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Managed Storage
Our Managed Storage solution provides between 3 and 10 Terrabytes of storage with larger multiples if required.
The solution is provided on a monthly basis, with the guarantee of the replacement of defective parts within one working day.
The system consists of a storage chassis with SATAII (Raid Edition) disks running RAID5 with a hot spare, connected to a target host. The connection between the storage chassis and the host is made over CAT6 ethernet cable using the aoe (ATA over Ethernet) protocol. The standard configuration for our devices is to provide a linux target host to 'drive' the storage array.
The linux host can be integrated into a Mac or Windows Active Directory environment. No server hosting license fees are required.
This storage solution is very well suited for on-site backup consolidation and remote sychronisation.
FAQ
What is the maximum amount of storage provided?
The largest size of disk we use is 750GB. There are 15 slots in the storage array, so in the optimum case 1 disk is used for RAID5 and an additional disk is kept aside as a hot spare. This provides 9.75 TB of storage (note that the operating system uses 2^30 bytes and will provide less storage than this).
If more than 9.75 TB of storage is required additional storage shelves can be utilised.
What is the minimum amount of storage provided?
The practical minimum is 3TB of storage, that is 8 500GB disks if 2 are not counted for RAID5 and hot spare use.
Can the amount of storage be increased?
The size of a physical storage array can be incrementally increased by adding in additional disks while the array is running. The array is extended slowly over approximately 12 hours (depending on the load on the array) to include the new devices. Once this is done the filesystem is extended to encompass the new physical storage space provided.
Typically journalled filesystems are configured on top of a resizable logical volume management system.
This is complicated. Who is going to help me out?
Support and assistance is provided free of charge to leasees.
What happens if the server host fails?
We regularly snapshot the configuration of the server host and can easily reinstall the configuration on a spare host at our offices. We then swap the failed server with the spare.
What happens if the storage shelf fails?
We have spare storage shelves in our office. The disks hold metatdata allowing the structure of the storage array to be immediately recreated in the new shelf.
What sort of performance does the storage array provide?
A RAID5 14 disk array can provide around 78MB/s WRITE and 212MB/s READ performance.
How does the storage shelf connect to the server host?
The storage shelf connects to the server host over pure ethernet (that is, not over TCP/IP). Server hosts can connect to storage either directly over CAT6 cabling and gigabit ethernet interfaces, or across a managed ethernet network. Typically one or ideally two cables are used to make the connection.
The aoe (ATA over Ethernet) protocol provides block storage over ethernet.
What redundant features does the storage shelf support?
The storage shelf supports different RAID levels, hot spares, has 3 redundant power supplies and 6 hot swap fans.
What is the operating noise and temperature of the system
The system can operate in temperatures from 10-35 degrees Centrigrade and in an environment of 20% to 90% relative humidity (non-condensing). The units are pretty loud when they are running (we will measure this at some point!).
