Whitepaper Intel Open-E

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Copyright 2007 Open-E
www.open-e.com
Certified Storage-Solution:
Open-E Data Storage Server
and I ntel® SSR212MC2
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2
©2007 Open-E GmbH. All rights reserved. Open-E is a registered trademark of Open-E GmbH. All other trademarks mentioned herein are
property ot ther respective owners.
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2 2/12
1. Flexible Storage-Solutions with Open-E DSS and Intel® SSR212MC2 .

2. New challenges for storage systems . . . . . .
3. A Powerful Team: Open-E DSS and Intel® SSR212MC2 . . .
4. Key Technologies: Store quickly and securely . . . . .
5. Your Benefits . . . . . . . . .
6. Real-World Adoption . . . . . . . .
7. Premium Support . . . . . . . . .

Contents
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Flexible Storage-Solutions with Open-E DSS and Intel® SSR212MC2
The best storage solutions don’t attract attention. Open-E’s storage solution offer’s enough space, is easy and quick to configure
and saves data securely. Furthermore, it doesn’t tear a hole in your IT-budget and is flexible and expandable for all tasks.
This document shows how you can use the newest generation of Intel® storage servers (SSR212MC2) together with the storage
operating system Open-E Data Storage Server (DSS) for secure, flexible, high-performance, and easy to operate storage solutions.
If you would like to use the described solution, the Solution Deployment Guide will help you further. This document explains all of
the important steps for the deployment, installation, and use of Intel® SSR212MC2 and Open-E DSS.
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Term defnitions
Fibre Channel: Standard protocol for high speed transfers into → SANs; access to hard drives is block-based;
Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology (I/OAT): Efficient input/output processing in Intel® QuadCore and DualCore CPUs,
eliminate bottlenecks;
Intel® SSR212MC2: Hardware platform for storage servers from Intel; Codename McKay Creek; 2 units, rack-mounted,
12x SAS-/SATA connections;
iSCSI: Storage-over-TCP procedure; carries out the operation of storage protocols such as SCSI via TCP/IP;
NAS (Network Attached Storage): Storage devices connected directly to the local network;
Open-E DSS: An easy to operate storage operating system, preinstalled on an internal USB flash module,
for the setting up of → NAS or → SAN;
SAN (Storage Area Network): Network for the connection of storage subsystems, separated from the servers;
SAS (Serial Attached SCSI): Serial successor standard from SCSI; uses fast point-to-point connections;
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2

New challenges for storage systems
The business of companies of every size is defined by their processes and the data used. Data security, rapid availability,
and short backup and restore times are an absolute must. Especially for small and medium-sized companies, the
requirements are even greater, as the stored data often represents the entire foundation of the business. »How can
companies sustainably get a grip on the constantly increasing need for storage and higher performance?« Companies
without a suitable storage strategy feel the effects directly:
Rapidly increasing costs through constant expansion, reorganisation, and adaptation of the storage environment
High administrative effort for complex enterprise storage solutions not suited to small and medium-sized businesses
Legal problems caused by the non-observance of legally prescribed archiving obligations
Non-optimal efficiency of the existing storage solutions (mostly only between 35 and 50 per cent)
Problems with process management: Companies can no longer react flexibly to market requirements
Risks due to breakdowns: Provided backup/restore functions do not take effect in the event of data loss
Lack of scalability: Connecting additional storage systems requires great effort or isn’t possible
Inadequate performance: Storage strategy is not equal to requirements; backups and restore are too slow
Especially for small and medium-sized businesses, the combination of Open-E Data Storage Server and Intel® SSR212MC2
serves well.
Study: IT-storage for medium-sized businesses: What storage projects are medium-sized companies planning
for 2007? Carried out in the second half of 2006 by Smart Research, evaluation of 224 questionnaires sent to
medium-sized companies
Storage-Trends 2007
0,00% 10,00% 20,00% 30,00% 40,00% 50,00% 60,00%
Survey on SMB-Companies
Graded Storage-Concept
Storage-Consolidation
Audit-proof Archiving
High Availibility
Further development of SAN
Quicker Data-Restore
Shorter Backup-Times
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2 4/12
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A Powerful Team: Open-E DSS and Intel® SSR212MC2
A tailored storage strategy provides a solid basis for streamlining IT processes in companies. The storage platform SSR212MC2
from Intel provides all the necessary prerequisites, and in combination with the storage software from Open-E, you gain an
important technological edge in your business. With high performance multi-core processors, Intel provides exactly the right
foundation for your applications and users.
Customers thereby profit from the integrated I/O Acceleration Technology, with which bottlenecks in your network are
eliminated in a targeted fashion. Your IP storage systems are thereby always ready to use and will be fast enough for all new
requirements.
Intel® SSR212MC2 unites high-
performance enterprise functions with
affordable expansion possibilities
through the observance of industry
standards.
Regardless of whether to a decision in favour of network attached storage or a storage
area network, with Open-E Data Storage Server it is easy to set up the storage strategy
that is best suited to a company’s needs.
Your backups run fluently and quickly, and you can restore data in a fraction of the
time previously spent. The complete control of all possible tasks takes place through
the unique Open-E web interface, quickly and without any detours. You don’t need to
first install administration tools; instead you can start right away.
Storage-Server Intel® SSR212MC2
Open-E Data Storage-Server
(internal USB Disk-on-Module)
The simple use of standard components makes the SSR212MC2 of special interest to small and medium-sized businesses.
It is thereby possible to use up to 12 SATA or SAS hard drives; even as a mixed assembly. The optional use of 10-Gbit network
interface cards, RAID controllers, and NICs with an iSCSI boot option offers flexibility without limits.
With Open-E Data Storage Servers, customers get an operating system that is certified for the Intel storage platform.
Due to the comprehensive support of the platform, customers can completely exploit all the advantages.
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2

