBisallocateduntilmorespaceisrequired.Theallocated
capabilityismanagedbyEMCsoftware.

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SymmetrixManagementConsoleisanoldermanagementtoolstillused inmanydatacenters.Itis
used fordevicemanagementforboththeSymmetrixVMaxandSymmetrixDMXproducts.There
areseveralkeyfeaturesthatsimplifystoragemanagementinvirtualdatacentersandcluster
environments.SMCis beingreplacedbyUnisphereforVMAX.
SymmetrixManagementConsole:

Managesthefollowingfeatures:Autoprovisioning,Virtual,EnhancedVirtualLUN
technologyandFAST,FullyAutomatedStorageTiering.

HasseveraleaseofusefunctionssuchaswizardsthathelpstreamlinetheprocessforAuto
provisioning,SRDFreplicationconfiguration,andenhancedVirtualLUNtechnology.
Additionally,thereistheabilitytocreatestoragetemplatesforreuseinprovisioning
storage.

IsloadedontheServiceProcessor,eliminatingtheneedforanotherserverhost.
ComplementsbothProSphereandSYMCLI.Itisalightweightsoftwarepackagewithaweb
basedGUI.

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BeginningwithEnginuity5876,SymmetrixManagementConsole(SMC)hasbeen
transformedintoEMCUnisphereforVMAX,whichisnowthemanagementconsoleforthe
SymmetrixVMAXfamilyofarrays.AlsonamedUNIVMAX,itoffersbigbuttonnavigation
andstreamlinedoperationstosimplifyandreducethetimerequiredtomanageEMC
arrays.UnisphereforVMAXreplacesSymmetrixManagementConsole(SMC)and
SymmetrixPerformanceAnalyzer(SPA).UnisphereforVMAXsupportsalmostallEnginuity
functionalityasofversion5876,andlimitedlegacySymmetrixfunctionality;Fulllegacy
functionalityissupportedonlywithSMC.UnisphereforVMAXusesthesameframeworkas
theVNXfamily,andprovidesuserswiththesameEMCstandardlookandfeel.

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Thislessoncovered anintroductionofVNXandSymmetrixstoragearraysandtheirmanagement
options.

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Thislessoncovers thedifferentSANconnectivityoptionsandtoolsusedtomanageConnectrix
devices.

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25

Physically,aFibreChannelSANcanbeimplementedusingasingleFibreChannelswitch/director,or
anetworkofinterconnectedFibreChannelswitchesanddirectors.TheHBAsoneachhost,andthe
FCportsoneachstoragearray,mustbecabledtoportsontheFCswitchesordirectors.Fibre
Channelcanuseeithercopperoropticsasthephysicalmediumfortheinterconnect.Allmodern
SANimplementationsusefibreopticcables.
FibreChanneloverEthernet(FCoE)isanewtechnologyprotocol,definedbytheT11standards
committee.ItexpandsFCintotheEthernetenvironment.BasicallyFCoEallowsFibreChannel
framestobeencapsulatedwithinEthernetframes.Thisprovidesatransportprotocolthatismore
efficientthanTCP/IPsharingasingle,integratedinfrastructure,andtherebyreducesnetwork
complexitiesinthedatacenter.FCoEconsolidatesbothSANsandEthernettrafficontoone
ConvergedNetworkAdapter(CNA),eliminatingtheneedto useseparateHostBusAdapters(HBAs)
andNetworkInterfaceCards(NICs).Fromtheconnectivitylayerperspective,theuseofFibre
ChannelForwarders(FCF)isnecessarytoserviceloginrequestsandprovidetheFCservices
typicallyassociatedwithaFCswitch.FCFsmayalsooptionallydeencapsulateFCframesthatare
comingfromtheCNAandgoingtotheSANandencapsulateFCframesthatarecomingfromthe
SANtotheCNA.
AnIPSANsolutionusesconventionalnetworkinggear,suchasGigabitEthernet(GigE)switches,
hostNICs,andnetworkcables.ThiseliminatestheneedforspecialpurposeFCswitches,Fibre
ChannelHBAs,andfibreopticcables.Suchasolutionbecomespossiblewithstoragearraysthat
cannativelysupportiSCSI,viaGigEportsontheirfrontenddirectors(Symmetrix)orontheirSPs
(VNX).Forperformancereasons,itistypicallyrecommendedthatadedicatedLANbeusedto
isolatestoragenetworktrafficfromregular,corporateLANtraffic.

