IBM Scale Out NAS (SONAS) Hardware …

The IBM Scale Out Network Attached Storage (SONAS) from IBM Corp. is a highly scalable system designed to provide a clustered NAS system with a single name space for CIFS, NFS, and FTP services. The system consists of two to thirty Interface nodes (2851-SI1), one to thirty storage pods consisting of the Storage node (2851-SS1), storage controller (2851-DR1) and attached disks, and one to two management nodes (2851-SM1). The maximum configuration provides up to 14.4 PB of storage capacity in a single clustered, highly-redundant system.

The storage used in the SONAS system can be 15K RPM SAS hard disk drives or 7.2K RPM SATA hard disk drives, allowing users to tune the configuration to suit their needs.

There three rack configurations (2851-RXA, -RXB, and -RXC) that be populated with the systems and switches needed to configure according to the needs of the environment.

IBM Scale Out Network Attached Storage (SONAS) is a Scale Out NAS offering designed to manage vast repositories of information in enterprise environments requiring very large capacities, high levels of performance, and high availability. The system supports multiple petabytes of storage and up to a billion files in a single file system and supports up to 256 file systems per system. Data access to the system from client computers is provided using industry standard network file protocols NFS v2/v3, CIFS, and FTP (including z/OS NFS client support).

In addition, the system supports traditional NAS features
and functions, including:

• Snapshots
• Quotas (user, group, and fileset level)
• Integration with user directory servers such as Microsoft Active Directory (AD) and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
• Command line interface (CLI) and browser-based graphical user interface (GUI)
• Call home and remote support capabilities

In addition to these traditional features, the system supports advanced features, including integrated Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) backup client.

The system consists of:

• Management node
• Interface nodes
• Storage nodes
• Storage controllers
• Disk storage expansion units
• Ethernet and InfiniBand switches and racks

The Management node provides a central point for the system administrator to configure, monitor, and manage the system. The management node supports both a browser-based graphical user interface (GUI) and a command line interface (CLI). It also provides a System Health Center for monitoring the overall health of the system.

The Interface node provides the network port connection and the file services for the IBM SONAS system. These nodes can operate at up to 10 Gb speeds with optional adapters to providing extremely fast access to data. They are connected to the rest of the SONAS system via a redundant high speed InfiniBand data network.

The system has the concept of a storage pod. Each storage pod consists of a pair of storage nodes and one or two storage controllers. Each storage controller contains 60 disks, and can have one storage expansion attached for 60 additional disks per controller. Each storage pod supports a maximum of 240 hard disk drives. A maximum of 30 storage pods are supported for a maximum of 7200 hard disk drives in a single system.

These systems are configured within three pre-defined, customizable rack configurations. The Base Rack (2851-RXA) contains the management node, the InfiniBand switches, and from two to six interface nodes with up to one storage pod. Each Storage Expansion Rack (2851-RXB) contains up to two storage pods, for a maximum of 480 disks. The Interface Expansion Rack (2851-RXC) contains up to twenty additional interface nodes.

Key prerequisites
Orders for the IBM Scale Out Network Attached Storage (SONAS) models must be configured using the eConfigurator (ECMSSD) to support accurate and complete order entry.

Planned availability date:

• March 12, 2010: IBM Scale Out Network Attached Storage (SONAS) new order shipment begins
• April 23, 2010: 2 TB drives for IBM Scale Out Network Attached Storage (Feature #1301) for SONAS nodes (2851-DR1, 2851-DE1); Acoustic doors (Feature #6249) for SONAS racks (2851-RXA, 2851-RXB and 2851-RXC)
• 
  June 12, 2010: Rear door heat exchanger (Feature #6858) for SONAS racks (2851-RXA, 2851-RXB, 2851-RXC)