Re: Fibre Channel Storage - Access by multiple hosts

From: sharona (sallan1055_at_aol.com)
Date: 08/02/03 

Date: 2 Aug 2003 04:03:41 -0700

"Jim Watson" <watson@quattro666.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message news:<bgeku4$igj$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk>...
> I have "inherited" a project which the original integrators have dumped with
> not much info available. Basically the system is as follows:
>
> 5 solaris (2.6) hosts are connected through a 100Mb ethernet switch and each
> also has a Fibre Channel (FC) HBA connected through a FC switch.
>
> Each host requires access to a FC storage system ( JBOD -10x36GB). This
> JBOD should have been ideally a 320GB RAID, or even a large stripe as the
> users have to aquire a large analogue signal, convert to digital and dump to
> storage before analyzing.
>
> I can use disksuite to create the RAID/stripe (probably stripe until a
> hardware FC RAID controller is purchased). My main concern is that the
> software stripe would have to be exported for use by the other users. Does
> this mean that the only way the other terminals can see the "big" disk is by
> access across the ethernet and through the host running disksuite?, or will
> the other hosts "see" the stripe on the FC side?
>
> Ideally all data transfer would be across the FC. If I can prove the system
> to work I intend to get the finance deptartment to sanction an external RAID
> controller for attaching to the JBOD and hence presenting a large drive on
> the FC.
>
> Apologies if I have made any glaring goofs on my interpretation of
> Fibre-Channel, I was only introduced to it 48 hours ago!
>
>
> Jim Watson

Just one note Jim,

My personal experience with the JBODs is that they are crap. If one
disk in the array goes south, the whole array is gone. We replaced
all of our JBODs with EMC's disk arrays with hot swapable disks.
Believe me, restoring that amount of data is a real pain.. Better to
have the hot swapable disks!!

Sharona

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