Chapter 4: Subsystem Connection and Operation

This is a direct-attached configuration showing four (4) host computers sharing the capacity in one (1) RAID subsystem. Disk drives in the enclosure can be configured into one or more arrays, and made available through individual host ports.

Each configured array (logical drive) is separately mapped (or associated) with more than one host ID/LUN. A logical configuration of drives may appear as two array volumes to the host, and the multi-path management software on the host should recognize them as access routes to the same storage volume.

In the sample diagram above, up to two IDs may appear through a host link. To avoid access contention, you will need access management provided by 3rd party software.

If a RAID controller fails or a data path is disconnected, the host computer can still access the array. By associating an array with IDs on two different host buses and two different RAID controllers, the host computer can access the array in the event of single component failure.

If Controller A fails, Controller B will take over to eliminate any downtime for high-availability applications.

Operating system(s) might boot from the array. Operating using a protected capacity decreases the chance of server downtime. Each server may use separate capacity volumes or share volumes using file locking or access management utilities.

Depending on I/O characteristics, each configured array should be properly optimized either for Random or Sequential I/Os.

You may also partition a logical capacity into two or more volumes and let each server access separate partitions.

Subsystem Connection and Operation

4-17

Page 84
Image 84
321 Studios GHDX2-2430S-24F4D manual Subsystem Connection and Operation