Storage-system components
The AX4-5 series storage system consists of rack-mountable
storage-system enclosures, 3.5 inches (2U) high, that contain 4 to 12
serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) or serial attached SCSI
(SAS) disk drives.
The AX4-5 and AX4-5SC storage systems use a Fibre Channel arbitrated
loop (FC-AL) or Fibre Channel switch (FC-SW) as an interconnect
interface to host servers. The AX4-5i and AX4-5SCi storage systems use
the Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) protocol.
The AX4-5 and AX4-5SC are also called the AX4-5F and AX4-5FSC, respectively.
Models with four Fibre Channel host ports per controller are called AX4–5F8
or AX4–5FX, and AX4–5SCF4 or AX4–5FSCX. The AX4-5i and AX4-5SCi are
also called the AX4-5I and AX4-5ISC, respectively.
Navisphere® management software manages the storage systems from
any qualified workstation on a shared Ethernet LAN. Sophisticated
RAID (redundant array of independent disk) technology and data
caching prevent data loss in case of component failure. Redundant
hardware options provide levels of high availability usually restricted
to much larger (and more expensive) storage systems. Besides
economical disks, the AX4-5 series storage systems include the
following major components:
A disk-processor enclosure (DPE-AX). A DPE-AX contains one
(AX4-5SC or AX4-5SCi) or two (AX4-5 or AX4-5i) storage processors
(SPs), each with:
z
One dual-inline memory module (DIMM)
z
One serial port (mini DB9 connector) for service
z
One 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN port (RJ45 connector) for
management
z
For the AX4-5 or AX4-5i, one serial port for connection to a
standby power supply (SPS)
z
One input/output (I/O) module per SP, each with:
−
For the AX4-5 or AX4-5SC, two or four 4-Gbps Fibre Channel
host ports with small form factor pluggable (SFP) connectors
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Hardware and Operational Overview