jan-jaap wrote:
I've used SAN switches with my SGIs for years. Currently I'm using a Brocade 5000, a 32 port 4Gb switch.
The simple FC case is 1 host to 1 simple JBOD array. It's called FC-AL. This is your average Discreet setup. The advantage of FC here over SCSI is IMHO the use of fibre which means the array can be far away
A SAN shares storage between multiple hosts, but this storage is a SAN server, not a JBOD. A SAN server can configure volumes and share them out to hosts, among many may other things.
A SAN switch has more capabilities than most ethernet switches, it can also configure who gets to talk to who etc. Depending on your switch and it's licensed features you can trunk ports, route FC over ethernet to a remote site etc etc.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
1. SAN switches are usually 1U and can be unbelievably loud. I used to have a Brocade 2Gb switch which was totally unbearable.
2. Most switches in the 4Gb generation have for example 16 or 32 ports, but half of them won't work unless you but a license to enable them. Newer switches also won't accept just any GBICs, but require the expensive ones of the original vendor. If the password to the switch and the it's bootrom are unknown you'll need the manufacturer to unlock it and they won't do it unless you get a service contract first.
3. SAN servers are the same: you may find one which takes SATA disks in brackets with FC-SATA adapters, but the adapters only talk to half a dozen types of SATA disks, now 10 years old and impossible to find. They require licenses for interesting features (snapshots, replication, ...).
If you want to get into SAN hardware you should read a book first to get the concepts.
What gives?
Knew I had it.