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EMCoffersacompleterangeofSANconnectivityproductsundertheConnectrixbrand.Connectrixproducts
aresuppliedbytwodifferentvendors:BSeries productsfromBrocadeandMDSSeries productsfrom Cisco.
ConnectrixincludesDepartmentalswitches,EnterpriseDirectorsandMultipurposeswitchesandblades
(modules).
Departmentalswitches areusedinsmallerenvironments.Theseswitchesdonthavesomeofthehardware
redundancythatisbuiltintothelargerDirectorclassswitches.ButSANsusingdepartmentalswitchescan
bedesignedtotoleratethefailureofanyoneswitch,byincludingmultiplepathsfromhoststostorage.
Departmentalswitchesareidealforworkgroupormidtierenvironments.Thedisadvantageof
departmentalswitchesarelowernumberofportsandlimitedscalability.Ifforexample,wetriedtobuilda
largeSAN,consistingofathousandormoreports,usingonlydepartmentalswitches,manyportswouldbe
usedup,justtoconnecttheswitchestooneanother.Thisleavesfewerportsforhostsandstorage
connections.Alsothecomplexityandmanagementburdenofinterconnectingsomanyswitchesprohibits
largescaleimplementations.
EnterpriseDirectors aredeployedinHighAvailabilityand/orlargescaleenvironments.ConnectrixDirectors
canhavehundredsofportsinasinglechassis.ThissolutioneasilyscalestoSANsofathousandormore
portsusingISLstoconnectmultipledirectorstogether.Directorsprovideaddedflexibilitybecausetheyare
builtwithblades(ormodules)thatcanbeaddedandmixedinvariousconfigurationstomeettheneedsof
thedatacenter.Directorshaveahighercostandlargerfootprintthandepartmentalswitches.
TosupportmixediSCSIandFibreChannelenvironments,multipurposeswitches,bladesandmodules are
available.ThesehavethecapabilityofbridgingFibreChannelSANsandIPSANs.Thus,theycanprovide
connectivitybetweeniSCSIhostinitiatorsandFibreChannelstoragetargets.Inaddition,FCIPcapable
switchesanddirectorsarerequiredforextendingFibreChannelSANsoverlongdistancesviaIPnetworks.

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CurrentConnectrixBSeriesproductsincludeswitchesanddirectorswithmaximumFibreChannel
dataratesof8and16Gbps.Therearesolutionsforsmallworkgroups,midsizedatacentersand
largeenterprises.ConnectrixBSeriesproductshavemodelstomeetmostanybusiness
requirement,including:FibreChannelRouting,DistanceExtensionusingFCIP,DataCenterBridging
withFCoE,andbothDataatRestandDataInflightencryption.

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EMCprovidesanumberofmanagementapplicationsandtoolstoaccomplishSANmanagement
tasks.
EMCStorageResourceManagementSuite(SRM)provides ageneralpurposecollectionoftools.
SRMcanprovideatopologyviewshowingconnectionsfromhoststostorage,andreportsthe
healthstatusandutilizationofyourentirestorageenvironment.Itwillcontinuouslyvalidate
complianceofthestorageenvironmentwithdesignbestpracticesandtheEMCSupportMatrix
(ESM).SRMSuitecomprisesWatch4netforStorage,ProSphereTM,andStorageConfiguration
Advisor
InadditiontoSRMSuite,therearevendorspecificsoftwaretoolstomanageindividualBSeries
switches.Theseinclude WebToolsandaCommandLineInterface(CLI)accessiblethroughSSHor
Telnet.Thesetoolsperform ConnectrixBSeriesspecificfunctionssuchasinstallation,firmware
downloads,andbasicconfigurationmanagement.ConnectrixManagerConvergedNetworkEdition
(CMCNE)canmanagemultipleBSeriesswitchesandfabrics.

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CurrentConnectrixMDSSeries productsincludeswitchesanddirectorswithmaximumFibre
Channeldataratesof4,8and16Gbps.Therearesolutionsforsmallworkgroups,midsizedata
centersandlargeenterprises.ConnectrixMDSSeriesproductshavemodelstomeetmostany
businessrequirement,including:FibreChannelRouting,DistanceExtensionusingFCIP,DataCenter
BridgingwithFCoE,iSCSIandStorageMediaEncryption(SME)fortapeandvirtualtape
environments.SMEfordiskisavailableviaRPQ.

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InadditiontoSRMSuite,therearevendorspecificsoftwaretoolstomanageindividualMDSSeries
switches.Theseinclude:

DataCenterNetworkManager SAN(DCNMSAN),whichincludesbothserverandclient
(bothstandaloneclientandwebclient),

DeviceManager,
PerformanceManager,
DCNMSANWebServer,
CLI.

Thesetoolsareusedtoinstalland performinitialswitchconfiguration,perform firmware

downloads,monitorstatusandperformance,andcompleteotherconfigurationandmanagement
functions.
TheCLIcanbeaccessedfromaserialconnectionthroughtheconsoleport,orthroughatelnetor
SSHsessionconnectedthroughthemgmt0(management)port.Notallfunctionsavailablethrough
theCLIareavailablethroughtheGUI.

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Thislessoncovered thedifferentSANconnectivityoptionsandtoolsusedtomanageConnectrix
devices.

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ThismodulecoveredthetoolsusedformanagingConnectrixswitchesaswellashosts,initiators
andtheirdiskpartitions.AlsoanoverviewofdifferentstoragearraysandConnectrixproducts.

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Copyright2013EMCCorporation.Allrightsreserved

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