Instruction manual

13 Introduction to the miSAN
Cybernetics UM-MV-86-B1-0801
Functionality
Network Connection
The miSAN-V-Series includes two Gigabit Ethernet network interfaces (10/100/1000Base-T capable)
for iSCSI data transfer. Each interface provides a connection for hosts to access and use the
miSAN-V-Series virtual devices like directly-connected SCSI devices. A third Gigabit Ethernet inter-
face (10/100/1000Base-T capable) provides a connection for hosts to configure and operate the
miSAN-V-Series via the Web Control Panel and Telnet Menu Interface.
Parallel SCSI Connection
The two installed Ultra 3 Wide LVD parallel SCSI ports are available to provide the option for a direct
host connection. With a single parallel SCSI interface, the miSAN-V-Series offers a direct SCSI path
to a tape drive or library for archiving virtual tapes to physical tapes. As an option, the miSAN-V-
Series can also be connected to a host, so that the directly-connected host can use the miSAN-V-
Series, without reducing network bandwidth, while allowing iSCSI remote backups over the network.
High-Speed Archiving
With disk-speed virtual tape access, and gigabit-capable data transfers for iSCSI, the miSAN-V-
Series reaches backup speeds that exceed even the fastest SCSI tape drive. miSAN-V-Series hard-
ware and software are tuned to generate the widest possible data pipe for increased archiving
speed. Multiple Ethernet interfaces can be aggregated (“bonded”) for increased data transfer band-
width. The RAID-based disk storage provides enhanced data integrity and security. The miSAN-V-
Series makes efficient use of storage space and network bandwidth. It transfers stored data in raw
block format without the overhead of traditional file systems. This can dramatically narrow the time
required for even the most extensive backup schedule. Limited and broad scale restores from virtual
tapes are accelerated as well.
Multiple Host Access
The Web Control Panel allows the ability to administer the miSAN-V-Series, using a web browser,
from any point on the network. The iSCSI interface allows any iSCSI-capable host system to write
data to the miSAN-V-Series.
The miSAN-V-Series can maintain concurrent host connections. This allows multiple hosts to oper-
ate and view the status of the miSAN-V-Series simultaneously. The gigabit bandwidth combined with
disk-to-disk transfer rates enables the miSAN-V-Series to support and maintain high backup speeds
from multiple host systems to multiple virtual tape drives. This level of multitasking greatly decreases
the necessary backup time window.
Selective Device Visibility
The miSAN-V-Series allows you to make individual virtual or physical devices available only to
selected host systems via iSCSI or a direct parallel SCSI connection. This allows multiple simulta-
neous backups. Each host system sees only its designated tape device(s) and writes only to its des-
ignated tapes at disk-to-disk speeds.