IBM System Storage DS4800 - Nordic Computer A/S

Autonomic features such as onlinefirmware upgrades and DS4000Remote Support Manager also helpenhance the system’s usability.The DS4800 is designed to help consolidatedirect-attached storage into acentrally managed, shared or storagearea network (SAN) environment.With built-in support for eight FibreChannel-attached servers, the need foradditional switches is reduced or eliminated,helping to make server clusteringmore cost-effective.4 Gbps expansion unit supported onDS4800The DS4000 EXP810 is a 4 Gbpsswitched disk expansion unit supporting16 Fibre Channel disk drivesinside the enclosure, and has anESM-embedded Fibre Channel “loopswitch.” The loop switch is designed toessentially create point-to-point FibreChannel communication, allowing theESMs and drives to operate as thoughthey were on a private Fibre Channelarbitrated loop, but with the performanceand diagnostic advantages ofFibre Channel fabric. A great advantageof the DS4000 EXP810 is a significantreduction in the number of FibreChannel nodes on the drive loops.Improved storage density with 16 diskdrives supported inside the expansionunit provides more storage capacitythan the 14 bay DS4000 EXP710. TheDS4000 EXP810 supports 2 Gbps and4 Gbps disk drive modules. Note:When configured with 2 Gbps drives,the 4 Gbps disk drive module will run at2 Gbps speed.Part of the DS4000 seriesThe DS4800 is part of the DS4000series, which uses common storagemanagement software and expansionenclosures. The DS4800 helps supportintermix attachment with the DS4000EXP810, EXP710 and EXP100Expansion Units utilizing Fibre Channeltechnology.The DS4800 models can also be usedwith the DS4000 EXP100 Serial ATAdisk drive storage unit. This helpsaddress the requirements of variousfixed content and data reference applications,which require large amounts ofstorage capacity but do not have thehigh utilization and access characteristicssatisfied by DS4000 EXP710 andEXP810 Fibre Channel disk drivestorage.Scalability throughout the seriesBecause the DS4800 is highlyscalable—up to 224 Fibre Channel or224 Serial ATA disk drives—it can beupgraded from a workgroup SAN to anenterprise network storage system,thereby helping provide flexibility togrow with your business. In addition,by using the IBM System StorageDS4000 Storage Manager software,multiple DS4800s can be combined tohelp address additional performanceand capacity requirements—furtherenhancing your scalability options.Another scalability feature of theDS4800 is Dynamic CapacityExpansion (DCE), which is designedto provide the ability to add DS4000EXP810, DS4000 EXP710 or DS4000EXP100 enclosures to an existingDS4800 without stopping operations.By adding these enclosures, theDS4800 can help bring unusedstorage online for a new host group oran existing volume to provide additionalcapacity on demand.It is designed to allow upgrades tohigher performing DS4000 seriessystems while keeping data intact,