Today‘s IT environments require increasingly high levels of availability at all times. SANs can offer 24/7 availability due to a fully redundant architecture supported by three building blocks.
1. Server clustering
Configuring two or more servers in a cluster provides a wealth of advantages:
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Distributes processing requests evenly between servers in the cluster (load balancing)
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Allows a recovery server to take over the operations of a primary server should failure occur
Clustered servers need access to the same data, which requires an external storage system. A SAN is a good solution because it provides multiple storage connections and scalability to meet changing needs.
2. Multi-pathing
The connection between a server and a networked storage solution has several components:
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HBA
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Switch
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Cables
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Array controller
If any of these components breaks, your connection will fail. Multi-pathing guards against this. With redundant components, traffic can be swapped from one component to the other should a failure occur. Multi-pathing software like HP StorageWorks Secure Path, Microsoft® MPIO or QLogic failover detects failed connections and initiates automatic failover.
3. Storage replication
Data replication enables access to data — even if your entire storage system fails—by continuously copying it to a remote secondary array (e.g., at a second remote location).
While higher-end environments perform storage replication directly between two disk arrays, smaller environments are more suited to replication between servers connected to a SAN over an IP network. This enables one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many replication, and data is synchronized in incremental blocks to minimize network traffic.
Utilize tiered storage environments
In a tiered storage environment, you can match your data to storage that has an appropriate level of performance and availability — giving you a lower cost of ownership, without any negative impact on your business. Here‘s how it could work in a typical disk-to-disk-to-tape environment:
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Tier one: Data with the highest availability and performance requirements is stored in tier one, or primary storage, on SAS or fibre channel disks
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Tier two: The second tier stores infrequently accessed data (e.g., disk-to-disk backup copies) on SATA or SAS disks
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Tier three: Tertiary storage comprises tape-based backup copies, or even archived data on optical storage
Migrate your HP ProLiant data to a SAN
DAS-to-SAN migration
With HP's unique DAS-to-SAN migration, you can move HP ProLiant server-based (direct attached) storage to an HP StorageWorks MSA device quickly and easily. The same HP Smart Array technology used in your ProLiant server is used by the MSA to automatically recognize the configuration of your data—including RAID level—thus reducing downtime during migration. No other solution on the market today makes it this simple to consolidate your storage.
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Investment protection — Re-use existing SCSI universal disk drives in your new MSA array*
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Simplicity — Smart Array technology is designed to make it quick and easy to access your data from its new location
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Flexibility — Migrate at your own speed with the MSA family—start with simple external storage then move to a full SAN when you‘re ready**
HP always recommends a full backup prior to any kind of migration. For detailed process information on how to perform DAS-to-SAN migration, plus hardware requirements, please visit: www.hp.com/go/myfirstsan
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Simple upgrade/conversion: exchange the controller, then connect the array (e.g., with the embedded switch) and the servers (via fibre channel HBA) to the network.
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