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SAN INTERVIEW QUESTION AND ANSWER


CanyoudescribeSANinyourwonword?

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Astorageareanetwork(SAN)isahighspeedspecialpurposenetwork(orsubnetwork)thatinterconnectsdifferent
kindsofdatastoragedeviceswithassociateddataserversonbehalfofalargernetworkofusers.Typically,astorage
areanetworkispartoftheoverallnetworkofcomputingresourcesforanenterprise.Astorageareanetworkisusually
clusteredincloseproximitytoothercomputingresourcessuchasIBMPower5boxesbutmayalsoextendtoremote
locationsforbackupandarchivalstorage,usingwideareanetworkcarriertechnologiessuchasATMorSONET.

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AstorageareanetworkcanuseexistingcommunicationtechnologysuchasIBMsopticalfiberESCONoritmayuse
thenewerFibreChanneltechnology.SomeSANsystemintegratorslikenittothecommonstoragebus(flowofdata)

inapersonalcomputerthatissharedbydifferentkindsofstoragedevicessuchasaharddiskoraCDROMplayer.
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storagedevicetoanother,andthesharingofdataamongdifferentserversinanetwork.SANscanincorporate
subnetworkswithnetworkattachedstorage(NAS)systems.

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SoyoumentionNAS,butWhatisNAS?

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Networkattachedstorage(NAS)isharddiskstoragethatissetupwithitsownnetworkaddressratherthanbeing

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SANssupportdiskmirroring,backupandrestore,archivalandretrievalofarchiveddata,datamigrationfromone

attachedtothedepartmentcomputerthatisservingapplicationstoanetworksworkstationusers.Byremovingstorage
accessanditsmanagementfromthedepartmentserver,bothapplicationprogrammingandfilescanbeservedfaster
becausetheyarenotcompetingforthesameprocessorresources.Thenetworkattachedstoragedeviceisattachedto
alocalareanetwork(typically,anEthernetnetwork)andassignedanIPaddress.Filerequestsaremappedbythe
mainservertotheNASfileserver.
Networkattachedstorageconsistsofharddiskstorage,includingmultidiskRAIDsystems,andsoftwarefor
configuringandmappingfilelocationstothenetworkattacheddevice.Networkattachedstoragecanbeasteptoward

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andincludedaspartofamoresophisticatedstoragesystemknownasastorageareanetwork(SAN).
NASsoftwarecanusuallyhandleanumberofnetworkprotocols,includingMicrosoftsInternetworkPacketExchange
andNetBEUI,NovellsNetwareInternetworkPacketExchange,andSunMicrosystemsNetworkFileSystem.
Configuration,includingthesettingofuseraccesspriorities,isusuallypossibleusingaWebbrowser.

WhatisSMTPandhowitworks?
SMTP(SimpleMailTransferProtocol)isaTCP/IPprotocolusedinsendingandreceivingemail.However,sinceitis
limitedinitsabilitytoqueuemessagesatthereceivingend,itisusuallyusedwithoneoftwootherprotocols,POP3or
IMAP,thatlettheusersavemessagesinaservermailboxanddownloadthemperiodicallyfromtheserver.Inother
words,userstypicallyuseaprogramthatusesSMTPforsendingemailandeitherPOP3orIMAPforreceivingemail.
OnUnixbasedsystems,sendmailisthemostwidelyusedSMTPserverforemail.Acommercialpackage,Sendmail,
includesaPOP3server.MicrosoftExchangeincludesanSMTPserverandcanalsobesetuptoincludePOP3
support.
SMTPusuallyisimplementedtooperateoverInternetport25.

DoyouhaveanyideaaboutNAT?
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ShortforNetworkAddressTranslation,anInternetstandardthatenablesalocalareanetwork(LAN)touseonesetof
IPaddressesforinternaltrafficandasecondsetofaddressesforexternaltraffic.ANATboxlocatedwheretheLAN
meetstheInternetmakesallnecessaryIPaddresstranslations.

NATservesthreemainpurposes:
ProvidesatypeoffirewallbyhidinginternalIPaddresses
EnablesacompanytousemoreinternalIPaddresses.Sincetheyreusedinternallyonly,theresnopossibilityof
conflictwithIPaddressesusedbyothercompaniesandorganizations.
AllowsacompanytocombinemultipleISDNconnectionsintoasingleInternetconnection.

