Apple Xsan 2 - Manual (Page 41)

Chapter 3 Plan a SAN 41
Supported operating systems
Computers with Mac OS X Lion or Lion Server can be used as Xsan 2.3 metadata
controllers and clients. Mac OS X Lion Server is recommended for metadata controllers.
Xsan 2.3 is included with Mac OS X Lion and Lion Server.
To join an Xsan 2.3 SAN, Windows, AIX, IRIX, Linux, and Solaris clients must be running
Quantum’s StorNext File System. For version compatibility information, see “Version
compatibility” on page 13.
Supported storage devices
Use only Apple-qualified RAID systems or ALUA-compliant RAID systems for storage
devices. For the latest information about qualified RAID systems, see the Xsan webpage
at www.apple.com/xsan/.
Important: Be sure to install the latest firmware update on your RAID systems before
you use them with Xsan.
Fibre Channel fabric
Unlike file system metadata, which controllers and clients exchange over Ethernet, file
content in an Xsan SAN is transferred over Fibre Channel connections (as is metadata
that controllers access on a volume). The computers, storage devices, and switches
are connected with Fibre Channel cables to form a Fibre Channel fabric. To set up the
connections, you need:
An Apple Fibre Channel card or other Fibre Channel adapter for each client and Â
controller computer
A supported Fibre Channel switch
Â
Fibre Channel cables connecting computers and storage devices to the switches to Â
form a Fibre Channel fabric
Fibre Channel cards or adapters
Install an Apple Fibre Channel PCI card or attach a Fibre Channel adapter to a compatible
port of each Mac that connects to the SAN.
Fibre Channel switches
Fibre Channel switches from Brocade, Cisco, and QLogic have been tested with Xsan
and the Apple Fibre Channel PCI, PCI-X, and PCI-E cards.
For the latest information about qualified switches, see the Xsan webpage at
www.apple.com/xsan/.