Following the implementation of an appropriate storage strategy,
companies profit from the following effects:
Storage consolidation with SSR212MC2 and Open-E DSS: The server landscape is pre-equipped with directly
connected storage devices. Following the consolidation, SSR212MC2 and Open-E DSS take on the storage tasks
via IP SAN connection.
Before After
a lot of island-solutions central storage-system
low cost high cost
limited flexibility
bad scalability
bad working load
flexible extensibility with standard
components
backup strategies are hard to
implement
integrated security mechanisms
and easy to use backup-tools
easy to use monitoring
top scalability
optimal working load
a lot of bottenecks very hard to
monitor
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2 õ/12
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Key Technologies: Store quickly and securely
Open-E, in co-operation with Intel®, supplies you with all the components that are necessary for providing your customers
with the optimal storage solutions. The Open-E DSS operating system supports the new Intel storage platform in every way.
Thanks to the intensive co-operation between Intel and Open-E, customers profit from the rather well-harmonised products
and professional support.
Open-E Data Storage Server
Open-E DSS, the compact and reliable storage
operating system, stands out from other solutions
due to its numerous unique selling points: It is
delivered entirely preinstalled and preconfigured
on an internal USB-DOM (disk-on-module) flash
module, which is plugged into the server system.
There are no complex installation routines.
Simply plug the module into the SSR212MC2
and you can get started with setting up NAS or
SAN in 5 minutes.
The Open-E Data Storage Server recognizes the
complete hardware and automatically installs
the drivers of the SAS and RAID controllers, FC-
HBAs and Ethernet cards. The flexible foundation
of the operating system ensures fast, stable, and
secure operation. Via the intuitive web interface,
even the setup of complex storage systems
remains simple and clear. The key benefits:
Easy installation, administration and monitoring of the storage systems
Top performance thanks to support for the newest Intel technologies
Exceptional scalability through the support of industry standards, risks due to breakdowns are minimized
Support of a variety of hardware components such as RAID or SAS (Certification for Intel® SSR212MC2)
Scalability: Connecting additional storage systems requires less effort and costs
Security through comprehensive backup functions, and the separation of the operating system from user data
Open-E DSS for top performance: The operating
system uses the most up-to-date hardware
technologies of the Intel® Multi-Core processors,
such as Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology.
This means secure, and most importantly, fast,
flexible, and expandable storage systems.
Open-E DSS for top performance: The operating system uses the most up-to-date hardware technologies of the Intel®
Multi-Core processors, such as Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology. This means secure, and most importantly, fast,
flexible, and expandable storage systems.
Open-E DSS and Intel® SSR212MC2 are optimally harmonised, and enable the fast and efficient realisation of all the
storage plans of your customers based on the standard components.
Innovative functions, such as the clever combination of SAS and SATA technology, make it possible for your customers
to increase availability and flexibility as easily as possible. The support for all of the important storage technologies,
such as iSCSI and Fibre Channel, provides the basis for centralised storage management, and secure data
management that extends the possibilities of efficient disaster recovery scenarios.
Easy & Fast: All storage tasks are done quickly with the intuitive Web-GUI.
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2
Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology
This new technology considerably accelerates the network data transfer of the new Intel storage server (double the
throughput compared to earlier server platforms). The protocol overhead of TCP/IP thereby reduces I/OAT by up to 40
per cent, and distributes the remaining I/O load cleverly to chip set, RAM, CPU, and NICs. All of the LAN features such as
bonding are of course thereby maintained. It is not only the clearly better performance that speaks in favour of I/OAT, but
Intel also has improved the scalability and breakdown security. It is possible to use I/OAT with up to eight simultaneously
working network interface cards.
Multi-Core Technology
Enormously increased performance at a low cost, as well as considerably reduced energy consumption speaks for the Xeon
