Direct Attached Storage (DAS)

Module 3.1

2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

Direct Attached Storage (DAS)

Upon completion of this module, you will be able to: Discuss the benefits of DAS based storage strategy

Describe the elements of DAS

Describe the connectivity options for DAS Discuss DAS management considerations Identify the best environments for DAS solutions

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What is DAS?

Internal

External Direct Connect

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DAS Benefits
Ideal for local data provisioning Quick deployment for small environments

Simple to deploy in simple configurations

Reliability Low capital expense Low complexity

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Physical Elements of DAS

Connectivity

CPU

Storage

Motherboard Clustered group of processors Processor cards Complete system

Internal External

Hard disk(s) CD-ROM drive Optical drive Removable media Tape devices/tape library RAID/intelligent array(s) Portable media drives

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DAS Connectivity
Block-Level Access Protocols: ATA (IDE) and SATA
Primarily for internal bus

SCSI
Parallel (primarily for internal bus)

Serial (external bus)

Buss and Tag

Primarily for external mainframe Precursor to ESCON and FICON

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DAS Connectivity: Internal

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Internal DAS Connectivity Examples

Parallel Connectivity Cables

Serial Connectivity Cable

50-wire SCSI-2 cable

80-wire IDE cable

34-wire floppy cable

Serial ATA cable

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DAS Connectivity: External

External DAS

HBA

Host

Storage Device

Example of an external connectivity cable

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DAS Management: Internal

Host provides:
Disk partitioning (Volume management) File system layout Data addressing

Direct Attached Storage managed individually through the server and the OS

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DAS Management: External

Array based management Availability multi-path I/O

Lower TCO for managing data and storage Infrastructure

2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

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DAS Performance Considerations

Factors to be considered for DAS performance: Hard disks

Memory cache
Virtual memory (paging) Storage controllers
Protocol supported (e.g. SCSI, FireWire, USB, etc.)

RAID level

Bus

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Internal DAS Application Example

Hard Drive 40 Pin Ribbon Cable

Motherboard

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External DAS Application Example

ESCON HBA

Cable for external DAS connectivity

2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

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DAS Challenges
Hosts must be directly connected Data availability

Data slowdowns possible

CPU congestion, caching, multi-pathing

Scalability is limited
Number of connectivity ports to hosts Number of addressable disks Distance limitations

Downtime required for maintenance

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Module Summary
Key points covered in this module: DAS can be:
An integrated part of the host computer Directly connected to a single server

DAS is made up of a CPU, connectivity, and storage devices

There are several options within each of these categories

DAS connectivity uses block-level access protocols

2007 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

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 Check Your Knowledge

What are the physical elements of DAS? Give an example of when DAS is a good solution.

Describe internal DAS connectivity.

Describe external DAS connectivity. What are some areas that you need to consider as part of DAS management?

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