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Chapter 4
Peripherals and Accessories
4-92 HP e3000 Business Servers Configuration Guide – Effective 1/04
Information Subject to Change
RAID 5DP provides superior data redundancy by protecting against the simultaneous failure of two member
disks by using independent error correction schemes.
The VA7100 is designed to communicate with multiple hosts and multiple systems, otherwise known as
heterogeneous support. Any combination of the supported operating systems: HP-UX, MPE/iX, Windows NT,
Solaris, AiX, NetWare, Windows 2000, and Linux can be used. Two different protocols, or host port behaviors,
are used by the array to communicate with the operating systems: one protocol for Windows/Linux/other and
another for HP-UX. Depending on the firmware level of the VA7100, another was added for MPE/iX. The
Windows/Linux host port behaviors must be configured in the array for communication to take place with any
or all four supported operating systems on a controller. When changing the port protocol to Windows/Linux it
does support concurrent operation with Windows/Linux and HP-UX. The VA7100 provides simultaneous
access by all of the supported operating systems on a LUN-by-LUN basis. Each LUN operates appropriately
given the description of the operating system requirements.
The VA7100 can be configured to utilize an active hot spare feature. An active hot spare is a portion of the disk
array capacity reserved to perform a rebuild. This feature requires the use of two additional disk units in the
array. An active hot spare ensures that the disk array can maintain data redundancy if one or two disks fails.
Until it is needed, the disk array uses the active hot spare storage space as RAID 1+0 capacity, which improves
array performance. The active hot spare storage capacity does not sit idle; it is used to increase the disk array
performance until the storage is needed.
The chassis will accommodate up to 15 low-profile 3.5-inch hard disk drives loaded from the front. The array
requires 3 EIA units (3U) in height, which allows 10 units to be placed in a standard 1.6-meter rack. The rear of
the 3 EIA rack mountable chassis also includes two 1-GB Fibre Channel controllers, dual power supplies and
dual fan modules. The redundant power supply and fan components are combined into a single module. All
modules are hot swappable.
The array can be connected to one or more hosts, hubs, or switches via an optical Fibre Channel (FC) interface
with 1 gigabit per second transfer rates. It can be ordered in factory-racked, field-rackable, or desk-side
configurations. Factory-racked products are pre-configured in the HP Rack/System E racks. Field-rackable
products can be racked in HP racks or in Compaq 9000 racks.
The VA7100 is supported by HP’s Instant Support Enterprise Edition (ISEE). HP’s online diagnostic and
resolution capability securely delivers remote reactive services that quickly resolve problems, proactive
service that anticipate and prevent downtime due to computing issues, and value-added services to help
monitor, manage and maintain global IT networks. A minimum level hardware support upgrade of same day is
required. It is included with the VA for the first year (in addition to the warranty).
VA7110 Overview
The HP StorageWorks Virtual Array 7110 is a disk storage system that supports from four to 45 disk drives (two
additional enclosures with 15 disks in each). The array has scalable capacities from 72 GB to 810 GB (211 GB
usable) with all 18-GB disk drives and from 144 GB to 1.6 TB with all 36-GB disk drives and from 292 GB to 3.2
TB with 73-GB disk drives and from 584 GB to 6.5 TB with 146-GB disk drives. Capacities and spindle speeds
can also be mixed. The array requires a dual controller configuration to support MPE/iX. At least one
controller must be attached to a management station running the HP StorageWorks Command View SDM
software. Each controller has two DIMM slots available to hold NVRAM. The NVRAM is used for read/write
caching and for storing array memory maps.
The Virtual Array 7110 can operate in either RAID 1+0 mode or AutoRAID mode, which eliminates the
requirement for the system administrator to understand and configure RAID levels. AutoRAID dynamically
adapts to the system’s workload, optimizing performance and cost. Users will find configuration significantly
easier than other array products, since RAID levels don’t need to be configured or managed. The VA7110
supports one redundancy group, and all drives belong to that group. Using Virtual Storage Array (VSA)
technology, when configured in AutoRAID mode the array controller automatically selects RAID 1+0 (disk
striping and mirroring) or RAID 5DP (RAID 5 Double Parity) depending on the usage patterns of the data.
RAID 5DP provides superior data redundancy by protecting against the simultaneous failure of two member
disks by using independent error correction schemes.