ExplainDHCPanditsusestoanenvironment?
ShortforDynamicHostConfigurationProtocol,aprotocolforassigningdynamicIPaddressestodevicesonanetwork.
Withdynamicaddressing,adevicecanhaveadifferentIPaddresseverytimeitconnectstothenetwork.Insome
systems,thedevicesIPaddresscanevenchangewhileitisstillconnected.DHCPalsosupportsamixofstaticand
dynamicIPaddresses.
DynamicaddressingsimplifiesnetworkadministrationbecausethesoftwarekeepstrackofIPaddressesratherthan
requiringanadministratortomanagethetask.Thismeansthatanewcomputercanbeaddedtoanetworkwithoutthe
hassleofmanuallyassigningitauniqueIPaddress.ManyISPsusedynamicIPaddressingfordialupusers.

WhatdoesSNMPstandsfor?
ShortforSimpleNetworkManagementProtocol,asetofprotocolsformanagingcomplexnetworks.SNMPworksby
sendingmessages,calledProtocolDataUnits,todifferentpartsofanetwork.SNMPcompliantdevices,calledAgents,
storedataaboutthemselvesinManagementInformationBasesandreturnthisdatatotheSNMPrequesters.

WhatdoyouknowaboutTCPDump?
TCPdumpisacommoncomputernetworkdebuggingtoolthatrunsunderthecommandline.Itallowstheuserto
interceptanddisplayTCP/IPandotherpacketsbeingtransmittedorreceivedoveranetworktowhichthecomputeris
attached.TcpdumpworksonmostUnixlikeplatforms:Linux,Solaris,BSD,MacOSX,HPUXandAIXamongothers.
OnWindows,WinDumpcanbeuseditsaportoftcpdumptoWindows.
YoumusthavearootorsuperuserauthoritytouseTCPdumpsinUNIXlikeenvrionment.

WhatissoftwareRAIDLevelsdo?
RedundantArraysofIndependentDisks(RAID)isformallydefinedasamethodtostoredataonanytypeofdisk
medium.

LDAP
TheLightDirectoryAccessProtocol(LDAP)definesastandardmethodforaccessingandupdatinginformationina
directory(adatabase)eitherlocallyorremotelyinaclientservermodel.

WhatarethebenefitsoffibrechannelSANs?
FibreChannelSANsarethedefactostandardforstoragenetworkinginthecorporatedatacenterbecausethey
provideexceptionalreliability,scalability,consolidation,andperformance.FibreChannelSANsprovidesignificant
advantagesoverdirectattachedstoragethroughimprovedstorageutilization,higherdataavailability,reduced
managementcosts,andhighlyscalablecapacityandperformance.

WhatenvironmentismostsuitableforfibrechannelSANs?
Typically,FibreChannelSANsaremostsuitableforlargedatacentersrunningbusinesscriticaldata,aswellas
applicationsthatrequirehighbandwidthperformancesuchasmedicalimaging,streamingmedia,andlarge
databases.FibreChannelSANsolutionscaneasilyscaletomeetthemostdemandingperformanceandavailability
requirements.

WhatcustomerproblemsdofibrechannelSANssolve?
TheincreasedperformanceofFibreChannelenablesahighlyeffectivebackupandrecoveryapproach,including
LANfreeandserverfreebackupmodels.Theresultisafaster,morescalable,andmorereliablebackupandrecovery
solution.Byprovidingflexibleconnectivityoptionsandresourcesharing,FibreChannelSANsalsogreatlyreducethe
numberofphysicaldevicesanddisparatesystemsthatmustbepurchasedandmanaged,whichcandramatically
lowercapitalexpenditures.HeterogeneousSANmanagementprovidesasinglepointofcontrolforalldevicesonthe
SAN,loweringcostsandfreeingpersonneltodoothertasks.

Howlonghasfibrechannelbeenaround?
Developmentstartedin1988,ANSIstandardapprovaloccurredin1994,andlargedeploymentsbeganin1998.Fibre
Channelisamature,safe,andwidelydeployedsolutionforhighspeed(1GB,2GB,4GB)communicationsandisthe
foundationforthemajorityofSANinstallationsthroughouttheworld.

