Author: Tonya Comer, Product Marketing Manager, Industry Standard Servers,
HP
Introduction
As organizations address their growing storage needs, they are also facing changes within their computing needs. This means that they need a server configuration that is flexible and adaptable. They also need a standard tool set for configuring, expanding and managing the array controllers. And it all has to come at an affordable price.
The new HP controller combines the benefits of better performance, increased server uptime, and proactive monitoring, all while providing the investment protection customers have come to expect with HP’s Smart Array family of controllers. The HP Smart Array E200 and E200i are the first entry-level controllers utilizing PCI Express and they also provide RAID 0, 1 and 1+0 support with an upgrade path to RAID 5 by adding Battery-Backed Write Cache (BBWC). The E200i is the embedded version of this array controller that ships in selected server units, based on customer order specifications.
Figure 1: HP Smart Array E200/128MB with Battery-Backed Write Cache
Key benefits
Entry-level Performance
Combining Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and HP’s Smart Array Controller architecture sets new boundaries of industry expectations. Data compatibility between models of HP Smart Array Controllers means that customers can easily upgrade to future HP Smart Array and SAS products for higher performance, capacity and availability. Successive generations of HP Smart Array products understand and work with the data format of other HP Smart Array Controllers, providing investment protection for storage solutions.
Availability
The E200 and E200i provide increased server uptime by providing advanced storage functionality, such as:
- Online RAID level migration (between RAID levels) with BBWC
- Online capacity expansion with BBWC
- Logical drive capacity extension with BBWC
- Global online spare
- Pre-failure warranty
Fault prevention
The following features offer detection of possible failures before they occur, allowing preventative action to be taken.
- Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.), first developed at HP, detects possible hard disk failure before it occurs, allowing replacement of the component before failure occurs.
- Drive parameter tracking monitors drive operational parameters, predicting failure and notifying the administrator.
- Dynamic sector repairing continually performs background surface scans on the hard disk drives during inactive periods and automatically re-maps bad sectors, ensuring data integrity.
Fault recovery
Fault recovery decreases downtime, reconstructs data and facilitates a quick recovery from drive failure. Up to two online spare drives can be installed prior to drive failure. If a failure occurs, recovery begins with an online spare and data is reconstructed automatically.
(Note: Online spares can only be used with RAID level 1, 1+0, and 5).
Ease-of-use
Consistency and upgradeability give the HP Smart Array family unique and easy-to-use functions.
- GUI-based configuration, management and diagnostic software tools
- Common data format between generations of products
- Data migration between servers and external storage enclosures
For more information visit www.hp.com/products/smartarray
