Storage Router Full Contact

The continuous development of enterprises will generate a large number of data, and these ever-expanding mass of information must be stored and managed. And in the process of storage, although the server, storage devices provide good storage performance, but as a network of interconnect devices, often is the bottleneck of data storage; On the other hand, it is often an enterprise's custom to divide the whole network into different segments, and to form a number of isolated operational storage area networks (Sans), This makes the network storage of different departments blocking a lot. In this case, the router products that are designed specifically for storage are created.

I. Knowledge of storage routers

In fact, the storage router referred to here is exactly what it should call a SAN router. Sans can be viewed as an extension of the storage bus concept that uses similar units in local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs) to interconnect storage devices and servers (These include: routers, hubs, switches, and gateways).

Sans can be shared between servers or are proprietary to a server, either as a local storage device or as extended to other places on the geographic area.

This is not difficult to draw out the nature of the storage router, which is actually a device that enables users to connect to the Exchange storage environment on a standard data network. It should be noted that such devices are not used to connect devices directly to the LAN or enterprise backbone, but rather to build an independent network infrastructure for the storage network. Its main feature is to greatly improve the disaster tolerance system data availability, overall reliability and stability, the use of storage routers to build a number of SAN storage systems interoperability of the connection diagram below.

In addition, the storage router differs from the network router in that it uses a FCIP (FC over IP) storage protocol rather than a TCP/IP communication protocol for routing data. It is easy to see from the basic features of the storage router described earlier that the FCIP storage protocol allows devices in different sans to be able to communicate without merging these individual devices into a single large san, but also allowing the storage system to be set up between all devices to any device.

Second, storage router products

To a certain technology understanding, should take the concrete product as the reference, thus can better understand its in the product as well as the practical application embodiment. Also, let's not forget that the way to store is wired and wireless, so in the marketplace, wireless or wired storage routers have a specific application environment. Here are two types of wired storage router and two wireless storage router products.

1. McDATA Storage Router Eclipse 2640

Product Introduction: Eclipse 2640 SAN Router is a router that provides 12 fibre Channel ports, 4 Ethernet/Transmission Control ports, a comprehensive set of intelligent network and performance services. (Programming Entry Network)

It uses the IFCP protocol to isolate errors during San Interconnection, with the ability to quickly sketch, compress, and terminate protocols. It also provides management-Sanvergence Manager software that supports the many advantages of San routing, Remote and server/storage consolidation applications, and is suitable for large storage users who need SAN connectivity.

2. Cisco SN5420 Storage Router

Product Introduction: SN 5420 is the industry's first router product that supports the IP small Computer Interface (ISCSI) standard, featuring ease of management, high availability, highly simplified backup/recovery, and disaster recovery.

SN 5420 can act as a gateway between existing IP infrastructures and Fibre channel attached storage devices and networks. The server can use it to access centralized storage systems while retaining their existing IP infrastructure, allowing users to extend the benefits of the SAN to midrange applications on the data center server and departmental servers throughout the enterprise at a low cost.

Third, summary

Sans are the most promising means of meeting rapidly growing enterprise storage requirements, while storage routers make it easier to build and manage Sans, which opens up a new path for the application of storage area networks. But it must be clear that, at present, such devices do not really solve all problems, it is currently mainly used in low-end storage area network, so its development has yet to be tested in practical applications.