Sun Microsystems Fire 880, Руководство пользователя

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Chapter 1 System Overview 3
Internal disk storage is provided by up to 12 hot-pluggable, dual-ported Fibre
Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) disk drives. The basic system includes a single
FC-AL disk backplane that accommodates up to six disks. An optional expansion
backplane can be added to accommodate an additional six drives.
Both backplanes provide dual-loop access to each of the FC-AL disk drives. One
loop is controlled by an on-board FC-AL controller integrated into the system
motherboard. The second loop is controlled by a PCI FC-AL host adapter card
(available as a system option). This dual-loop configuration enables simultaneous
access to internal storage via two different controllers, which increases available I/O
bandwidth to 200 Mbytes per second (versus 100 Mbytes per second for single-loop
configurations). A dual-loop configuration can also be combined with multipathing
software to provide hardware redundancy and failover capability. Should a
component failure render one loop inaccessible, the software can automatically
switch data traffic to the second loop to maintain system availability. For more
information about the system’s internal disk array, see “Mass Storage Subsystem
Configuration” on page 89.
External multidisk storage subsystems and redundant array of independent disks
(RAID) storage arrays can be supported by installing single-channel or multichannel
PCI host adapter cards along with the appropriate system software. Software drivers
supporting SCSI, FC-AL, and other types of devices are included in the Solaris
operating environment.
The Sun Fire 880 server provides front panel access to three mounting bays for
5.25-inch half-height (1.6-inch) removable media devices. One of the bays houses a
SCSI DVD-ROM drive, which comes standard in all system configurations. The other
two bays can be used for wide (68-pin) or narrow (50-pin) SCSI tape drives, such as
8-mm tape drives or 4-mm DDS-2 or DDS-3 tape drives. You can easily convert the
two bays into a single full-height bay by removing a metal shelf divider. The SCSI
bus that supports the removable media devices is Fast/Wide-capable (20 Mbytes per
second) and can support single-ended wide or narrow SCSI devices. For additional
details, see “About Removable Media Devices” on page 78.
The system provides two on-board Ethernet interfaces—one Gigabit Ethernet and
one Fast Ethernet interface. The Gigabit Ethernet interface operates at 1000 megabits
per second (Mbps). The Fast Ethernet interface can operate at 10 or 100 Mbps and
negotiates automatically with the remote end of the link (the link partner) to select a
common mode of operation.
Additional Ethernet interfaces or connections to other network types can be
provided by installing the appropriate PCI interface cards. Multiple network
interfaces can be combined with multipathing software to provide hardware
redundancy and failover capability. Should one of the interfaces fail, the software
can automatically switch all network traffic to an alternate interface to maintain
network availability. For more information about network connections, see
“Configuring Network Interfaces” on page 103.