Free Storage 5700E

Product Specifications | Management Support Software

Simple Solutions for Complex Data Management Requirements

By the turn of the century, annual computer storage shipments are expected to exceed 500,000 terabytes. If industry analysts are on the mark with their projections, by that time, 75 percent of storage will be centrally managed. The numbers bear out these estimates. More and more IS departments are returning to a centralized model of information management. The demand for effective control of enterprise-wide data—dispersed across multiple platforms and locations, with multivendor hardware and software components—has skyrocketed.

Today, an increasing number of IS environments capitalize on the strengths of both centralized and distributed storage strategies. Mission-critical business applications are supported by a growing proliferation of distributed, departmental hardware. A complex patchwork of middleware—essential for systems and network management—links software applications and hardware to correct a variety of operational shortfalls. This combination of middleware, software, and hardware makes management of resources and data storage more difficult than ever, and can prohibit business units from attaining peak efficiency and realizing corporate return on investment. The results are diminished peer-to-peer competitiveness, and, ultimately, the collapse of effective business systems.

Total enterprise-wide storage management is a universal requirement. Because system responsiveness depends on data locality, storage architecture must meet distributed and centralized physical deployment requirements. Consistent storage architecture, look-and-feel, and operation ensure simple device management, allowing IS administrators to implement a single set of guidelines for all storage locations. Storage deployment options must remain as flexible as business requirements dictate.

Hitachi Freedom storage solutions are crafted from middleware, a family of storage systems based on a common architecture, and professional services. Storage management middleware tools facilitate integration with existing environments and enhance day-to-day information management. Offering a menu of consulting services for the evaluation, design, and implementation of customer solutions, HDS also provides ongoing hardware and network support.

The Hitachi Freedom 5700E is an integral part of HDS' overall storage strategy—to allow customers to manage and control systems growth, whether in single or multiserver environments. Because customers do not have to change their existing setup or mode of operation, they can achieve higher efficiency with minimal disruption. As Hitachi, Ltd. continues to develop innovative computing options, customers can count on HDS to lead them into the next millennium with comprehensive storage, systems, and service solutions that help them achieve their business objectives.


Highlights


Centralized network storage management delivers enterprise-wide control
Managing distributed, heterogeneous computing environments significantly complicates the responsibilities of IT organizations. Advances in network technology, the increasing complexity and size of networks, and the use of multivendor components, hardware, and software make network management more difficult than ever. Productivity and service level improvements depend upon implementing a single point of control for network management activities.

An industry-standard protocol designed to facilitate the exchange of information between network-resident devices, SNMP facilitates configuration and management of multiple networked systems and applications from a single point of control. HDS chose SNMP as its standard of reporting based on wide deployment in TCP/IP networks, which gives customers the greatest flexibility and uptime. HDS' SNMP has been certified with the following enterprise management software:

  • HP OpenView
  • SunNet Manager
  • CA Unicenter.

Compatibility with these mission-critical network tools allows the 5700E to be integrated into users' network, system, application, and database management environments.

SOMMET, HDS' optional software-based configuration management solution, allows customers to both monitor and manage 5700E systems within multivendor environments through a graphical user interface. SOMMET users know instantly when a failure occurs, where the 5700E is located, and the exact nature of the failure—complete to the component level—allowing administrators to quickly initiate service. Enhancing availability through dynamic configuration of disk storage while the system is active, SOMMET also ensures data integrity through disk storage analysis and storage techniques. SOMMET communicates either through RS-232 or a Local Area Network (LAN). Configuration, monitoring, and maintenance are also accessible through a front-mounted operations panel on each 5700E disk array.

Customers can supplement (or substitute) SOMMET or other SNMP data management tools with Hi-Track® proactive remote diagnostics.

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High performance with Ultra-SCSI, doubled cache, and increased bandwidth
The 5700E offers two 7,200rpm Ultra-SCSI drive options (4.1GB and 8.7GB), as well as an Ultra-SCSI interface which allows data transfers of up to 40MB/sec per channel. The controller-level cache assures fast, reliable data access and is fully battery protected. Customers also have the option of mirroring cache, so that all write operations are secured in dual caches.

Larger disk capacities necessitate an increase in cache sizes. The 5700E features double the subsystem cache of previous generations. With 256MB per controller (or 512MB per subsystem), the 5700E allows for higher I/O activity in high-capacity subsystems. The 5700E will continue to accommodate increasing disk capacities.

RAID groups are designed for parallel access across all five internal SCSI-3 disk channels, providing optimum I/O bandwidth. Customers also have the choice of SCSI-3 fast or fast-and-wide external host interfaces that deliver 40MB/sec data transfer rates each (for single controller configurations) and 80MB/sec data transfer rates (with the optional second controller).

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Software-based data and storage management solutions
Today's disk farms contain hundreds of drives. Enterprise server systems present administrators with a complex set of inconsistent and diversified storage management tools which increase administrative costs. To address these issues, HDS plans to enhance the 5700E with comprehensive new software-based utilities from Hitachi, Ltd. and other leading providers of data and storage management software solutions. Delivering a unified, compatible approach to server performance, reliability, and data management, these solutions reduce costs and increase IT returns. They also meet the demands of new user workloads in distributed client/server environments while safeguarding mission-critical data and applications.

