Course Review
SAN Foundations
The following review consists of the course objectives and a brief summary of the information that addresses each objective. If you are uncomfortable with the content in any section, please review the material before taking the certification exam.
Objective 1- Define a Storage Area Network, its theoretical operations, and its general characteristics:
A SAN is a high-speed sub-network of shared storage units.
Servers act as pathways to allow clients to access specific specified blocks of storage.
Servers are thus more efficient, since they are not used to store data.
Objective 2- Define Direct Attached and Network Attached storage implementations and their common characteristics:
Distributed storage is defined as storage components (either internal drives or external systems) that are attached to a particular server. While DAS is cheaper and simpler to implement, it is limited in terms of data access, efficiency, and management.
NAS appliances attach directly to a LAN, rather than a file server. NAS servers have been streamlined by eliminating unneeded components. They run a highly optimized operating system and are ideal for heterogeneous environments.
Objective 3- Describe how a SAN is different from other storage architectures and the benefits it provides:
A SAN allows servers to access and share storage devices. Because the servers merely act as pathways between client computers and storage, data is not stored locally on the servers. This allows their processing power to be applied in other ways.
SAN generally provides superior performance in the areas of speed, data availability, and scalability.
Objective 4- Describe the Fibre Channel interface, its topologies, and its role in a SAN:
Fibre Channel is a serial interface that encapsulates standard command sets to transport data over a network. Fibre Channel connects nodes, ports, and links in a fibre network.
Fibre Channel is generally implemented in one of three topologies: Point-to-Point, Arbitrated Loop, or Switched Fabric.
The Point-to-Point topology directly connects the N_ports on two nodes-- for example, a server and storage device.
An Arbitrated Loop is a series of fibre devices (up to 126) sharing the same media. These devices "arbitrate" for control of the loop's bandwidth; only one device can control the loop at any given time.
The Switched Fabric topology is the most complex of the three. It incorporates Fibre Channel switches to provide non-shared bandwidth-- each device has its own dedicated connection. Over 16 million devices can be included in a Switched Fabric.
Objective 5- Define the role of each of the hardware components in a generic SAN:
HBAs are PCI adapter cards installed in a server to manage and transfer information between the server and a Fibre Channel device.
Three main types of cables are used in a SAN: copper (used for short local connections, up to 12m), short-wave fiber optic cables (used for medium and longer distance connections up to 500m), or long-wave fiber optic cables (used for distances up to 10K).
Fibre Channel switches are the connection point between servers and storage devices.
GBICs are installed into switches and are the physical connection point for cables. GBICs can be copper, short-wave optical, or long-wave optical.
Fibre Channel storage devices are used to physically store the SAN's data.
A Fibre Channel-to-SCSI bridge is used to connect a Fibre Channel environment and a SCSI device-- for example, connecting a SCSI tape device to a SAN.
Tape devices, such as autoloaders and tape libraries, can be used for LANless backup of a SAN.
Rack systems hold servers, storage, and peripherals in order to minimize the amount of space required to house a SAN.
Objective 6- Describe the role software plays in a generic SAN:
LUN masking is the ability to allow specific LUNs to be exclusively assigned to and accessed by a specific list of hosts.
SAN management software allows administrators to reallocate storage capacity, and to monitor, analyze, and tune performance.
SAN backup reduces data management costs by making it economical to provide shared tape backup support for all servers.
Clustering is combining multiple systems for fault tolerance, parallel processing, and load balancing.
Objective 7- Describe the hardware and software components of a Dell PowerVault SAN:
Validated server(s).
Standard components (GBICS, cables, rack).
QLogic QLA 2200/2200F cards.
PowerVault 51F or 56F switches.
PowerVault 660F (up to 14 disk drives in 3U of rack space; expanded by adding a PowerVault 224F) or PowerVault 650F disk processor enclosure (up to 10 disk drives, expandable with a PowerVault 630F).
The PowerVault 130T or 136T tape libraries. The PV130T requires a Dell PowerVault 35F to connect to a SAN, while the 136T can connect via an optional integrated bridge.
Objective 8- Describe the process for assembling a Dell PowerVault SAN:
Objective 9- Describe the hardware and software components of a Dell | EMC SAN:
Emulex HBAs
Standard components (GBICS, cables, rack)
Disk enclosure: FC5300, FC4500, or FC4700
Switches (DS-8B, DS-16B, DS-8M, DS-16M)
Tape backup device(s)
Objective 10- Describe the process for assembling a Dell | EMC SAN:
Objective 11- Describe the interoperability of a PowerVault SAN with a Dell | EMC SAN, including zoning:
With a switch firmware upgrade, PowerVault 51F and 56F switches may be used with both PowerVault and Dell | EMC SAN components.
In order for a PowerVault SAN and a Dell | EMC SAN to coexist, they must be zoned into their own separate zones. File sharing between the two SAN zones is not possible.
Because of the zoning requirements, PowerVault tape drives must be included in both a PowerVault SAN zone and a Dell | EMC SAN zone.
Objective 12- Detail the improvements of each SAN release:
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