SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS 9000 NAS Solution Maximizes Throughput and Multi-protocol Flexibility
The high-end, most demanding environments have always had to make trade offs between storage performance and cost efficiencies. In particular, consolidation of assets often lowered performance. The latest addition to the SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS NAS family has redefined reality for organizations that need high-end storage capacity and capabilities. The SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS 9000 NAS solution introduces remote direct memory access (RDMA) and a new cache architecture to raise the bar for NAS performance. Today, even the largest organizations can lower total cost of ownership with consolidated shared data storage that meets the most stringent bandwidth requirements.
"The market has been waiting for a NAS solution that optimizes bandwidth for massive shared-data environments. We've responded by building in the performance optimizations that create the ultimate platform for consolidation. Like the rest of the SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS NAS family, the new high-end platform makes it easier than ever to deploy NAS with appliance-like simplicity and the elimination of complex Fibre Channel connections."
The Power of RDMA
SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS 9000 NAS solutions introduce a one-two performance punch with the combination of remote direct-memory access (RDMA) and an expanded cache architecture. The results are greatly reduced CPU overhead and maximized throughput from disk to application. Bandwidth can scale to 3GB/sec or up to 5-6GB/sec with the maximum cache size. Data throughput is dramatically increased, and it becomes possible to enable more memory and disks on a single NAS solution. The new "super NAS" platforms meet the needs of large-scale consolidation projects and greatly increase upward scalability for any shared storage environment.
Multi-Protocol Flexibility
The newest SGI NAS solutions replace Fiber Channel connections with the ability to combine InfiniBand, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet in a single storage platform. The standard protocols simplify administration for lower total cost of ownership-any IT administrator with networking experience can now effectively manage high-capacity, high-performance consolidated shared storage.
Appliance-Like Ease of Management
The SGI Appliance Manager software keeps cost of ownership affordable for a broad range of vertical markets and businesses. Fully integrated with the new SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS 9000 NAS platform, SGI Appliance Manager provides a graphical-user interface for optimizing storage resources, managing growth and allowing the set-up of base NAS configurations in less than 20 minutes. The single, unified storage management interface of the Appliance Manager helps to automate storage asset discovery and provides configuration guidance for fast and easy initial deployment and future storage capacity expansion. Granular resolution guidance and storage utilization tools help reduce manageability costs and maximize storage efficiencies.
The software gives the SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS NAS Family the ease of an appliance but without the limitations and restrictions. By eliminating complexity, customers can more efficiently manage the exponential data growth typical in so many of today's commercial and digital media application workloads.
A Foundation Built for Performance
At the heart of the NEXIS NAS family is SGI's highly efficient XFS® file system, repurposed for NAS appliance simplicity. Unlike alternative filesystems, XFS is not simply a rewrite or port of existing technology such as the UNIX System V or BSD filesystem. XFS was "built from scratch" and SGI was therefore able to integrate key features such as journalling for high reliability and redesign important areas such as the allocation algorithms for increased performance with large filesystems. As a result, XFS is the first filesystem built to optimize performance for today's large, demanding, data-intensive environments.
Most other filesystems on the market evolved in an age of smaller filesystems, lower processing power, and limited storage capacity. As a result, many filesystems are based on architectures that emphasize conserving storage space at the expense of performance. The revolutionary growth of CPU and storage technology has fueled a dramatic increase in the size and complexity of data, outstripping the capabilities of many filesystems. SGI designed XFS to meet this increasing need to manage large complex filesystems with high performance and reliability. Thus, completely different design targets were established for XFS:
- Scalable features and performance from small to truly huge data (petabytes)
- Huge numbers of files (millions)
- Exceptional performance: 500+ MBytes/second
- Designed with log/database (journal) technology as a fundamental part not just an extension to an existing filesystem
- Mission-critical reliability
The cutting-edge XFS technology opens up new opportunities in the marketplace by enabling users to manage large amounts of data with unsurpassed speed. This is particularly advantageous in NAS environments. Additionally, new programmatic features and interfaces such as guaranteed rate I/O provide unique advantages to users. In particular, the fast, guaranteed response time of XFS is excellent for digital media servers and other real-time applications. Finally, the growing necessity for business-critical reliability is driving corporations toward robust journalled filesystems such as XFS.
As a result of the SGI advances in file system design, SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS systems deliver exceptionally fast NFS and CIFS write and read performance, allowing SGI solutions to serve the most demanding applications. Advanced functionality, such as NFS version 4, complement high-end performance with high-end capabilities suited to a broad range of vertical markets and applications.
NEXIS NAS Family
The newly expanded SGI NAS family builds on the success of previous generations of SGI storage. The SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS 5000, 7000, and 9000 NAS solutions give users expanded functionality and enable support of a broader range of storage options. For smaller groups and teams, the SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS 2000 and 500 NAS solutions offer the same high-end functionality, advanced Appliance Manager software, and scalability in platforms tailored for department and workgroup deployments, respectively. The SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS 1000 NAS Gateway completes the family with a solution that fully leverages existing storage investments and allows users to quickly introduce the benefits of a NAS approach for storage sharing and management.
Start Small and Expand as Needed
The SGI solutions are modular and expandable for long-life operation, and a choice of configurations provides the flexibility to match a platform to the user needs. Users won't be forced to replace an SGI NAS platform when they need to add capacity or upgrade to a newer storage technology. The family efficiently scales storage capacity, file directory size, and performance, and simplifies the non-disruptive expansion of storage capacity with automated discovery and configuration guidance. High capacity and file count scalability provide the foundation for seamless file directory growth, reducing the need for multiple directory configurations and associated management complexities.
An Expanding Base of NAS Users
SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS NAS solutions are ideal for areas of enterprise HPC including database transactions, data mining, media rich on-line social networks, departmental consolidation and vertical market applications including media production, oil & gas exploration, scientific and engineering modeling, business intelligence, satellite and medical imagery.
"Our team of storage experts continues to improve the world of consolidated, centralized storage," said Raj Das, vice president of storage at SGI. "SGI® InfiniteStorage NEXIS NAS gets the best performance and value possible out of today's storage technologies. Additionally, the new family of solutions underscores our commitment to innovation for the NAS market-the unmatched combination of factory integration, bundled management tools, and scalability make them excellent long-term solutions for HPC and performance-oriented business customers."
