Compaq Storageworks Fibre Channel Storage Hubs; Compaq Storageworks Ra4000 Controller - Compaq ProLiant 1600 Administrator's Manual

Compaq StorageWorks Fibre Channel Storage Hubs

The servers in a Compaq ProLiant Cluster HA/F100 and HA/F200 are
connected to one or more Compaq StorageWorks Raid Array 4000 shared
external storage systems using industry-standard Fibre Channel Arbitrated
Loop (FC-AL) technology. The components used to implement the Fibre
Channel Arbitrated Loop include shortwave (multi-mode) fiber optic cables,
Gigabit Interface Converters-Shortwave (GBIC-SW) and Fibre Channel
storage hubs. The Compaq StorageWorks Fibre Channel Storage Hub is a
critical component of the FC-AL configuration and allows up to five RA4000s
to be connected to the cluster servers in a "star" topology. For the HA/F100, a
single hub is used. For the HA/F200, two redundant hubs are used. Either the
7-port or 12-port hub may be used in both types of clusters. For the HA/F200
cluster, 7-port and 12-port hubs may be combined, if desired. If the maximum
number of supported RA4000s (currently five) are connected to either type of
cluster using a 12-port hub, there will be unused ports. Compaq does not
currently support using these ports to connect additional RA4000s. Other
FC-AL capable devices such as tape backup systems should not be connected
to these unused ports under any circumstances.

Compaq StorageWorks RA4000 Controller

The Compaq StorageWorks RA4000 Controller is fully RAID capable and
manages all of the drives in the RA4000 storage array. Each RA4000 is
shipped with one controller installed. In an HA/F100 cluster, each array
controller is connected to both servers through a single Fibre Channel storage
hub. In an HA/F200 cluster, the addition of a second Compaq StorageWorks
RA4000 Redundant Controller is required to provide redundancy. These
redundant controllers are connected to each server through two separate, and
redundant, Fibre Channel storage hubs. This dual-connection configuration
implements a vital aspect of the enhanced high availability features of the
HA/F200 cluster.
Architecture of the Compaq ProLiant Clusters HA/F100 and HA/F200 1-9