WhatisthefutureoffibrechannelSANs?
FibreChannelisawellestablished,widelydeployedtechnologywithaproventrackrecordandaverylargeinstalled
base,particularlyinhighperformance,businesscriticaldatacenterenvironments.FibreChannelSANscontinueto

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growandwillbeenhancedforalongtimetocome.ThereducedcostsofFibreChannelcomponents,theavailabilityof
SANkits,andthenextgenerationofFibreChannel(4GB)arehelpingtofuelthatgrowth.Inaddition,theFibre
Channelroadmapincludesplanstodoubleperformanceeverythreeyears.

Whatarethebenefitsof4gbfibrechannel?
Benefitsincludetwicetheperformancewithlittleornopriceincrease,investmentprotectionwithbackward
compatibilityto2GB,higherreliabilityduetofewerSANcomponents(switchandHBAports)required,andtheability
toreplicate,backup,andrestoredatamorequickly.4GBFibreChannelsystemsareideallysuitedforapplications
thatneedtoquicklytransferlargeamountsofdatasuchasremotereplicationacrossaSAN,streamingvideoon
demand,modelingandrendering,andlargedatabases.4GBtechnologyisshippingtoday.

HowisfibrechanneldifferentfromISCSI?
FibreChannelandiSCSIeachhaveadistinctplaceintheITinfrastructureasSANalternativestoDAS.FibreChannel
generallyprovideshighperformanceandhighavailabilityforbusinesscriticalapplications,usuallyinthecorporate
datacenter.Incontrast,iSCSIisgenerallyusedtoprovideSANsforbusinessapplicationsinsmallerregionalor
departmentaldatacenters.
WhenshouldIdeployfibrechannelinsteadofISCSI?
Forenvironmentsconsistingofhighendserversthatrequirehighbandwidthordatacenterenvironmentswith
businesscriticaldata,FibreChannelisabetterfitthaniSCSI.Forenvironmentsconsistingofmanymidrangeorlow
endservers,anIPSANsolutionoftendeliversthemostappropriateprice/performance.
NamesomeoftheSANtopologies?
Pointtopoint,arbitratedloop,andswitchedfabrictopologies.
WhatstheneedforseparatenetworkforstoragewhyLANcannotbeused?
LANhardwareandoperatingsystemsaregearedtousertraffic,andLANsaretunedforafastuserresponseto
messagingrequests.
WithaSAN,thestorageunitscanbesecuredseparatelyfromtheserversandtotallyapartfromtheusernetwork
enhancingstorageaccessindatablocks(bulkdatatransfers),advantageousforserverlessbackups.
WhataretheadvantagesofRAID?
RedundantArrayofInexpensiveDisks
Dependingonhowweconfigurethearray,wecanhavethe
datamirrored[RAID1](duplicatecopiesonseparatedrives)
striped[RAID0](interleavedacrossseveraldrives),or
parityprotected[RAID5](extradatawrittentoidentifyerrors).
Thesecanbeusedincombinationtodeliverthebalanceofperformanceandreliabilitythattheuserrequires.
DefineRAID?Whichoneyoufeelisgoodchoice?
RAID(RedundantarrayofIndependentDisks)isatechnologytoachieveredundancywithfasterI/O.ThereareMany
LevelsofRAIDtomeetdifferentneedsofthecustomerwhichare:R0,R1,R3,R4,R5,R10,R6.
GenerallycustomerchoosesR5toachievebetterredundancyandspeedanditiscosteffective.
R0Stripedsetwithoutparity/[NonRedundantArray].
Providesimprovedperformanceandadditionalstoragebutnofaulttolerance.Anydiskfailuredestroysthearray,
whichbecomesmorelikelywithmoredisksinthearray.Asinglediskfailuredestroystheentirearraybecausewhen
dataiswrittentoaRAID0drive,thedataisbrokenintofragments.Thenumberoffragmentsisdictatedbythenumber
ofdisksinthedrive.Thefragmentsarewrittentotheirrespectivediskssimultaneouslyonthesamesector.Thisallows
smallersectionsoftheentirechunkofdatatobereadoffthedriveinparallel,givingthistypeofarrangementhuge
bandwidth.RAID0doesnotimplementerrorcheckingsoanyerrorisunrecoverable.Moredisksinthearraymeans
higherbandwidth,butgreaterriskofdataloss

R1Mirroredsetwithoutparity.
Providesfaulttolerancefromdiskerrorsandfailureofallbutoneofthedrives.Increasedreadperformanceoccurs
whenusingamultithreadedoperatingsystemthatsupportssplitseeks,verysmallperformancereductionwhen
writing.Arraycontinuestooperatesolongasatleastonedriveisfunctioning.UsingRAID1withaseparatecontroller
foreachdiskissometimescalledduplexing.

