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The new system is currently storing approximately 2 TB of data on
Sun StorEdge T3 arrays, with two-thirds of that devoted to data
warehousing and one-third devoted to Online Transaction Protocol
(OLTP). Each T3 array features a large built-in cache that minimizes
input/output (I/O) response times so that requests and verifications
of trades can be handled almost instantly. The company rewrote the
client side of its proprietary applications in Java so that it could offer
multiplatform support to clients based in Microsoft Windows, Mac-
intosh, Linux, and Solaris.
The T3 is part of Sun s StorEdge family of network storage arrays
that offer scalable high-availability storage solutions for all levels of
business environments with systems ranging from 162 GB to 88 TB.
The T3 array that A.B. Watley is using includes
 % Two controller units in a partner-pair configuration, with two
mirror-cache redundant array of independent disks (RAID)
controllers linked together in path fail-over fashion
 % Two enclosures
 % Four hot-swappable redundant PCUs and UICs
 % Two unit interconnect cables
 % Eighteen hot-swappable RAID-ready dual-ported bidirectional
Fibre Channel drives
 % Two hot-swappable redundant RAID controller cards with 256
MB of mirrored cache
 % External connections that enable the array to be connected to a
data host and a management network
The T3 also features StorEdge Component Manager software,
which provides a user-friendly graphic interface for easy monitoring
and administration of the storage system, even remotely via Telnet
and File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The unit supports IBM HACMP
and Hewlett-Packard MC/Serviceguard HA clustering for high avail-
ability with A.B. Watley Group s mission-critical applications and
storage.
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Case Studies
Case Studies
145
Since LeSatz and the IT group installed its Sun T3 solution, the
company has not had to revise its expectations between what it
needed the servers to do and what they have been able to do. The
company purchased Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)-based
Sun A3500 arrays and later upgraded to the T3 arrays. The T3
arrays performed better for A.B. Watley s applications because of
their Fibre Channel configuration and large cache.
The A3500 arrays include a variety of high-performance features
needed to process and store daily trade traffic, including
 % Fully redundant RAID configurations
 % High-RAS hot-swappable power supplies, fan controllers, and
disk drives
 % RAID Manager software that supports RAID levels 0, 1, 1 0
and 3, 5
 % Flexible configurations from 182 GB up to 5.6 TB rack-mounted
systems
 % Large storage capacity in a narrow footprint
 % Support for up to 20 storage A3500 Fibre Channel arrays in one
two-node cluster
Other Sun servers in use throughout the company s infrastructure
include Sun Netra 1405 units working as communication servers for
client access to the UltimateTrader trading system and Sun Enter-
prise 4500 transaction servers being used for trade request routing.
LeSatz says that the T3 arrays are beneficial because their better
performance and compatibility with Sun s SAN-focused Jiro tech-
nologies allow growth in a SAN environment.
The T3 array s reliability and availability features include
 % Error checking and correction on disk drives
 % Skip sectors and spare cylinders on disk drives
 % Automatic sector reallocation on the RAID controller
 % Link redundancy chip and 8- to 10-bit encoding on Fibre
Channel arbitrated-loops (FC-ALs)
 % Midplane and temperature sensors
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Case Studies
Chapter 6
146
The T3 array features built-in, hot-swappable, redundant unin-
terruptible power source (UPS) batteries to back up the cache in the
event of a failure. The batteries power the controller unit and each of
its nine disks, allowing contents in cache to be  destaged to the disks
if a power failure occurs. The T3 array s switched-loop architecture
allows the A. B. Watley Group to scale in accordance to growth needs.
In addition, its RAID controller card provides cache, RAID manage-
ment, administration, diagnostics, and external interfaces. The con-
troller card is also the data-processing and administrative brain of
the array, in that it provides external interfaces and controls the sys-
tem s back-end activities.
Planning for SAN
When the company moves to a SAN environment which it hopes to
do by the end of this year LeSatz expects A.B. Watley to benefit
from improved storage allocation.  Right now we tend to attach
arrays directly to the host, and if we need more space than the array
provides, we add a second unit, he says.  The SAN will allow us to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]