The first of these offerings, Hitachi Path Failover™, is a server-based software solution that enhances RAID subsystem availability by providing automatic recovery from server-to-RAID connection failures. The SCSI bus between the server and RAID subsystem is a single point of failure which can result in a complete loss of data access. Path Failover allows system administrators to define redundant SCSI connections between data servers and RAID subsystems, thereby improving system resiliency.

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Optimum connectivity enhances open systems information management
The Freedom 5700E may be attached to LAN servers supporting common operating environments such as Windows NT and Novell NetWare, UNIX®-based servers and workstations, and the AS/400. It supports SCSI fast or fast-and-wide, and Ultra-SCSI connections with data transfer rates of up to 80MB/sec.

Fibre Channel-capable: For 5700E users who need simultaneous multiplexed connections in high-speed application-to-application environments, HDS announces Fibre Channel or FC-AL (fibre channel-arbitrated loop) capability. This connectivity feature provides flexible information management for customer applications, as well as compatibility with future offerings, by enabling integration of the Fibre Channel with the "fabric" (or switching technology) of the enterprise. This integration furnishes administrators with immediate, transparent access to all data from any device. The Fibre Channel upgrade offers greater connectivity and improved throughput for high-volume applications such as high-speed data mining, remote/secure storage, and multimedia.

HDS' Fibre Channel upgrade allows the 5700E to be connected to customers' legacy systems, networks, and applications without sacrificing the future extensibility of transfer rates and performance. It supports speeds of up to 100MB/sec over distances approaching 500 meters (1,640 feet). To ensure maximum scalability and flexibility, the Fibre Channel option supports over 120 connections per loop, at distances of up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles).

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Flexible packaging eases growth planning
The 5700E features fast components, performance-optimized microcode, multiple high-bandwidth internal channels for parallel and overlapped operations, efficient data access management, and robust cache management. Consistent with industry-standard SCSI interfaces, the 5700E can be attached to multiple hosts and/or connected 5700E subsystems.

Customers can choose from many growth plan options to accommodate future storage requirements. The 5700E supports mixed disk sizes, so new technology can be incorporated, protecting prior IT investments. Depending on application capacity and performance requirements, customers can also connect multiple, mixed-model 5700E subsystems to a single host port.

The 5700E is available in four scalable models:

  • 5730E Mini-Tower. The free-standing 5730E model holds up to five disks (with an optional hot standby drive), a second controller, and cache memory of up to 256MB per controller (or 512MB per system). The Mini-Tower controller is designed for high performance and throughput, and is ideal for department or workgroup environments, Web sites, or workstations with high storage I/O processing needs and low capacity requirements.
  • 574xE Rack-Mount.This configuration is designed to mount in an industry-standard 19-inch rack, individually attached to the host or to other 5700E systems. The 5742E Rack-Mount model can hold up to ten active disk drives; the 5744E can hold up to twenty. Both models support an optional hot standby drive and two controllers, each with as much as 256MB of cache (for a total of 512MB). All components are hot-pluggable. Fully redundant power is standard on the 5744E and optional on the 5742E. The 5744E provides optional dual input power.
  • 5750E Tower.The 5750E is a free-standing unit holding up to twenty active disk drives, an optional twenty-first hot standby drive, two controllers (each with a 256MB cache capacity), and N+1 power supplies. All of these components are hot-pluggable. The Tower unit offers maximum configuration flexibility and capacity in a compact, self-contained enclosure.

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Continuous availability protects investment in data and applications
Like all HDS products, the 5700E is distinguished by its reliability, assured in numerous ways. Computing operations may continue despite a failed disk drive, power supply, controller, cache memory, SCSI channel, or fan. The innovative RAID design of the 5700E disk arrays incorporates standard and optional redundant features to maximize uptime.

The 5700E's components have ample bandwidth and reserve capacity, ensuring that the loss of redundant components will not be catastrophic and the system will continue to operate. Key system elements may be replaced on-line.

Parity data is generated, maintained, and checked for all operations. Data is also stored with error-correcting code. This technology is able to detect and correct data flaws "on-the-fly." Traditional techniques for determining whether data bits have been lost are not enough; the 5700E architecture employs this "data assurance code" for every data record written to disk.

I/O reliability is enhanced through the use of optional mirrored controllers and mirrored caches. All controller and data operations may be concurrently duplicated.

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Multifunctional versatility broadens configuration options
The importance, time-critical nature, and economies of an application may dictate which RAID level is most appropriate. The 5700E offers multifunctional versatility through concurrent support of three RAID levels within a single subsystem:

  • RAID 0 is usually selected when capacity and cost are primary, and high availability is secondary.
  • RAID 1 offers the highest level of availability and recovery (where cost is not a primary issue).
  • RAID 5 with parity protection is the most frequent overall choice for high availability, capacity, and transaction-oriented performance at a moderate cost.

RAID levels are user-configurable, and may be mixed within the same subsystem.

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Hitachi Data Systems—For computing as critical as your business
Continuing its traditions of technological innovation and reponsiveness to customer needs, Hitachi Data Systems leads the way to yet another critical computing arena—centralized management of enterprise-wide storage. While HDS continues to expand its storage offerings, it is actively developing partnerships with the industry's foremost software providers. Hitachi's global technological leadership ensures the ongoing excellence of the Freedom 5700E. HDS is committed to delivering greater levels of management and performance to help customers transition into the next millennium.

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