R3Stripedsetwithdedicatedparity/Bitinterleavedparity.
ThismechanismprovidesanimprovedperformanceandfaulttolerancesimilartoRAID5,butwithadedicatedparity
diskratherthanrotatedparitystripes.Thesingleparitydiskisabottleneckforwritingsinceeverywriterequires
updatingtheparitydata.Oneminorbenefitisthededicatedparitydiskallowstheparitydrivetofailandoperationwill
continuewithoutparityorperformancepenalty.

R4Blocklevelparity.
IdenticaltoRAID3,butdoesblocklevelstripinginsteadofbytelevelstriping.Inthissetup,filescanbedistributed
betweenmultipledisks.EachdiskoperatesindependentlywhichallowsI/Orequeststobeperformedinparallel,

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thoughdatatransferspeedscansufferduetothetypeofparity.Theerrordetectionisachievedthroughdedicated
parityandisstoredinaseparate,singlediskunit.

R5Stripedsetwithdistributedparity.
Distributedparityrequiresalldrivesbutonetobepresenttooperatedrivefailurerequiresreplacement,butthearray
isnotdestroyedbyasingledrivefailure.Upondrivefailure,anysubsequentreadscanbecalculatedfromthe
distributedparitysuchthatthedrivefailureismaskedfromtheenduser.Thearraywillhavedatalossintheeventofa
seconddrivefailureandisvulnerableuntilthedatathatwasonthefaileddriveisrebuiltontoareplacementdrive.

R6StripedsetwithdualdistributedParity.
Providesfaulttolerancefromtwodrivefailuresarraycontinuestooperatewithuptotwofaileddrives.Thismakes
largerRAIDgroupsmorepractical,especiallyforhighavailabilitysystems.Thisbecomesincreasinglyimportant
becauselargecapacitydriveslengthenthetimeneededtorecoverfromthefailureofasingledrive.Singleparity
RAIDlevelsarevulnerabletodatalossuntilthefaileddriveisrebuilt:thelargerthedrive,thelongertherebuildwill
take.Dualparitygivestimetorebuildthearraywithoutthedatabeingatriskifonedrive,butnomore,failsbeforethe
rebuildiscomplete.

WhatisthedifferencebetweenRAID0+1andRAID1+0?
RAID0+1(MirroredStripped)
InthisRAIDlevelallthedataissavedonstrippedvolumeswhichareinturnmirrored,soanydiskfailuresavesthe
datalossbutitmakeswholestripeunavailable.ThekeydifferencefromRAID1+0isthatRAID0+1createsasecond
stripedsettomirroraprimarystripedset.Thearraycontinuestooperatewithoneormoredrivesfailedinthesame
mirrorset,butifdrivesfailonbothsidesofthemirrorthedataontheRAIDsystemislost.InthisRAIDlevelifonedisk
isfailedfullmirrorismarkedasinactiveanddataissavedonlyonestrippedvolume.

RAID1+0(StrippedMirrored)
InthisRAIDlevelallthedataissavedonmirroredvolumeswhichareinturnstripped,soanydiskfailuresavesdata
loss.ThekeydifferencefromRAID0+1isthatRAID1+0createsastripedsetfromaseriesofmirroreddrives.Ina
faileddisksituationRAID1+0performsbetterbecausealltheremainingdiskscontinuetobeused.Thearraycan
sustainmultipledrivelossessolongasnomirrorlosesbothitsdrives.
ThisRAIDlevelismostpreferredforhighperformanceandhighdataprotectionbecauserebuildingofRAID1+0is
lesstimeconsumingincomparisontoRAID0+1.

WhenJBODsareused?
JustaBunchofDisks
Itisacollectionofdisksthatshareacommonconnectiontotheserver,butdontincludethemirroring,
striping,orparityfacilitiesthatRAIDsystemsdo,butthesecapabilitiesareavailablewithhostbasedsoftware.