processors with QuadCore and DualCore functionality. Open-E DSS makes use of all the advantages of these Multi-Core
platforms.
The top features of the 5300 series are: Intel® Core Microarchitecture, fully buffered DIMM memory, and Intel® Smart
Cache as guarantors for high performance storage platforms. Manufactured with the 65 nanometre process, the CPUs
provide the reserves needed for all of your storage tasks. Nothing stands in the way of optimising your processes anymore.
iSCSI Boot
A special highlight: optionally available network interface cards are equipped with an iSCSI boot function, which has
previously been offered only in expensive iSCSI HBAs. It is therefore now possible to boot the server from an image via an IP
SAN. That is an indispensable feature, especially for virtualisation solutions. Another advantage: You can implement simple
backup/restore concepts in the IP SAN with the complete boot images.
Intel I/OAT: Throughput-Optimization for the whole platform. (Source: Intel Corp.)
CPU CPU
Chipset
I/O Device
M
e
m
o
r
y
Optimized TCP/IP
protocol stack with
enhancements
Enhanced direct memory
access with asynchronous
low-cost copy
Balanced network
processing on multiple
CPUs with network
ow anity
Network
Data Stream
Server with Intel® I/O Acceleration Technology
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2 8/12
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Your Benefts
The certified storage team Open-E DSS and Intel® SSR212MC2 offers a technological advance. The main advantage: your
customers can optimise their processes for the long-term and can be sure that they will receive professional support at all
times.
Integrated security and increased availability: Broad support for RAID, backups, replication, snapshots, along with the
robust, preconfigured operating system Open-E DSS are guarantees for data security. The strict separation of the operating
system and user data also provides protection against the spreading of viruses.
Low costs: Through the simple use of standard components, customers can configure an optimal storage system at an
affordable price, for example, starting with affordable SATA hard drives and later converting to high-performance SAS data
carriers. The easy commissioning and administration also removes a significant burden from the time budget of your IT
department giving you a much higher return on your investment.
More flexibility: Due to the flexible expandability with
standard components such as SAS-/SATA hard drives
and RAID controllers, as well as the setting up of NAS
or SAN, customers can configure their own individual
storage solution. The possibilities extend from file
server services through to high-availability storage for
databases.
Better scalability: Be fully equipped today for the
storage requirements of tomorrow. With Open-E and
Intel® SSR212MC2, your customers can start small
(for example with NAS) and expand step-by-step (for
example IP-SAN). The storage solution grows with
the requirements of the processes. For example, you
can expand the supported hard drive space with
additional license keys of 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 TByte.
Higher performance: Thanks to the extensive performance
potential of the Intel Multi-Core architecture with I/OAT and
the broad support of Open-E DSS for these technologies,
the SSR212MC2/Open-E team accelerates data through-put
processes.
Simple administration: Regardless of whether NAS, SAS, backup,
replication, or a system snapshot, with the innovative web
interface of Open-E, the setting up of storage solutions becomes
a simple task.
I/OAT reduces I/O-Overhead by 30 percent
(Source: Intel Corp.)
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Benefits for your customers
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Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2
Real-World Adoption
Know-how and practical examples
With an Intel storage server and the Open-E DSS operating system, you can begin with a number of storage solutions.
Here a few examples:
Regardless of whether the storage requirements of your customers involve the development of new storage strategies,
meeting archiving obligations, implementation of disaster recovery concepts, or migration of legacy applications to better
performing environments: With Open-E solutions and Intel® SSR212MC2 you have all the necessary components at hand.
Storage consolidation with virtualisation
Open-E DSS and Intel® SSR212MC2 are ideally suited for IT infrastructures with virtualisation. Users can, for example,
establish test environments, operate legacy systems, implement disaster recovery concepts, or undertake server
consolidation. Concrete implementations generally run with, for example, VMware ESX servers or Xen. The storage server
thereby works as a fast iSCSI target.
Accelerate backup/restore
