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High Availability Data - Call PBM IT Solutions at (888) 233-6471Q. What is a data center? A. A data center is a computer facility designed for continuous use by several users, and well equipped with hardware, software, peripherals, power conditioning and backup, communication equipment, security systems, etc. Data Centers are needed to protect against data loss. Statistics about the harm done to businesses by data loss in a disaster, suggest that nearly 50 percent of companies report each hour of downtime could cost up to $50K. Beyond backup and recovery protection, ensuring maximum data center availability and up time is clearly crucial to business success. Energy costs are rising for most data centers. Companies should employ tools and techniques to manage the energy cost curve. Operating system virtualization is the use of software to allow a piece of hardware to run multiple operating system images at the same time. Storage virtualization is the pooling of physical storage from multiple network storage devices into what appears to be a single storage device that is managed from a central console. Storage virtualization is commonly used in storage area networks (SANs). Virtualization was first introduced in the 1960s by IBM to boost utilization of large, expensive mainframe systems by partitioning them into logical, separate virtual machines that could run multiple applications and processes at the same time. In the 1980s and 1990s, this centrally shared mainframe model gave way to a distributed, client-server computing model, in which many low-cost x86 servers and desktops independently run specific applications. To qualify as a true enterprise solution, a storage management system must be able to scale across the entire enterprise. This means it must be able to handle multiple servers spread across wide geographical areas. The solution should further leverage technologies such as clustering and load balancing to support hundreds or even thousands of client computers. It also must support various network infrastructures and firewall configurations. Some functions in the Cisco Unified Computing System are similar to those offered by the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series Switches, but with a different set of applications and design scenarios. The Cisco Unified Computing System offers the capability to present adapters to physical and (in the near future) virtual machines directly. When presented to the virtual machines, VN-Link technology can provide many of the same benefits as those described for the Cisco Nexus 1000V Series. Basically, green technology is that in which the technology is environmentally friendly and is created and used in a way that conserves natural resources and the environment. According to one aspect of the invention, a data storage system includes a disk drive array including a plurality of disk drives; a first storage processor for controlling the operation of the data storage system; a second storage processor forcontrolling the operation of the data storage system; a first arbiter for controlling communication of data from the first storage processor and the second storage processor to a first group of disk drives of the disk drive array; and a second arbiterfor controlling communication of data from the first storage processor and the second storage processor to a second group of disk drives of the disk drive array. Selected data is redundantly stored on disk drives in the first group of disk drives andthe second group of disk drives, such that, upon failure of the first arbiter, the selected data is available to the first storage processor and the second storage processor through the second arbiter. Nexus sets the stage for converged Fibre Channel and Ethernet networks. The Nexus products will allow companies to consolidate their separate server and storage networking infrastructures onto one unified network fabric. |