DifferentiateRAID&JBOD?
RAID:RedundantArrayofInexpensiveDisks
Faulttolerantgroupingofdisksthatserverseesasasinglediskvolume
Combinationofparitychecking,mirroring,striping
Selfcontained,manageableunitofstorage
JBOD:JustaBunchofDisks
DrivesindependentlyattachedtotheI/Ochannel
Scalable,butrequiresservertomanagemultiplevolumes
Donotprovideprotectionincaseofdrivefailure
WhatisaHBA?
Hostbusadapters(HBAs)areneededtoconnecttheserver(host)tothestorage.
WhataretheadvantagesofSAN?
Massivelyextendedscalability.
Greatlyenhanceddeviceconnectivity.
Storageconsolidation.
LANfreebackup.
Serverless(activefabric)backup.
Serverclustering.
Heterogeneousdatasharing.
DisasterrecoveryRemotemirroring.
WhileansweringpeopledoNOTportrayclearlywhattheymean&whatadvantageseachofthemhave,whicharecost
effective&whicharetobeusedfortheclientsrequirements.

Whatisthedifferenceb/wSANandNAS?

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ThebasicdifferencebetweenSANandNAS,SANisFabricbasedandNASisEthernetbased.
SANStorageAreaNetwork
Itaccessesdataonblocklevelandproducesspacetohostinformofdisk.
NASNetworkattachedStorage
Itaccessesdataonfilelevelandproducesspacetohostinformofsharednetworkfolder.
Whatisatypicalstorageareanetworkconsistsofifweconsideritforimplementationinasmallbusiness
setup?
IfweconsideranysmallbusinessfollowingareessentialscomponentsofSAN:
FabricSwitch.
FCControllers.
JBODs.

CanyoubrieflyexplaineachoftheseStorageareacomponents?
FabricSwitch:Itsadevicewhichinterconnectsmultiplenetworkdevices.Thereareswitchesstartingfrom16portto
32portswhichconnect16or32machinenodesetc.vendorswhomanufacturethesekindofswitchesareBrocade,
McData.

WhatisthemostcriticalcomponentinSAN?
Eachcomponenthasitsowncriticalitywithrespecttobusinessneedsofacompany.

HowisaSANmanaged?
TherearemanymanagementsoftwaresusedformanagingSANstonameafew:
Santricity.
IBMTivoliStorageManager.
CAUnicenter.
VeritasVolumemanger.

WhichoneistheDefaultIDforSCSIHBA?
GenerallythedefaultIDforSCSIHBAis7.
SCSISmallComputerSystemInterface.
HBAHostBusAdaptor.

WhatisthehighestandlowestpriorityofSCSI?
Thereare16differentIDswhichcanbeassignedtoSCSIdevice7,6,5,4,3,2,1,0,15,14,13,12,11,10,9,8.
HighestpriorityofSCSIisID7andlowestIDis8.

HowdoyouinstalldevicedriversfortheHBAfirsttimeduringOS
installation?
InsomescenariosyouaresupposedtoinstallOperatingSystemonthedrivesconnectedthruSCSIHBAorSCSI
RAIDControllers,butmostoftheOSwillnotbeupdatedwithdriversforthosecontrollers,thattimeyouneedtosupply
driversexternally,ifyouareinstallingwindows,youneedtopressF6duringtheinstallationofOSandprovidethe
driverdiskorCDwhichcamealongwithHBA.
IfyouareinstallingLinuxyouneedtotypelinuxddforinstallinganydriver.
WhatisArray?
ArrayisagroupofIndependentphysicaldiskstoconfigureanyVolumesorRAIDvolumes.
Canyoudescribeatleast3troubleshootingscenarioswhichyouhavecomeacrossindetail?

SCENARIO1:Howdoyoufind/debugwhenthereiserrorwhile
workingSCSIdevices?
InourdailySANtroubleshootingtherearemanymanagementandconfigurationtoolsweusethemtoseewhenthere
isafailurewithtargetdeviceorinitiatordevice.
Sometimeitisevenhardtotroubleshootsomeofthethingssuchasmediaerrorsinthedrives,orsomeofthedrives
takinglongtimetospinup.Insuchcasestheseutilitieswillnotcometohelp.Todebugthiskindofinformationmostof
thecontrollerwillbeimplementedwith3pinserialdebugport.Withserialportdebugconnectorcableyoucancollect
thedebuginformationwithhyperterminalsoftware.
SCENARIO2:Iamhavinganissuewithacontrolleritstakinglotoftimetobootanddetectallthedrivesconnected
howcanIsolvethis.?
Therearemanypossibilitiesthatmightcausethisproblem.Oneofthereasonmightbeyouareusingbaddrivesthat
cannotberepaired.Inthosecasesyoureplacethediskswithworkingones.

