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Introduction
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Chapter 1
Introduction
The SGI InfiniteStorage 15000 controller is an intelligent storage infrastructure device designed and
optimized for the high bandwidth and capacity requirements of IT departments, rich media, and high
performance workgroup applications.
The controller plugs seamlessly into existing SAN environments, protecting and upgrading investments
made in legacy storage and networking products to substantially improve their performance, availability,
and manageability.
The controller’s design is based on an advanced pipelined, parallel processing architecture, caching,
RAID, and system and file management technologies. These technologies have been integrated into a
single plug-and-play device—the SGI InfiniteStorage 15000—providing simple, centralized, and secure
data and SMNP management.
The SGI InfiniteStorage 15000 is designed specifically to support high bandwidth, rich content, and
shared access to and backup of large banks of data. It enables a multi-vendor environment comprised of
standalone and clustered servers, workstations and PCs to access and back-up data stored in centralized
or distributed storage devices in an easy, cost-effective, and reliable manner.
Each controller orchestrates a coherent flow of data throughout the storage area network (SAN) from
users to storage, managing data at speeds of up to 3000 MB/second (or 3 GB/second). This is
accomplished through virtualized host and storage connections, a DMA-speed shared data access space,
and advanced network-optimized RAID data protection and security—all acting in harmony with
sophisticated SAS storage management intelligence embedded within the controller.
The controller can be “coupled” to form data access redundancy while maintaining fully pipelined,
parallel bandwidth to the same disk storage. This modular architecture ensures high data availability and
uptime along with application performance. With its PowerLUN technology, the system provides full
bandwidth to all host ports simultaneously and without host striping.
1.1 Controller Features
The SGI InfiniteStorage 15000 controller incorporates the following features:
• Simplifies Deployment of Complex SANs
The controller provides SAN administration with the management tools required for large number
of clients.
• Infiniband or Fibre Channel (FC-8) Connectivity Throughput
The controller provides up to four (4) individual double data rate four-lane Infiniband or FC-8 host
port connections, including simultaneous access to the same data through multiple ports. Each IB
host port supports point-to-point and switched fabric operation.
• Highly Scalable Performance and Capacity
The RAID engine provides both fault-tolerance and capacity scalability. Performance remains the
same, even in degraded mode. Internal data striping provides generic load balancing across drives.
The RAID engine can support from 10 drives minimum to 1200 drives maximum. Formatable
capacity is drive capacity.