HP VMA SAN Gateway Users Guide For Release G5.5.1

AM456-9026A HP VMA SAN Gateway User’s Guide 19
VMA vSHARE Architecture
A VMA SAN Gateway system is built for performance and high Reliability, Availability and
Serviceability (RAS). The system fits with standard 19-inch racks in hot/cold aisles and can coexist
with other data infrastructure without special facilities. A system is built with the following primary
components:
• HP VMA Array: Up to 4 HP VMA Arrays can be configured in each cluster. The VMAs
contain up to 10TB of raw flash memory per array and 30TB of usable space. Unlike many
other arrays, the flash memory is RAID protected and hot-swappable to ensure maximum
uptime and very low data loss probabilities.
• VMA Intelligent Memory Modules (also known as VIMMs): The memory modules reside
within the HP VMA-series Memory Arrays and provide the flash memory and controllers
required for high performance flash storage. These modules are hot-swappable with minimal
impact on performance.
• HP VMA SAN Gateways: Each HP VMA SAN Gateway provides network connectivity
processing—typically 4 x 8Gb/s Fibre Channel (FC) and DRAM to support the vSHARE
software function. Up to 2 gateways can be included in a single vSHARE system.
• HP Gateway Management Software: Management of multiple gateways with automatic
failover of virtual IP (VIP) addresses, Fibre Channel paths and management software are
provided on HP VMA SAN Gateways and VMA Memory Arrays to enable the systems to be
configured and monitored as a single system. SNMP and call-home email alerts are sent in the
event of hardware failures or other critical events.
• vSHARE: The vSHARE VMA SAN Gateway software provides block storage functionality
deployed on HP VMA SAN Gateways. This software implements target mode functionality
for Fibre Channel.
The internal architecture of the vSHARE software is designed for minimum latency, and extremely
high IOPs. Use of multiple I/O paths with the HP VMA SAN Gateway and the VMA improves
availability. This Intelligent Flash Storage architecture eliminates the software required for cache
control, RAID control and flash memory control. It replaces them with flash memory optimized
architectures that provide data protection and high performance. Latency is reduced by
implementing many of the data path functions in hardware.
A VMA system typically consists of one or more HP VMA SAN Gateways running the vSHARE
software and one or more HP VMA Arrays.
In this environment, the HP VMA SAN Gateways are targets, and the hosts (for example, a database
server or application server) are the initiators. The storage systems have storage target devices,
LUNs, which the hosts access through the HP VMA SAN Gateways. The LUNs are part of large
storage arrays and they can be allocated and provisioned as needed.