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Anotherreasonmightbeslotsyouconnectedyourcontrollertoaslotwhichmightnotbesupported.
Trytoconnectwithothertypesofslots.
OnemoreprobablereasonisifyouhaveflashedthefirmwarefordifferentOEMsonthesamehardware.
TogetridofthistheflashutilitieswillbehavingoptiontoeraseallthepreviousandEEPROMandbootblockentry
option.Usethatoptiontorectifytheproblem.
SCENARIO3:Iamusingtapedriveseries700X,eventhevendorinformationontheTapedrivesays700X,butthe
POSTinformationwhilebootingtheserverisshowingas500Xwhatcouldbetheproblem?
Firstyoushouldmakesureyourhardwareisofwhichseries,youcanfindoutthisintheproductwebsite.
Generallyyoucanseethisbecauseinmostofthetestingcompaniestheyusesamehardwaretotestdifferentseriesof
samehardwaretype.Whattheydoistheyflashthedifferentseriesfirmware.Youcanalwaysflashbacktoexact
hardwaretype.

Whicharethe4typesofSANarchitecturetypes?
Coreedge.
FullMesh.
PartialMesh.
Cascade.

Whichcommandisusedinlinuxtoknowthedriverversionofany
hardwaredevice?
dmesg.

HowmanyminimumdrivesarerequiredtocreateR5(RAID5)?
Youneedtohaveatleast3diskdrivestocreateR5.

CanyounamesomeofthestatesofRAIDarray?
TherearestatesofRAIDarraysthatrepresentthestatusoftheRAIDarrayswhicharegivenbelow:
Online.
Degraded.
Rebuilding.
Failed.

Whataretheprotocolsusedinphysical/datalinkandnetworklayer
ofSAN?
Ethernet.
SCSI.
FibreChannel.

Whatisstoragevirtualization?
Storagevirtualizationisamalgamationofmultiplen/wstoragedevicesintosinglestorageunit.

DescribeinbriefthecompositionofFCFrame?
StartoftheFramelocator
Frameheader(includesdestinationidandsourceid,24bytes/6words).
DataPayload(encapsulateSCSIinstructioncanbe02112bytesinlength).
CRC(errorchecking,4bytes).
EndofFrame(1byte).

Whatisvirtualization?
Virtualizationislogicalrepresentationofphysicaldevices.Itisthetechniqueofmanagingandpresentingstorage
devicesandresourcesfunctionally,regardlessoftheirphysicallayoutorlocation.Virtualizationisthepoolingof
physicalstoragefrommultiplenetworkstoragedevicesintowhatappearstobeasinglestoragedevicethatis
managedfromacentralconsole.Storagevirtualizationiscommonlyusedinastorageareanetwork(SAN).The
managementofstoragedevicescanbetediousandtimeconsuming.Storagevirtualizationhelpsthestorage
administratorperformthetasksofbackup,archiving,andrecoverymoreeasily,andinlesstime,bydisguisingthe
actualcomplexityoftheSAN.

WhatisHA?
HAHighAvailabilityisatechnologytoachievefailoverwithverylesslatency.Itsapracticalrequirementofdata
centersthesedayswhencustomersexpecttheserverstoberunning24hoursonall7daysaroundthewhole365
daysayearusuallyreferredas24x7x365.Sotoachievethis,aredundantinfrastructureiscreatedtomakesureif

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onedatabaseserverorifoneappserverfailsthereisareplicaDatabaseorAppserverreadytotakeoverthe
operations.EndcustomerneverexperiencesanyoutagewhenthereisaHAnetworkinfrastructure.

