User`s guide

A REFERENCE GUIDE FOR OPTIMIZING DELL™ MD1000 SAS SOLUTIONS VER A00
PAGE 4 5/06/2005
1. Introduction
A complete enterprise storage solution involves various software and hardware components. A
given storage project can be addressed using several approaches. Therefore, it is essential to
identify optimum storage solutions for different applications.
Selecting the right storage components not only impacts the effectiveness of a given application
but may also improve the performance of the entire IT infrastructure which relies on that storage.
See table 1 for examples of key storage components.
Table 1: Examples of the components in a typical storage solution
Storage Solution Components Examples
Physical Storage Device Technology Storage Expansion Enclosure (e.g., PowerVault
MD1000)
Interconnect Technology 3 Gbps Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
Host System Interface Technology Non-RAID (HBA) or RAID controllers (e.g. PowerEdge
Expandable Raid Controller)
Management Capabilities Dell OpenManage Server Administrator
As with many IT solutions, storage deployments can be assessed using numerous criteria, each
with varying levels of importance. In general, the effectiveness of a given storage solution should
be measured using the following attributes:
• Reliability – The solution remains functional and ensures that data is unaltered
• Availability – Data remains accessible by the application.
• Serviceability – The hardware has easy access to assemblies/components, allowing easy
maintenance and replacement.
• Redundancy – The hardware provides redundancy for both the data storage, as well as
for the hardware management capabilities.
• Performance
o Bandwidth Utilization – Data throughput / available Bandwidth
o IOPS – I/Os per second
• Data Protection – Data is protected against catastrophic system failure or components
failure.
• Scalability – Storage capacity can be expanded as the application necessitates.
• Cost – Measured in total lifetime cost, acquisition cost, or $ per Gigabyte.
An optimal storage solution addresses all key attributes to a greater or lesser extent depending on
their relative importance. This paper presents a study of the technological, functional and
behavioral differences of the storage solution components and measures them against the
attributes listed above. Understanding each component with respect to these attributes will help in
making informed decisions about the optimal solution for a given storage application.