Tag: storage area network

Storage Area Networks (SANs)

General Concepts

  • iSCSI is an IP protocol that works over the TCP/IP network.
  • The clients reading from the iSCSI SAN are called initiators.
  • The chunks of storage presented by an iSCSI SAN to clients are called targets. One SAN can have multiple targets.
  • iSCSI is usually seen as a competitor to Fibre Channel (FC) which uses dedicated connections and switching which are pricey. In comparison, iSCSI operates over regular networks (e.g. switches and ethernet cabling).
  • One can have a software or hardware iSCSI initiator. In either case one is using the network, the difference is whether the regular network adapter is used for this purpose or a dedicated host bus adapter – which is essentially a network adapter with special capabilities that allow it to process iSCSI commands faster than a regular network card. It also reduces the load on the initiator’s CPU as it utilizes the HBA to perform necessary computations.
  • A LUN (logical unit number) is a portion of an iSCSI SAN which can be addressed specifically.
  • Ports Utilized: 860, 3260 (TCP)
  • The most common way to address a LUN is using its iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN), although Extended Unique Identifier (EUI) and T11 Network Address Authority (NAA) are sometimes used.
  • Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) is a sort of DNS iSCSI initiators can use to discover iSCSI targets.

iSCSI SANs

  • Dell
    • Offers three series: SC, MD, and EqualLogic PS.
    • The SC Series is based on Dell’s acquisition of Compellent.

Switches

  • Brocade
  • Cisco
  • Emulex
  • QLogic

Connectors

  • SC Connector
  • LC Connector

Fiber

  • Single Mode
  • Multi Mode

Host Bus Adapter (HBA)

Software

  • Openfiler
  • metaSAN
  • XSan
  • StorNext
  • Red Hat GFS
  • VMWare VMFS
  • QFS

Metadata

Resources

  • Derrick Wlodarz. Windows Storage Spaces and ReFS: Is It Time to Ditch RAID for Good? BetaNews, 2014.

For Post-Production

Video Storage Companies/Product Lines

  • Apace Systems
    • Offers the vStor and eStor lines.
    • Pricing wasn’t available from B&H or CDW as of 5/20/16.
  • Avid
    • Offers NEXIS and ISIS lines of storage, with ISIS apparently being focused more on media storage.
    • B&H pricing as of 5/20/16:
      • Avid ISIS 1000 w/20TB (2x SSD) – $13,995.
  • dotHILL
    • This is a Seagate company, product line is AssuredSAN.
    • Pricing was unavailable for B&H as of 5/20/16.
    • Only one unit had pricing associated on CDW as of 5/20/16:
      • AssuredSAN (4000) Ultra56 J6G56 3/336 TB (56x HDD) – $119,523.
  • Dynamic Drive Pool
    • Pricing was unavailable from B&H or CDW as of 5/20/16.
    • Appears they have to be bought through a reseller, in U.S., CineSys-Oceana
  • EditShare
    • Offers XStream product line.
    • Appears units are only available directly from EditShare.
  • Facilis
    • Offers the Terrablock product line.
    • Appears units are only available directly through Facilis.
  • Grass Valley
    • K2
    • Appears the units must be bought through Grass Valley or one of their resellers/integrators/distributors.
  • Maxx Digital
    • ActiveRAID
  • Promax Platform
  • Promise
    • VTrak A-Class
  • Small Tree
    • GraniteSTOR
  • Studio Network Solutions
    • EVO is their shared storage workflow server which offers hybrid storage (SAN and NAS).
    • Includes ShareBrowser, a file/project/asset management interface designed for collaborative media teams.
    • B&H pricing as of 5/20/16:
      • EVO 16 Bay Base Media Server w/12TB (iSCSI) – $36,999.
      • EVO 8 Bay Shared Media Storage Server w/48 TB – $17,995.
    • CDW pricing as of 5/20/16:
      • EVO Prodigy w/4 TB – $8,185.
  • Tiger Technology
    • Product line is called Tigerbox.
    • No pricing is available on either CDW or B&H as of 5/20/16.
  • Other World Computers (OWC)
    • Offers several different product lines, the enterprise level is primarily the Jupiter line (Kore and Callisto).
    • B&H has pricing on some of OWC’s products, but OWC also offers the products prices right on their site.
    • They also have a more corporate site that focuses more on talking about products called OWC Digital.
    • Prices on MacSales (OWC) as of 5/20/16:
      • Callisto 8-Bay w/16 TB – $4,988.
      • Kore 8-Bay w/16 TB – $3,288.
      • Callisto 8-Bay w/24 TB – $6,288.
      • Callisto 8-Bay w/32 TB – $7,188.
      • Callisto 8-Bay w/48 TB – $11,988.
      • Callisto 8-Bay w/64 TB – $13,888.
      • Kore 8-Bay w/64 TB – $10,988.
      • Callisto 16-Bay w/32 TB – $8,588.
      • Kore 16-Bay w/32 TB – $5,428.
      • Callisto 16-Bay w/48 TB – $10,788.
      • Callisto 16-Bay w/64 TB – $11,988.
      • Callisto 16-Bay w/96 TB – $20,888.
      • Callisto 16-Bay w/128 TB – $25,588.
      • Kore 16-Bay w/128 TB – $20,388.

Resources

Media Storage

General