Overview

The HP StorageWorks Modular Smart Array (MSA) 1500 cs is a Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN) attached 2U controller shelf that connects to HP StorageWorks Serial ATA (SATA) and/or SCSI disk enclosures providing customers with a flexible low-cost, high capacity storage solution. The MSA1500 cs has been designed as a hardware foundation for future solutions to ensure maximum investment protection. The MSA1500 cs is perfect for those customers looking for less expensive storage solutions using HP SATA enclosures to store data that doesn't require a high degree of I/O performance and/or is viewed as non-mission critical to business operations. The MSA1500 cs with up to eight attached SATA enclosures can provide the customer with up to 24 TB (96 - 250 GB SATA disk drives) of native capacity. If the business needs enterprise class SCSI reliability then attach up to four SCSI enclosures for a native capacity of 16.8 TB (using 56 - 300 GB SCSI disks).

By using existing SCSI drive enclosures, MSA1000 controller technology, and integrating low cost SATA hard drives and enclosures, the MSA1500 cs lowers the total cost of ownership and protects the customer's hardware investments.

What's new

• Creating MSA1500 cs SAN Starter Kits where a single part number brings the customer all of the components needed to begin creating a 2-node SAN, Both enterprise-class SCSI and archiving-class SATA versions are available, along with the MSA1500 High Availability Upgrade Kit with the necessary redundant components. Both the Windows and Linux operating systems are supported by these kits.

Features & benefits

Features

• Increased scalability w/SCSI drives: Gain increased SCSI capacity with the new enterprise-class 300 GB U320 SCSI drives now giving a total SCSI capacity of 16.8 TB.

• Low Cost, Higher Capacity with SATA drives: : For less than $.01 per/MB customers can obtain up to 24 TB of capacity (8 SATA shelves) using up to 96 - 250 GB SATA disk drives.

• Modular 2U Rack-Mount Disk Array Controller Shelf: Ability to attach SCSI and Serial ATA enclosures.

• Advanced Data Guarding (ADG): Highest level of fault tolerance Advance Data Guarding (ADG), allocates two sets of parity data across multiple drives while allowing simultaneous write operations. This level of fault tolerance can withstand two simultaneous drive failures without downtime or data loss.

• 2 Gb/1 Gb Fibre connections to host: Ensures the customers investment in 1 Gb infrastructure by supporting both 1 Gb and 2 Gb Fibre Channel fabrics.

• Hot plug expansion and replacement support: Hot plug expansion and replacement of hard drives, redundant controllers, for simple, fast installation and maintenance. Fans and power supplies are also hot plug replaceable.

• Integrated configuration and management tools: Uses a standard set of management and utility software. These tools consistently lower the cost of ownership by reducing training and technical expertise needed to install and maintain the MSA1500 cs.

• Ability to upgrade from the MSA1000 to the MSA1500 cs: Ability to move the MSA1000 controllers to the empty controller bays in the MSA1500 cs while also upgrading the software. Provides greater scalability and flexibility with the added benefit of allowing the mixing of SCSI and SATA drives.

• Mix of SATA and SCSI: Ability to mix Serial ATA enclosures and SCSI disk enclosures behind the same MSA1500 controller shelf.

• Server Clustering Support: Server Clustering provides no-single-point-of-failure from the host side, providing maximum "up-time".

• Configure-to-Order: Ability to order a complete solution designed for our customers business.

Benefits

• New MSA1500 SAN Starter Kits easily ensure the customer has all necessary components except drives to install a 2-node FC SAN by selecting a single part number.

• The flexibility offered by the MSA1500 cs to utilize both SCSI and SATA drives gives the user the ability to have their mission-critical information on enterprise class drives while their archived data can reside on highly cost-effective SATA drives.

• The powerful configuration and management tools of the MSA1500 cs are the same as used by the millions of HP ProLiant users . This assures the MSA1500 owner a sophisticated yet easy to use software tool set.

• Being able to use the direct attached storage components in the MSA1500 saves the user a considerable amount of money as he moves to a SAN environment. Ultra3 and Ultra320 1" SCSI drives, all of data and the respective drive enclosures can all be re-deployed in most cases.

Overview

The Modular Smart Array 500 G2 is a simple and reliable RAID storage system for enterprise remote offices, distributed computing environments and medium business. Built upon reliable and high performance Smart Array technology the Modular Smart Array 500 G2 offers customers flexibility to cluster servers or share storage for improved storage utilization. The 2nd generation MSA500 system incorporates end-to-end Ultra320 SCSI technology and delivers best-in-class performance and rapid drive rebuild technology. It supports up to 14 HP Universal disk drives and is expandable with an in-place upgrade to the MSA1000. The new Modular Smart Array 500 G2 system adds support for 4-node clusters and a combined cluster and storage sharing environment.

What's new

• 4-node clustering support

• High bandwidth Ultra320 SCSI controllers and connectivity

• 256MB read/write cache standard, expandable to 512MB cache

• Double the performance for RAID 5 and RAID ADG environments

• Rapid Drive Rebuild technology - 5× drive rebuild acceleration

• Two Ultra320 SCSI adapters included in MSA500 G2 package - no additional HBA purchase necessary

Model selection available

• Modular Smart Array 500 G2 - complete storage systems with single RAID controller and two Ultra320 SCSI host adapters, and cables

• Modular Smart Array 500 G2 High Availability Kit - everything needed to add complete system redundancy including MSA500G2 controller, MSA500 G2 4-port I/O module, two Ultra320 SCSI host adapters, Smart Array Multipath software, and cables

• Modular Smart Array 500 G2 Controller - RAID controller with 256MB cache

• MSA500 G2 4-port I/O module - Ultra320 SCSI I/O module plus Smart Array Multipath software

• 256MB Battery Backed Cache - add second cache module to MSA500 G2 controller to increase cache to total of 512MB

Model comparison

Modular Smart Array 500 G2

» Modular Smart Array 1000

Servers supported

HP ProLiant

HP ProLiant, Alpha & Integrity

OS Support

MS Windows, NetWare, Linux

MS Windows, Linux, NetWare, HP/UX, Tru64, OVMS

Clustering & HA

2 & 4-node cluster support Open View Storage Mirroring support

2, 4, 8-node cluster support Multiple cluster support Open View Storage Mirroring support

Host Interface

Dual Ultra320 SCSI Channels

2GB Fibre Channel

Host Connections

2 upgradable to 4

16

Multipath option

Smart Array Multipath

Secure Path

Controller Failover

Redundant

Redundant

RAID Levels

0, 1, 0+1, 5, ADG

0, 1, 0+1, 5, ADG

Cache Size (max)

256MB (512MB)

256MB (512MB)

Disk Drives

HP Universal 1"

HP Universal 1"

Drive Count per Shelf

14

14

Scalability

2TB with 146GB disk drives (upgrade to MSA1000 for 6TB)

6 TB, 3 Drive Shelf

Total Drive Count

14

42

Disk Drive Backplane

Ultra320 SCSI

Ultra160 SCSI