Welcome To Dx Storage; Overview Of Dx Storage; Components; About This Document - Dell DX6000 Administration Manual

Chapter 1. Welcome to DX Storage

1.1. Overview of DX Storage

As discussed in the DX Object Storage Getting Started Guide, the DX Storage product provides
an object-based storage infrastructure over TCP/IP networks with a cluster of standard x86
based hardware. By default, DX Storage can be deployed on a wide variety of x86 hardware with
minimal required configuration. However, for advanced users, DX Storage and the network and
hardware it runs on can also be configured to meet the needs of almost any fixed or archive content
environment.

1.2. Components

The DX Storage infrastructure is made up of the following components.
1. Cluster of x86 computers/nodes with one or more physical volumes running DX Storage software
2. Client applications that access the cluster through HTTP
3. TCP/IP network connecting cluster nodes and clients

1.3. About this Document

1.3.1. Audience

This document is intended for people in the following roles.
1. Advanced Storage system administrators
2. Cluster administrators
3. Technical architects
Throughout this document, the storage system administrator and network administrator roles will be
referred to as the administrator. The administrators are normally responsible for allocating storage,
managing capacity, monitoring storage system health, replacing malfunctioning hardware, and
adding additional capacity when needed.
This document along with the DX Object Storage Application Guide will be valuable to technical
architects in designing scalable, highly redundant, cost effective application storage solutions.

1.3.2. Scope

This document covers configuration and administration tasks for deploying and monitoring a DX
Storage storage cluster. It is meant to be used as an addendum to, not a replacement of, the DX
Storage Getting Started Guide, where basic configuration and installation is reviewed. The reader
is expected to have already reviewed the DX Object Storage Getting Started Guide and to have a
background in TCP/IP networking, basic knowledge of x86 hardware setup, and experience with
SNMP monitoring tools.
For information regarding DX Storage's HTTP interface and application integration, see the DX
Object Storage Application Guide.
Copyright © 2010 Caringo, Inc.
All rights reserved 1
Version 5.0
December 2010