IBM TotalStorage FAStT200, Installation And User Manual

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© Copyright IBM Corp. 2000
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Chapter 1. Introduction
Thank you for purchasing an IBM
®
FAStT product. IBM FAStT (Fibre Array Storage
Technology) solutions support the large and growing data storage requirements of
business-critical applications. These scalable IBM FAStT solutions offer you data
access and protection to meet your existing enterprise storage requirements and
prepare for the future.
The IBM FAStT Storage Server is available in two models. The IBM FAStT200 High
Availability (HA) Storage Server (Model 3542-2RU) comes with two RAID controllers,
two power supplies, and two cooling units and provides dual, redundant controllers,
redundant cooling, redundant power, and battery backup of the RAID controller
cache.
The IBM FAStT200 Storage Server (Model 3542-1RU) comes with one RAID
controller, two power supplies, and two cooling units and provides battery backup of
the RAID controller cache. A FAStT200 Redundant RAID Controller option is available
for purchase. Contact your IBM reseller or IBM marketing representative.
The IBM FAStT200 HA Storage Server is designed to provide maximum host and
drive side redundancy. Each RAID controller supports direct attachment of one host
containing one or two host adapters. Using external managed hubs and switches in
conjunction with the storage server, you can build even larger configurations.
(Throughout this book, the use of hub or external hub refers to a managed hub.)
Fibre Channel is a new technology, similar to a high-speed network, that you can use
to connect large amounts of disk storage to a server or cluster of servers. Fibre
Channel technology supports increased performance, scalability, availability, and
distance for attaching storage subsystems to network servers. The storage server
provides for the attachment of Fibre Channel disk drives to give superior performance
and redundancy.
Fibre Channel technology supports applications that require large amounts of disk
storage that is shared by two or more servers. With Fibre Channel, you can see a
higher throughput rate over longer distances than is possible with small computer
system interface (SCSI) or with serial storage architecture (SSA) technology.
After you review the introductory information that is provided in this chapter, go to
Chapter 2, “Installing the storage server,” on page 9 to begin the installation process.
Note: Throughout this book, the term storage server refers to both the IBM FAStT200
Storage Server (Model 3542-1RU) and the IBM FAStT200 HA Storage Server
(Model 3542-2RU). Model-specific information is noted where applicable.