MDL Corporation: RAID Solutions

RAID Solutions

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MDL offers three types of RAID systems with a variety of features. We configure them to give you the solution that best fits your storage requirements. The three RAID system options are:

FibreRAID - Fibre Channel SAN Controller with up to 16 SCSI or SATA disk drives per chassis

SCSIRAID - SCSI Controller with up to 16 SCSI or SATA disk drives per chassis

iSCSIRAID - iSCSI Controller with up to 12 disk drives per chassis and dual gigabit Ethernet ports

Standard RAID Features

Highest density in 3U rack space - support for up to sixteen 3.5-inch hard drives

Auto switch cache policy and auto shutdown

High array availability of drives across channels or enclosures

Up to 64TB capacity per logical drive (LD) (OS dependent)

These RAID systems support multiple arrays configurable with dedicated or global hot spares. RAID levels supported include RAID 0, 1 (0+1) mirroring, 3, 5, 10, 30, 50, NRAID, and JBOD. Online expansion can be performed by

Adding new drives
Copying and replacing drives with drives of larger capacity

Other notable features include:

Automatic background rebuild

Configurable stripe size and write policy per array

Intelligent Drive Handling:

In degraded mode: Skips irreparable blocks to continue rebuild
In normal operation: Data block verification and repair
Task Scheduler: Hands-free Media Scan maintenance

Each system includes redundant, hot-swappable components, designed for no single point of failure:

3U RAID enclosure
Single RAID controller
Up to sixteen drive trays
Dual redundant power supplies
Two hot-swappable cooling fan modules

RAID Management:

Java-based GUI RAID manager

Centralized management of multiple arrays over in-band SCSI or Ethernet

Event notification: email, LAN broadcast, fax, SMS, MSN, ICQ, or SNMP traps

Auto on-lining of cascaded enclosures

Enclosure status report through an I²C link connection

SNMP 2.0 MIBs with get and set commands

Firmware-embedded utility via LCD keypad or RS-232C terminal

Drive Interface:

3.5", 1" high SCSI-320 disk drives
16 hot-swappable drive trays

Automatic bad sector reassignment

Drives hot-swappable

Variable stripe size per logical drive

Optimization setting for random or sequential I/Os

Maintenance & Availability

Optional Li-ION battery support

Immediate array availability

Array configuration is stored on drives, enabling drive roaming

Auto Switch Cache Policy and Auto Shutdown

When a RAID controller detects conditions exceeding preset thresholds, the subsystem automatically flushes cached data and switches the array's caching mode from write-back to write-through.

All environmental thresholds associated with this mechanism are user-configurable; the caching mode changes back to write-back once normal conditions are restored.

For more information, contact MDL Corporation. Website information. Copyright Š2005 by MDL Corporation. All rights reserved.

For more information, contact MDL Corporation. Website information.
Copyright Š2005 by MDL Corporation. All rights reserved.