Canyounamesomeoftheavailabletapemediatypes?
Therearemanytypesoftapemediaavailabletobackupthedata,someofthemare:
DLT:DigitalLinearTapetechnologyfortapebackup/archiveofnetworksandserversDLTtechnologyaddresses
midrangetohighendtapebackuprequirements.
LTO:LinearTapeOpenanewstandardtapeformatdevelopedbyHP,IBM,andSeagate.
AIT:AdvancedIntelligentTapeahelicalscantechnologydevelopedbySonyfortapebackup/archiveofnetworksand
servers,specificallyaddressingmidrangetohighendbackuprequirements.

CanweassignahotsparetoR0(RAID0)array?
No,sinceR0isnotredundantarray,failureofanydisksresultsinfailureoftheentirearraysowecannotrebuildthe
hotsparefortheR0array.

NamethefeaturesofSCSI3standard?
QAS:Quickarbitrationandselection.
DomainValidation.
CRC:Cyclicredundancycheck.

WhatisMultipathI/O?
Faulttoleranttechniquewhere,thereismorethanonephysicalpathbetweentheCPUinthecomputersystemsandits
mainstoragedevicesthroughthebuses,controllers,switchesandotherbridgedevicesconnectingthem.

Whatisdiskarray?
Setofhighperformancestoragedisksthatcanstoreseveralterabytesofdata.Singlediskarraycansupportmultiple
pointsofconnectiontothenetwork.
WhataredifferenttypesofprotocolsusedintransportationandsessionlayersofSAN?
FibreChannelProtocol(FCP).
InternetSCSI(iSCSI).
FibreChannelIP(FCIP).
WhatisthetypeofEncodingusedinFibreChannel?
8b/10b,astheencodingtechniqueisabletodetectallmostallthebiterrors
WhatarethemainconstrainsofSCSIinstoragenetworking?
Deploymentdistance(max.of25mts).
Numberofdevicesthatcanbeinterconnected(16).

WhatisaFabric?
InterconnectionofFibreChannelSwitches.

WhataretheservicesprovidedbyFabrictoallthenodes?
1.FabricLogin.
2.SNS.
3.FabricAddressNotification.
4.Registeredstatechangenotification.
5.BroadcastServers.

WhatisthedifferencebetweenLUNandWWN?
LUN:Uniquenumberthatisassignedtoeachstoragedeviceorpartitionofthestoragethatthestoragecansupport.
WWN:64bitaddressthatishardcodedintoafibrechannelHBAandthisisusedtoidentifyindividualport(N_Portor
F_Port)inthefabric.

WhatarethedifferenttopologiesinFibreChannel?
1.PointtoPoint.
2.ArbitraryLoop.
3.SwitchedFabricLoop.

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WhatarethelayersofFibreChannelProtocol?
1.FCPhysicalMedia.
2.FCEncoderandDecoder.
3.FCFramingandFlowcontrol.
4.FCCommonServices.
5.FCUpperLevelProtocolMapping.

Whatiszoning?
FabricmanagementservicethatcanbeusedtocreatelogicalsubsetsofdeviceswithinaSAN.Thisenables
portioningofresourcesformanagementandaccesscontrolpurpose.

Whatisthepurposeofdiskarray?
Probabilityofunavailabilityofdatastoredonthediskarraydue
tosinglepointfailureistotallyeliminated.
HowdoesFCSwitchmaintaintheaddresses?
FCSwitchusessimplenameserver(SNS)tomaintainthemappingtable.

Whatarethetwomajorclassificationofzoning?
Twotypesofzoningare:
1.SoftwareZoning.
2.HardwareZoning.

Whataredifferentlevelsofzoning?
1.PortLevelzoning.
2.WWNLevelzoning.
3.DeviceLevelzoning.
4.ProtocolLevelzoning.
5.LUNLevelzoning.

Whatarethe3prominentcharacteristicsofSASProtocol?
1.NativeCommandQueuing(NCQ.)
2.PortMultiplier.
3.PortSelector.

Whatarethe5statesofArbitraryLoopinFC?
1.LoopInitialization.
2.LoopMonitoring.
3.Looparbitration.
4.OpenLoop.
5.CloseLoop.

WhatisLUNMasking?
Amethodusedtocreateanexclusivestorageareaandaccesscontrol.Andthiscanbeachievedbystoragedevice
controlprogram.

Whatissnapshot?
Asnapshotofdataobjectcontainsanimageofdataataparticularpointoftime.

Whatishotswapping?
Devicesareallowedtoberemovedandinsertedintoasystemwithoutturningoffthesystem.

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