STORAGE
Sun StorageTek 4Gb FC PCI Express ExpressModule from QLogic Now Shipping
Can be added or removed from Sun Blade 8000 without powering down or opening the server -- QLogic, the leader in Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), stackable switches and blade server switches, today announced the Sun StorageTek Enterprise Class 4Gb FC PCI Express ExpressModule HBA from QLogic is now shipping. The innovative new hot plug PCI Express HBA form factor can be added or removed without powering down the server or opening the server chassis. This allows Sun Microsystem¹s Sun BladeTM 8000 modular systems running the SolarisTM 10 Operating System (OS), Linux and Windows to deliver unprecedented up-time for enterprise servers in a storage network, as well as industry leading HBA performance of 300,000 I/Os per second. Adding and removing conventional HBAs is disruptive to business because powering down and opening servers is required, said Michael McNerney, director of blade servers, Sun Microsystems, Inc. ³For businesses that want to eliminate downtime, the ExpressModule HBA from QLogic is an essential component of their high availability SAN architecture.
Sun Blade 8000 Modular System
The Sun Blade 8000 modular system is one of the latest additions to Sun's leading server line-up and is the only modular system designed specifically for high-end x86 computing that delivers the performance, price and flexibility of top-of-the-line rackmount servers together with the serviceability and efficiency of blade servers. In addition, the system is designed to support future increases in I/O, power, cooling and blade real estate -- doubling the system's longevity compared to today's leading blade servers.
The Sun Blade 8000 system's focus on high-end x86 computing makes it an ideal datacenter compute engine for server consolidation and virtualization, business applications, large-scale HPC deployments and high-requirement databases running in the Solaris 10 OS, Linux or Windows environments.
Industry Standard PCI Express ExpressModule
The PCI Express ExpressModule is a new form factor for PCI Express I/O adapters. The specification defines hot-pluggable I/O modular form factors that greatly improve reliability and design flexibility for enterprise-class server and workstation platforms. PCI Express ExpressModule gives system managers an integrated hot-plug feature for the same cost as non-hot-pluggable options, as well as closed chassis, tool-less adapter installation and removal, which significantly reduces system downtime.
SANblade - "A Better 4Gb" HBA from QLogic
SANblade 4Gb HBAs from QLogic offer a suite of technology advancements that help storage administrators in large enterprises ensure complete business continuity, maintain application performance and cost-effectively scale their networks.
For Better 4Gb Reliability:
* PCI Express ExpressModule A new form factor for PCI Express I/O
adapters that defines hot pluggable I/O modular form factors that greatly
improve reliability.
* Overlapping Protection Domains - This QLogic exclusive ensures that data
is not left unprotected, even for the smallest fraction of time, by
generating a new check of parity or ECC before stripping out the old check.
This offers a superior level of protection, well beyond traditional
implementations.
* HBA Failover with Linux - To protect data even if there is a component
failure, QLogic uniquely offers Linux drivers that provide customers with
automatic failover and fail back between redundant HBAs.
For Better 4Gb Performance:
* Intelligent Interleaved DMA - Unlike round-robin schemes for transmitting
data in a mixed 1Gb/ 2Gb/4Gb environment, QLogic HBAs detect the link rate
that each target can support and transmit simultaneously, and at maximum
performance, to each storage device.
* DRDMA QLogic¹s DRDMA significantly improves overall system performance
by allowing multiple DMA read requests to be issued/processed efficiently.
* Out Of Order Frame Reassembly - Only HBAs from QLogic reassemble frames
within an exchange in the correct order, even though they may have been
received out of order. This improves performance by eliminating the need to
retransmit the entire I/O block.
For Better 4Gb Scalability:
* Virtual SAN (VSAN) - This QLogic exclusive allows a single HBA to read
VSAN tags in packets sent from a Cisco MDS switch. As a result, QLogic HBAs
can support multiple VSANs, each with a completely isolated fabric topology
and set of fabric services including name server, zone server, domain
controller, alias server and login server.
Sun Blade 8000 Modular System
The Sun Blade 8000 modular system is one of the latest additions to Sun's leading server line-up and is the only modular system designed specifically for high-end x86 computing that delivers the performance, price and flexibility of top-of-the-line rackmount servers together with the serviceability and efficiency of blade servers. In addition, the system is designed to support future increases in I/O, power, cooling and blade real estate -- doubling the system's longevity compared to today's leading blade servers.
The Sun Blade 8000 system's focus on high-end x86 computing makes it an ideal datacenter compute engine for server consolidation and virtualization, business applications, large-scale HPC deployments and high-requirement databases running in the Solaris 10 OS, Linux or Windows environments.
Industry Standard PCI Express ExpressModule
The PCI Express ExpressModule is a new form factor for PCI Express I/O adapters. The specification defines hot-pluggable I/O modular form factors that greatly improve reliability and design flexibility for enterprise-class server and workstation platforms. PCI Express ExpressModule gives system managers an integrated hot-plug feature for the same cost as non-hot-pluggable options, as well as closed chassis, tool-less adapter installation and removal, which significantly reduces system downtime.
SANblade - "A Better 4Gb" HBA from QLogic
SANblade 4Gb HBAs from QLogic offer a suite of technology advancements that help storage administrators in large enterprises ensure complete business continuity, maintain application performance and cost-effectively scale their networks.
For Better 4Gb Reliability:
* PCI Express ExpressModule A new form factor for PCI Express I/O
adapters that defines hot pluggable I/O modular form factors that greatly
improve reliability.
* Overlapping Protection Domains - This QLogic exclusive ensures that data
is not left unprotected, even for the smallest fraction of time, by
generating a new check of parity or ECC before stripping out the old check.
This offers a superior level of protection, well beyond traditional
implementations.
* HBA Failover with Linux - To protect data even if there is a component
failure, QLogic uniquely offers Linux drivers that provide customers with
automatic failover and fail back between redundant HBAs.
For Better 4Gb Performance:
* Intelligent Interleaved DMA - Unlike round-robin schemes for transmitting
data in a mixed 1Gb/ 2Gb/4Gb environment, QLogic HBAs detect the link rate
that each target can support and transmit simultaneously, and at maximum
performance, to each storage device.
* DRDMA QLogic¹s DRDMA significantly improves overall system performance
by allowing multiple DMA read requests to be issued/processed efficiently.
* Out Of Order Frame Reassembly - Only HBAs from QLogic reassemble frames
within an exchange in the correct order, even though they may have been
received out of order. This improves performance by eliminating the need to
retransmit the entire I/O block.
For Better 4Gb Scalability:
* Virtual SAN (VSAN) - This QLogic exclusive allows a single HBA to read
VSAN tags in packets sent from a Cisco MDS switch. As a result, QLogic HBAs
can support multiple VSANs, each with a completely isolated fabric topology
and set of fabric services including name server, zone server, domain
controller, alias server and login server. 