According to a survey carried out by the market research institute Smart Research concerning the most urgent storage tasks
for 2007, the reduction of backup times is at the very top of the to-do lists in IT departments.
Storage servers from Intel and Open-E DSS are exceptionally well-suited for this. In place of distributed backups, of which
the connected systems are only able utilise a fraction of, you can centralise your data backups with the presented solution.
You can thereby better utilise the storage systems and obtain faster and more reliable backups. For reference projects, the
capacity utilisation quota of the storage systems used increased from 30 per cent for a DAS solution, and following the
centralisation in the IP-SAN to up to 85 per cent.
Video streaming via IP cameras
The team of Intel storage servers and Open-E DSS is
especially suitable for applications with large amounts of
data and high demands of data throughput. The reason: The
built-in Intel I/OAT and optimal support of this technology
by Open-E DSS. Entire new possibilities are made available
for customers in the video streaming area. For example,
surveillance cameras can be combined with central storage
to which the data is streamed via a fast network connection.
A second field of usage is medical technology, where not
only documented examination results create large quantities
of data; live recordings of operations also place very high
demands on the storage server used.
Perfect database platform for Exchange, Oracle, MySQL
The operating systems of Open-E masters all challenges for a wide range of storage solutions. This is particularly true for
databases. With Open-E software, customers have the following benefits:
Video cameras like the model above can record direct
to iSCSI targets (Source: Robert Bosch GmbH).
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2 10/12
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Benefit 1: Compatible
The Open-E storage systems rely on approved standards for network attached storage and storage area networks.
Therefore you can host every database from a small MySQL installation to an Oracle cluster. Popular examples are
Microsoft Exchange and Sharepoint for example, because their native file systems work smoothly together with Open-E
Benefit 2: Fast
Mainly the high performance connection to block based SAN predestines Open-E DSS for the adoption as database
storage. Together with a certified storage server you use the newest technologies like multicore CPUs or Intel I/O
Acceleration Technology. Built-in tuning options like bonding of several network interface cards avoid bottlenecks.
This results in shorter backup times. Example systems with two network interfaces reach 180 MByte per second via Multipath
Benefit 3: Easy
Save complexity for your database queries. The storage configuration of Open-E DSS is made easy with an intuitive web
interface and takes only a few minutes. There is no time consuming installation because the operating system is preinstalled
on an internal USB-DOM (Disk on Module).
Benefit 4: Secure
Your data is stored securely with Open-E. The storage system supports security features like RAID, replication, snapshots and
the integration of backup software agents.
Benefit 5: Cluster-ready
Database clusters have only been a solution for big companies with huge IT budgets until now, but with Open-E storage
operating systems and standard hardware, small and midsize companies can now do their own installations. Open-E DSS is
optimally suited for a database cluster with Oracle RAC.
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2

Premium Support
Open-E and Intel® have subjected the storage solution to the most comprehensive testing and certification processes
in order to guarantee security, performance, stability, and conformity with the standards.
Open-E and Intel® support you with your storage projects in marketing, sales, and technology.
You can find Open-E licences and an up-to-date list of the respective partners online at http://www.open-e.com/partner
Customers can comfortably test the possibilities at no charge in the form of a demo CD from Open-E DSS
(http://www.open-e.com/demo-cd)
In order to receive information and technical support for Intel® hardware components, please continue to address your
enquiries to your existing Intel® Support Services (http://www.intel.com/support).
You can find the relevant Intel reseller at http://www.intel.com/reseller

Further reading
Background, quick-start guides, white papers, and technical information about Open-E and Open-E products:
www.open-e.com/products
Background and technical information about Intel® SSR212MC2:
www.intel.com/products/server/storage/index.htm
You can find further information about other Intel solutions at:
www.intel.com/go/solutions
Flexible storage solutions with Open-E DSS and I ntel® SSR212MC2 12/12