Emulex 375 User Manual

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MULEX

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ODEL

 375 SAN S

TORAGE

 S

WITCH

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SER

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UIDE

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HAPTER

 1: I

NTRODUCTION

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MULEX

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ORPORATION

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The Emulex Model 375 SAN Storage Switch is ideal for consolidation and shared storage pooling, high-
performance shared tape library backup and recovery, server clustering, and streaming rich media 
applications. The following sections provide examples of these applications.

In this configuration, the switch enables multiple hosts to share single or multiple storage systems. This 
application replaces direct-attached configurations that require multiple storage systems to be attached 
to separate servers, which often results in difficult to manage multiple systems and trapped, unused 
storage islands (storage cannot be shared with other servers).

Benefits include:

•

Improved incremental scalability–connect up to 20 hosts and/or other storage devices, including 
tape libraries, to a single switch.

•

Lower storage management support costs.

•

Improved capacity utilization that enables effective use of both servers and storage.

For larger system environments, multiple switches can be connected and Automatic Trunking can be 
used to keep performance and availability at high levels. As a best practice when using multiple 
switches, connect servers and their related storage devices through the same switch to optimize 
performance.

Figure 1-1: Before storage consolidation...

Figure 1-1: and after storage consolidation.

Figure 1-2: Multiple switch storage consolidation diagram