Expand your network
horizons with Xsan, an enterprise-class storage networking
solution that’s surprisingly affordable. Xsan lets
multiple computers concurrently access terabytes of storage
on Xserve RAID over high-speed Fibre Channel..
High-performance Storage Networking
A 64-bit cluster file system for Mac OS X, Xsan lets you
share files and volumes up to 16TB in size on a high-speed
Fibre Channel network. Up to 64 systems on the storage area
network (SAN) can read and write to shared storage simultaneously,
unlike other solutions which gate access at the volume level.
Even better, using a SAN lets you pool data across multiple
RAID devices for better performance, while each client uses
this centralized data as if connected directly to it. Xsan
storage networking eliminates the bottlenecks of Ethernet-based
network file servers, whose performance will only get worse
over time as denser formats such as HD become more common.
Using Fibre Channel multipathing, in which two Fibre Channel
cables connect a computer to the SAN, an Xsan client can
theoretically achieve throughput of up to 400MBps, perfect
for multiple editors working on a video project or a compute
cluster that needs fast access to data to ensure each node
crunches at full capacity.
Consolidate Data Storage
Provisioning is History. Xsan lets you pool storage devices
such as Xserve RAID together and give direct access to this
pool to each client computer. Such elegant data consolidation
eliminates unused space and means you’ll never have
to assign storage to each machine separately again, because
they all access the same volume.
Mission Critical Redundancy
Xsan includes high availability features to eliminate potential
single points of failure, so you can use high performance
storage networking for enterprise consolidation and network-attached
storage (NAS) replacement projects. Xsan uses one system
connected to the SAN, called a metadata controller, to manage
access to shared storage. If this machine fails for any
reason, Xsan picks another computer on the SAN to take over
this role. Cascading metadata controller failover ensures
that you can access your data as long as any one system
on your SAN is active. In the event of a loose cable, Xsan
uses multipathing to automatically route traffic to the
system through a second cable on dual-port Apple Fibre Channel
HBA. And during critical operations, you can clear a path
on your SAN for any system using Xsan bandwidth reservation.
Easy to Set Up, Easy to Manage
As you’d expect from Apple server and storage products,
Xsan includes accessible tools to administer your SAN anywhere
on the network. Xsan Admin helps you get the most from your
storage resources with user and group quotas, as well as
affinities to associate files and folders with specific
classes of storage. As with Xserve RAID, you can monitor
performance remotely or let Xsan notify you of events via
email or pager.
Plays Well With Others
Xsan delivers incredible performance on Power Mac, Xserve
and Xserve RAID. You can use most Mac OS X and Mac OS X
server software, including Apple professional software.
To deploy Xsan, you will need a qualified third-party Fibre
Channel switch. You may also use Xsan in a cross-platform
environment alongside Windows-, UNIX- and Linux-based systems,
using the ADIC StorNext File System, which is 100% interoperable
with Xsan. Xsan also works well with ADIC’s Scalar
line of tape libraries and policy-based data management
tools to reduce your information lifecycle management costs.
No Hidden Costs
Best of all, Xsan delivers this incredible performance,
flexibility and ease of use without a confusing pricing
structure. Simply install Xsan on a supported machine to
add it to your SAN as metadata controller or file system
client. Unlike some vendors, Apple doesn’t charge
more when you add additional storage to your SAN. Just plug
in another Xserve RAID or Apple Drive Module to add more
SAN capacity. Xsan offers advanced storage networking at
a fraction of the price of competitors.
|
Apple
XSan Technology Overview