Accusys ExaSAN SW-08 - Manual (Page 36)

4. How to Use
User Guide Page 4-1
4. Using ExaSAN Compact
After you’ve connected all your ExaSAN Compact components and powered the system on, we will need
to perform some basic configuration and setup before it is operational. We will first describe briefly what
you can use the system for, and follow that with setup instructions.
4.1 Product Functions
The ExaSAN Compact is designed with one goal in mind – to serve the storage needs of small-to-
medium-sized workgroups. Today, workgroup storage needs are not much different than those in the
Enterprise. Scalability, availability, shared access, and high performances are needed by almost all
workgroups. And this is particularly true in the creative, publishing, and educational environments where
Apple Mac Pro and Xserve systems are widely used. Collaborative environments such as video post-
production, advertising agencies and publishing are particularly demanding because creators jointly
develop content simultaneously. Not only must they share content among each other, but they also have
deadlines — and time is money. Lower productivity, lost digital content or system outages from slow or
unprotected storage systems typically means mission not accomplished for the organization.
4.1.1 The Conventional Solution to Workgroup Storage Needs
Conventional solution to these problems calls for a Fibre Channel SAN. While this may be a good answer
in the enterprise, the added overhead and complexity of using FC RAID, HBAs, switches and cabling
built for large-scale networks is impractical cost and support-wise for a workgroup with fewer than 10
servers or workstations.
Alternatively, NAS (Network-Attached Storage) offers a convenient means to share files among systems,
but it lacks the speed needed for effective sharing of large files like those found in video applications.
Here, copying a file over an IP network consumes substantial time and bandwidth. Faced with this
dilemma, most workgroup owners choose not to share storage and rely instead on each computer’s DAS
(Direct-Attached Storage).
For collaborative applications, this DAS approach requires users to make copies of files and send them
over a LAN in order to share their work. It’s a costly choice, adding hours of delays and labor to each
workday, not to mention performance loss when copying large files. DAS also ensures data is spread out
across all the computers in a workgroup, complicating storage administration and protection.
From a practical standpoint, neither FC SAN nor DAS truly satisfies collaborative workgroup needs.
4.1.2 The ExaSAN Solution to Workgroup Storage Needs
Based on Intel’s PCIe (PCI Express) architecture, ExaSAN provides a complete SAN storage solution
that is ideally suited for Apple workgroup applications. Unlike Fibre Channel networks that use a layered
protocol to support distributed communication for systems in a data center, ExaSAN employs PCIe serial
communications to achieve highly efficient, point-to-point communications between devices.
ExaSAN then adds scalability through a unique PCIe switching network to connect systems and storage.
Supporting up to 8 servers or workstations and high capacity storage, ExaSAN addresses a wide range of
workgroup storage needs for substantially less than the cost of an equivalent Fibre Channel solution.
ExaSAN hardware consists of integrated PCIe RAID, HBA, switch, and cable components that have been
optimized for sustained, high-speed performance up to 2500 Mbytes/second and easy capacity expansion.