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Chapter 1 - VMA-series Overview
30
Once a Memory Array is connected to a host computer it can be partitioned into
multiple volumes or virtual disks. Both Windows and Linux drivers are supplied
for the specific operating system used on the host.
For data transfers, there are two PCIe x8 interface ports on the rear of the
Memory Array. These interfaces support either single x8 or dual x4 PCIe
connections. The port configuration is determined by the firmware image loaded
on the system. See
information on changing the firmware image.
For maximum performance to a single host or single memory gateway, configure
the system data interface as a single PCIe x8 connection using Port 1 (see
Figure
1.2).
For high-availability connections to two hosts or two memory gateways, configure
the system data interface as dual PCIe x4 connections using Ports 1 and 2. This
dual configuration allows each host to read and write to the same address
space. When two hosts write to the same address, however, no guarantees are
made for the order in which the operations are performed; hosts must manage
potential conflicts via a clustered file system (e.g., GPFS) or some other
technique.
Fibre Channel and iSCSI SAN Attach (vSHARE)
vSHARE provides scale-out block storage (SAN) capability. Memory arrays
provide the flash memory storage and Memory Gateways provide the Fibre
Channel and/or iSCSI connectivity and LUN management. Clusters of gateways
and memory arrays can be built for extremely large-scale block storage systems.
Each Memory Array is managed as a container and multiple LUNs (volumes) are
configured on the array. Each LUN can be independently sized and masked for
use by different clients and clusters.
The same memory arrays and memory gateways can also be configured to use
Ethernet (10GbE). Individual servers may be connected via multiple 1 Gb/s or
10Gb/s links to remove performance bottlenecks and extract the most value
out of their processors and DRAM. vSHARE with iSCSI enables 10GbE
connectivity between performance servers and performance flash memory
arrays.
VMA-series Memory Array Installation and Service Guide
Upgrading the System Software
on page 100 for more
HP-AM456-9002A Rev 01
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