VA7110 Overview

Chapter 4

Peripherals and Accessories

RAID 5DP provides superior data redundancy by protecting against the simultaneous failure of two member disks by using independent error correction schemes.

The VA7100 is designed to communicate with multiple hosts and multiple systems, otherwise known as heterogeneous support. Any combination of the supported operating systems: HP-UX, MPE/iX, Windows NT, Solaris, AiX, NetWare, Windows 2000, and Linux can be used. Two different protocols, or host port behaviors, are used by the array to communicate with the operating systems: one protocol for Windows/Linux/other and another for HP-UX. Depending on the firmware level of the VA7100, another was added for MPE/iX. The Windows/Linux host port behaviors must be configured in the array for communication to take place with any or all four supported operating systems on a controller. When changing the port protocol to Windows/Linux it does support concurrent operation with Windows/Linux and HP-UX. The VA7100 provides simultaneous access by all of the supported operating systems on a LUN-by-LUN basis. Each LUN operates appropriately given the description of the operating system requirements.

The VA7100 can be configured to utilize an active hot spare feature. An active hot spare is a portion of the disk array capacity reserved to perform a rebuild. This feature requires the use of two additional disk units in the array. An active hot spare ensures that the disk array can maintain data redundancy if one or two disks fails. Until it is needed, the disk array uses the active hot spare storage space as RAID 1+0 capacity, which improves array performance. The active hot spare storage capacity does not sit idle; it is used to increase the disk array performance until the storage is needed.

The chassis will accommodate up to 15 low-profile 3.5-inch hard disk drives loaded from the front. The array requires 3 EIA units (3U) in height, which allows 10 units to be placed in a standard 1.6-meter rack. The rear of the 3 EIA rack mountable chassis also includes two 1-GB Fibre Channel controllers, dual power supplies and dual fan modules. The redundant power supply and fan components are combined into a single module. All modules are hot swappable.

The array can be connected to one or more hosts, hubs, or switches via an optical Fibre Channel (FC) interface with 1 gigabit per second transfer rates. It can be ordered in factory-racked, field-rackable, or desk-side configurations. Factory-racked products are pre-configured in the HP Rack/System E racks. Field-rackable products can be racked in HP racks or in Compaq 9000 racks.

The VA7100 is supported by HP’s Instant Support Enterprise Edition (ISEE). HP’s online diagnostic and resolution capability securely delivers remote reactive services that quickly resolve problems, proactive service that anticipate and prevent downtime due to computing issues, and value-added services to help monitor, manage and maintain global IT networks. A minimum level hardware support upgrade of same day is required. It is included with the VA for the first year (in addition to the warranty).

The HP StorageWorks Virtual Array 7110 is a disk storage system that supports from four to 45 disk drives (two additional enclosures with 15 disks in each). The array has scalable capacities from 72 GB to 810 GB (211 GB usable) with all 18-GB disk drives and from 144 GB to 1.6 TB with all 36-GB disk drives and from 292 GB to 3.2 TB with 73-GB disk drives and from 584 GB to 6.5 TB with 146-GB disk drives. Capacities and spindle speeds can also be mixed. The array requires a dual controller configuration to support MPE/iX. At least one controller must be attached to a management station running the HP StorageWorks Command View SDM software. Each controller has two DIMM slots available to hold NVRAM. The NVRAM is used for read/write caching and for storing array memory maps.

The Virtual Array 7110 can operate in either RAID 1+0 mode or AutoRAID mode, which eliminates the requirement for the system administrator to understand and configure RAID levels. AutoRAID dynamically adapts to the system’s workload, optimizing performance and cost. Users will find configuration significantly easier than other array products, since RAID levels don’t need to be configured or managed. The VA7110 supports one redundancy group, and all drives belong to that group. Using Virtual Storage Array (VSA) technology, when configured in AutoRAID mode the array controller automatically selects RAID 1+0 (disk striping and mirroring) or RAID 5DP (RAID 5 Double Parity) depending on the usage patterns of the data. RAID 5DP provides superior data redundancy by protecting against the simultaneous failure of two member disks by using independent error correction schemes.

4-92	HP e3000 Business Servers Configuration Guide – Effective 1/04
	Information Subject to Change