Search

According to EMC Standard,fulfilling one Test-Item generally includes below process: select and configure the parameters of instrument,form and execute the Test-Flow, therefore the main task of EMC is to configure instrument and form the Test-Item. In this paper the authors present a new method using configuration file to describe EMC Test-Item to improve the expansibility and maintainability of EMC test software. Multi-layered software architecture is designed according to EMC test operating sequence, and COM component technology is used to design the core module of each layer to guarantee plug&play for the new program-controlled instruments. Because of using the form of configuration file to describe Test-Item, the new Test-Item will be produced through Test-Engine calling Test-Item Configuration Generator. The Virtual Instrument Software Architecture is used to design and realize the frame of EMC software, and the Visual C++ software platform is used to realize the above design method. Application using configuration file make EMC software has the features of easy to use, easy update and expandability.

The primary issues of data warehouse architecture are higher cost, and poor performance. The reasons for these problems focus the architectural design. The solutions are proposed with the new modified data warehouse design through online data warehouse architecture with the recent technological support from cloud computing — storage area networks through the use of high speed fibre channel based storage devices with fibre channel switches. Finally the benefits and advantages of proposed design were discussed with the costand performance.

Storage area networks (SAN) generally use fiber channel (FC) disks, but they are expensive, hard to scale, and incompatible with previous storage arrays. This paper describes an SCSI interface disk array, which is controlled by a simulated target controller, as the target device of an SAN system. A detailed target-mode SCSI middle level design and implementation is described with interfaces to efficiently supervise the entire target simulator. The target simulator has control flexibility, wide applicability, reduced SAN system cost, and compatibility with current SAN systems. The present mass data storage system uses a 2-Gb/s fiber network. Performance and compatibility tests demonstrate the efficiency of the target simulator design.

With the increasing demand for vast storage repositories, network storage has become important for mass data storage and processing, telescopic addressing and availability, and the quality of service and security of data storage. This situation demands the emergence of new technology in the data storage field. In this paper, TH-MSNS, a SAN system, is introduced. This system was designed and implemented based on the fiber channel protocol and its I/O route was tested. This paper introduces some of the key techniques in the network storage system, including an SCSI simulating target, intelligent and uniform storage management architecture, and the processing flow of the read/write commands. The software for the new storage area network system was implemented as a module in the kernel mode to improve its efficiency. The SCSI target adopts a layered design and standardized interface, which is compatible with various types of SCSI devices and can use different network protocols. The storage management software adopts distributed architecture, which enables higher interoperability and compatibility with various kinds of management protocols. TH-MSNS boasts characteristics such as high adaptability, high efficiency, high scalability, and high compatibility and is easy to maintain.

Fibre channel storage area networks (FC-SAN) are effective solutions to address storage management problems caused by very large volumes of data. But the expense of fibre channel devices limits FC-SAN applications. The use of IP networks instead of fibre channel networks will reduce SAN cost, but will also reduce the performance. Therefore, small computer system interface (SCSI) devices were considered to replace FC disks to reduce the SAN cost. A driver for the FC network adapter and the FC target, designed and implemented to support this structure, obeys the SCSI protocol and works in target mode with 200 MB/s bandwidth. The FC target architecture and implementation were compared with the FC initiator. The SCSI command transfer process in the FC layer was described. The performance test results show that the maximum I/O throughput reachs 167 MB/s for read requests and 196 MB/s for write requests (FC bandwidth is 200 MB/s), verifying that the FC target is very efficient. The modularization, efficiency, and low cost of the FC target will enable SAN and fibre channel to be more widely used in applications.

This chapter deals with various storage and input/output (I/O) protocols and interfaces, commonly collectively called networks. Various storage and I/O protocols and interfaces exist to support different applications. Upper-Level Protocols, including Fibre Channel Storage Protocol (FCP), Fiber Connection (FICON), Internet Protocol (IP), Internet Storage Protocol such as the Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI), and Remote Direct Memory (RDMA), are implemented on several interfaces including Fibre Channel, Ethernet, Universal Serial Bus, InfiniBand, and Parallel Storage Protocol such as the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI). A storage interface enables computers to communicate with storage devices (send and receive data). New technology such as iSCSI, Fibre Channel over IP (iFCP), and FICON over IP (FCIP) are being used to enable TCP/IP-based networks to further expand storage networking. Parallel SCSI and Ultra SCSI are still being used for direct attachment of some storage devices to servers and some clusters. Fibre Channel is replacing parallel SCSI in cluster applications, providing increased performance, capacity, distance, and ability to scale beyond parallel SCSI address limits.

SCSI protocol is the protocol of choice for block storage management. Different transport mechanisms such as parallel SCSI, Fibre Channel, iSCSI and Infiniband can be used to transfer SCSI protocol data. Distance and connectivity limitations are the key drawbacks of parallel SCSI. Therefore, Fibre Channel, Infiniband and iSCSI (SCSI over TCP) are competing to emerge as the dominant next generation SCSI transport mechanism. By analyzing the different components of a network protocol, this paper evaluates whether Fibre Channel, Infiniband and iSCSI are (a) suitable for gigabit wire speeds (b) scalable across thousands of interconnected devices and (c) satisfy the needs of storage environments and storage protocols.