Hardware manual

Group Administration Storage solutions for all enterprises
1–3
• Support for standard Ethernet networks. Only one IP network connection is necessary for array operation.
You can configure all the network interfaces for maximum bandwidth. You do not have to train administrators
in unfamiliar and complex technologies such as Fibre Channel. Also, high-volume production and intense
vendor competition among Ethernet hardware vendors decrease cost of ownership.
• Easy and online expansion. Y
o
u can expand SAN capacity with no disruption to users and applications. Old
array models can work in groups with new models, ensuring the viability of your initial purchase.
• Optional management conn
ectivity through a serial port. If network connectivity is lost, a serial
connection—providing full management capabilities—lets you connect the array to a console, terminal server,
or computer running a terminal emulator and manage the storage.
• SA
S, SATA, and SSD disk drives.
A variety of disk drive speeds and capabilities enable you to optimize your
storage environment to meet your business needs.
Seamless online scalability
To increase the capacity of an individual PS Series array, you can install more drives or configure more network
connections. Expand overall group capacity by adding arrays to the group. In all cases, performance scales linearly,
and the new disk and network resources are immediately available for use. The additional control modules also
increase processing power. Meanwhile, volumes stay available with no affect on computers and applications, and
management overhead stays the same.
Interoperability
PS Series arrays are ideal for multi-platform, heterogeneous environments that previously required a different
storage system for each operating system or application. Because a PS Series group provides block-level storage,
computers can use a standards-compliant iSCSI initiator—available for most major operating systems—to access
data. When a computer connects to a volume, it looks like a regular disk that you can format using the normal
operating system utilities.
Easy setup and management
You can quickly configure an array on the network and create a PS Series group. In minutes, you have a
functioning iSCSI SAN. Automation of complex operations like RAID configuration, disk sparing, data
provisioning, and load balancing means that even novices can effectively manage the SAN.
You can configure arrays and groups by using a serial connection to an array and running the
setup utility.
Alternately, Windows computers can run the Remote Setup Wizard to configure an array and set up access to the
SAN. See Host-based applications on pa
ge 1-6 for more information.
Password-protected management accounts give easy, secure access to the
group. Graphical and command-line user
interfaces give you a single-system view of the storage. With the Group Manager graphical user interface (GUI),
creating and managing volumes, configuring security, and setting up event notification are simple and intuitive
operations. You can access the same functionality by using the Group Manager command-line interface (CLI)
through telnet, SSH, or a serial connection.