The D-Link DSN-3200-10 15-bay iSCSI SAN Array provides a reliable network data storage solution for customers in entry-level and SMB segments.  Utilising a 10Gbit iSCSI System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solution that can handle over 80,000 I/Os per second and capable of supporting 30 TB raw capacity using 2 TB hard drives (and even higher capacity hard drives as they are introduced), the DSN-3200-10 Array can easily be implemented as nearline storage to supplement your primary IP network storage solution or used as a basic backup and recovery device. The tightly integrated storage architecture is a sharp contrast to the discrete implementation of competing products.

iSCSI for IP networks

SAN has been traditionally reserved for Fibre Channel networks until the recent introduction of iSCSI extended this powerful yet simple centralised backend (behind server-based) storage system to IP networks.

By utilising existing Ethernet technology, the cost associated with separate host bus adapters and the per-Gigabyte cost for storage is significantly reduced.

The DSN-3200-10 implements eight Gigabit ports and supports IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation Groups (LAG) for full offload capability so that all eight ports can be grouped together, totaling up to 850 MB/s bandwidth, for increased throughput and redundancy.

System-on-a-Chip (SoC) implementation

By utilising a SoC design, the DSN-3200-10 SAN Array combine both networking and storage functions into a single specialised Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). The SoC solution combines 10Gbps iSCSI, TCP & IP offload, embedded processors, and a storage virtualisation firmware stack onto a single chip. The tight integration of these functions eliminates interoperability, timing, and support issues found in competitive products that offer “discrete implementation” wherein a chassis, a main motherboard, a RAID storage controller, iSCSI software or controller, network interface cards, and operating system software are picked separately and then assembled. The DSN-3200-10 line outperforms these discrete implementations and does so at a lower price point, while delivering mission critical data quickly with state-of-the-art reliability.

RAID for efficiency

The DSN-3200-10 SAN Array features 15 hot swappable Serial ATA (SATA) disk drive bays supporting 30 TB raw capacity using 2 TB hard drives (and even higher capacity hard drives as they are introduced) in RAID level 0, 1, 1+0 and 5 configurations. You can quickly deploy a SAN using inexpensive SATA disk drives, and depending on your growing storage needs, you can simply add more drives as you go.

Embedded centralised storage management

The embedded, user-friendly IP-SAN Device Manager (IDM) provides comprehensive network storage management.

Advanced management features

The DSN-3200-10 provides additional advanced features for efficient management of network storage and optimal performance:

• Cache Management provides adaptive and persistent cache management. This provides write-back, write-through, write coalescing and multi-stream read-ahead on a volume basis, optimising cache utilisation and performance in an application-dependent manner.
• VLAN Zoning supports IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging to segregate traffic into isolated zones for secure access and Jumbo frames, improving network throughput and reducing CPU overhead.
• Volume Virtualisation utilises the concept of storage Extents: these are the fundamental building blocks used to enable features such as RAID, online capacity expansion and volume migration. Drives of dissimilar size can be used to create volumes. Growth can occur without volume migration or reconstruction. Single drives can contain multiple and divergent RAID technologies.
• RAID Support for RAID Levels 0, 1, 1+0 and 5 (striped sets, mirrored sets, striped mirrored sets, and parity sets) allows for different storage options.
• Online Capacity Expansion and RAID Level Migration is performed online with minimal impact on users. For example, a mirror volume of two drives can easily be converted to a parity volume of three or more drives while users continue to access this storage.
• Micro Rebuilds provide protection against unresponsive SATA commands by forcing a response within a preset time limit.

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