Direct Attached Storage

The Sun StorageTek 3320 SCSI array fits into these requirements.

In a Direct Attached Storage (DAS) environment, storage is commonly purchased for every host as insurance against running out of space.

Consider DAS when:

• Customer is looking for a low-cost storage solution with simple RAID requirement

• Connect up to 3 host ports

• Need up to 12 disk (3.6TB) in a 2U footprint or up to 36 disks (10.8TB) with expansion trays (total 6U)

• need Telcordia NEBS level 3 certification or MIL-STD10f air, land, and sea specification compliance

• Connection distance to servers to less than 12m

Storage Area Network

The Sun StoageTek 6140 array fits into these requirements.

Storage Area Networks (SAN) allow multiple heterogeneous hosts to share sub-systems and backup devices.  This results in fewer sub-systems in the data center (so saving on space, heat and power), reduces over-provisioning, and so leads to higher overall utilisation of the available storage.

Consider using the FC SAN offerings when the requirements as as follows:

• Need to connect to multiple servers with medium to high 10 performance, especially OLTP environment

• To start in a entry level configuration (5-16 disks), but need to grow non-disruptive, protecting current investments (up to 112 disks)

• Need to match storage cost point to the value of information being stored to lower TCO i.e. Mix high performance fibre channel disks and high-capacity SATA drives in same tray.

• Need to improve business continuity with snapshots, making independent copies of data and synchronous/asynchronous replication to remote sites.

Network-Attached Storage

The Sun StorageTek 5320 NAS appliance fits into these requirements.

NAS or IP based SANs are now available and offer many of the benefits of fibre channel SANs at a much lower cost.  IP SANs run over existing netwroks and hosts can be connected via standard Network Interface Cards (NICs) using software iSCSI initiators to connect to iSCSI target devices.  To a large degree, existing networking skills and tools can be used to manage an IP SAN but it must not be overlooked that IT staff will need to become familiar with LUN management tasks on targets and hosts.  IP SANs are most commonly implemented where smaller applications are deployed on low cost servers with low cost storage.  Suitable for department systems and in regional offices.

Consider the NAS or iSCSI offerings when the requirements are as follows:

• Simple to install, only 15mins to configure

• Need to connect multiple servers with medium 10 performance

• Reduce the overall deployment costs by using the IP Network and not having to buy many fibre channel host bus adaptors

• Multi-protocol access and need to share data between UNIX and Windows clients, or need to combine file (NFS, CIFS) and block access storage (iSCSI) in a single appliance.

• Require write-once-read-many (WORM) functionality

• Improve business continuity by increasing the availability of data using file system journaling, checkpoints, and data replication.

• Using Solaris 10 iSCI software initiator of Microsoft iSCSI software initiator v2.0 in MS/Exchange and MS/SQL environments.