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Chapter 4

Peripherals and Accessories

Both enclosures include dual power supplies with built-in dual blowers, and accommodate up to 15 low-profile 3.5-inch native fibre channel (FC) disk drives in the front. The controller enclosure also includes dual redundant 1 or 2-Gbps FC capable array controller cards and the disk enclosure also includes dual redundant 1- or 2-Gbps link controller cards for back-end connections to the controllers. All field replaceable units are hot swappable. The array controller cards, however, must be replaced offline if the OS does not support controller failover.

The VA7410 can operate in either RAID 1+0 mode or AutoRAID mode. These data protection levels are user selectable at the time of initial array installation. 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. This protection scheme eliminates the requirement for the system administrator to understand and configure RAID levels.

RAID 5DP provides superior data redundancy by protecting against the simultaneous failure of two member disks by using independent error correction schemes. Users will find configuration significantly easier than other array products, since RAID levels don’t need to be configured or managed. The VA7410 supports two redundancy groups, which provides for physical data path separation of the two groups of LUNS.

The VA7410 is architected to communicate with multiple hosts and operating systems, otherwise known as a simultaneous heterogeneous environment. For details on supported operating systems, please refer to the Spock Website and Partnership Website:

Spock website:

•For VA7410 array: http://nss-streams.corp.hp.com/xp_documentation/va7410_docs.htm

•For VA7400 array: http://nss-streams.corp.hp.com/xp_documentation/va7400_docs.htm

•For VA7110 array: http://nss-streams.corp.hp.com/xp_documentation/va7110_docs.htm

•For VA7100 array: http://nss-streams.corp.hp.com/xp_documentation/va7100_docs.htm

Partnership website:

•http://partner.americas.hp.com/

One host port behavior is initially set in controller firmware, and then heterogeneous support for all other operating systems is enabled through software in a host port behavior table. The controller default host port behavior is set for HP-UX. The VA7xxx products are managed by the HP Command View SDM host-resident software. A one-host license to use for HP StorageWorks Command View SDM is included with each VA7410. Currently HP StorageWorks Command View SDM runs native on HP-UX, Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Red Hat Linux 6.2, 7.1. Installations on any of the other supported operating systems will require a dedicated management station running one of the aforementioned operating systems to be in the data path of the VA7410 (i.e. in the switched fabric).

The VA7410 can be configured to use an active hot spare feature. An active hot spare is a portion of the array capacity reserved to perform a rebuild. This feature requires the use of additional disk drives in the array. Users can select from 0, 1, or 2 active hot spares. An active hot spare ensures that the array can maintain data redundancy if one or two disks fail. Until it is needed, the 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 array performance until the storage it is needed.

The VA7410 can be connected to one or more hosts, hubs, or switches via an optical fibre channel (FC) interface with OS-dependant, 1- or 2-Gbps transfer rates. The default factory setting is 1-Gbps. It can be ordered in factory-racked and field-rackable 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 VA7410 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.

4-94	HP e3000 Business Servers Configuration Guide – Effective 1/04
	Information Subject to Change