This manual contains information and instructions necessary for the operation
of the PowerVault 136T SNC.
Other Documents You Might Need
PowerVault 136T Library User's Guide
PowerVault SNC Manager User's Guide
Dell PowerVault System Information Guide
Explanation of Symbols and Notes
The following symbols and highlighted passages note important information.
Symbol
Signal Word
Definition
CAUTION:
A CAUTION indicates a potential
for property damage, personal injury, or death.
NOTICE:
A NOTICE indicates either potential
damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem.
NOTE:
A NOTE indicates important information
that helps you make better use of your storage device.
The
following is a list of formatting conventions used throughout this document.
Italics
Headline,
e. g., Chapter 2, Description
File
name, e. g., ERRORS.TXT
Bold
Special
Term, e. g., Utilities
Operating
element/key on the Operator Panel
Terms
appearing on the Operator Panel
Courier
State of the equipment,e.g., ONLINE
Switch position, e. g., ON, OFF
Getting Help
If problems cannot be solved with the aid of this document or if training
is desired, contact the Dell Technical Assistance Center. Dell provides a number
of Help tools to assist you when contacting Dell. These tools are described
in the Getting Help section.
Overview
The SNC is the interface between storage and open system host interfaces and
provides Fibre Channel (FC) to SCSI connectivity and data path management. See
Figure 1.
Figure 1. Configuration Overview
Configuration Support
The SNC provides two FC interfaces. The FC interfaces are configured with
Giga-Bit interface converter (GBIC) modules . In addition, the SNC has four
low voltage differential/single-ended (LVD/SE) Ultra2 SCSI interfaces. See Figure
2.
Figure 2. Configuration Support: Front Panel View
The SNC maps addresses across and between these different interfaces and preserves
the persistency of the address maps across power ups of systems, devices, and
the SNC. The SNC supports the attachment of up to 255 unique devices across
multiple interfaces.
Interface Protocol Awareness
The SNC has full knowledge of the SCSI-3 and SCSI-2 protocols for disk, tape,
and tape medium changer devices. Along with this interface, protocol awareness
is the SNC's awareness of the host and devices that are attached to its interfaces.
The SNC has the capability to manage the access security between end points
on the FC interfaces and the SCSI channels.
Access Security Capabilities
The SNC is aware of the hosts and devices that are attached to its interfaces
and provides access security between hosts and devices. Access security between
different hosts and devices is a requirement for multi-initiator SAN solutions.
Channel zoning and the virtual private SAN (VPS) option are methods of access
security that are available with the SNC.
Channel Zoning
Channel zoning is a means of managing the access security between SAN connections
and SCSI channels on a channel by channel basis. Channel zoning can be used
to secure access between a server and its storage, segregating them, for example,
from other servers and their respective storage. The default settings allow
all SAN connections to access all SCSI Channels. The channel zoning capability
is always available to users of the SNC.
Data Mover Option
The SNC can move data directly between storage devices that are attached to
it. This direct movement of data can be from disk to disk, disk to tape, tape
to disk or tape to tape. Data mover frees-up valuable system resources on the
server and substantially increases the speed of backup and restore operations.
Data mover is the engine for server-free backup and restore and hierarchical
storage management (HSM) applications that support the Extended Copy Specification
(ANSI T10/99-143r1). The data mover capability is always available to users
of the SNC.
Hardware Product Description and Features
This section describes the capabilities of the product and outlines some of
the key features of its interfaces.
An IBM® 405GP 200 MHz processor, with integrated instruction and data
caches, and internal serial I/O and Ethernet interfaces
An Intel 80303 100 MHz Processor, with integrated instruction and data
caches
32 MB ECC protected SDRAM program memory
64 MB ECC protected SDRAM data buffer memory
FLASH memory for operational firmware, power on self-test code, diagnostic
functions, and system utilities.
Nonvolatile SRAM for persistent configuration tables and event logs
VxWorks™ real-time operating system (RTOS)
Fibre Channel Interfaces
Interfaces for host and device attachment includes two 2-Gb/s bi-directional
short wave FC. The GBIC can interoperate with both 2 Gb/s and 1 Gb/s data links.
The GBIC is hot-swappable and is the only component, except for the SNC itself,
that is a field-replaceable unit (FRU). Refer to Removing
and Replacing the GBIC for removal and replacement procedures.
Cables should be duplex multimode 62.5/125um with a SC connector on the GBIC
end and a connector appropriate to the switch/HBA in use on the host end. The
cables may be run for up to a maximum of 500 meters.
FC interfaces support the following public and private loop modes:
Target
Initiator
Target and Initiator
FC interfaces also support the following connection options:
Loop
Point-to-Point
Loop Preferred
The FC processor is compliant with the following standards and specifications:
Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL-2) working draft, rev 6.4, August
28, 1998
Fibre Channel Fabric Loop Attachment (FC-FLA) working draft, rev 2.7, August
12, 1997
Fibre Channel Private Loop SCSI Direct Attach (FC-PLDA) working draft,
rev 2.1, September 22, 1997
Four Ultra2 SCSI channels (LVD/SE) with internal termination are available.
The SCSI channels have automatic speed and width negotiation capability for
wide or narrow bus widths and Standard, Fast, Ultra, or Ultra2 speeds. The SCSI
channels support up to 15 SCSI target IDs and up to 32 LUNs per ID (subject
to an overall total of 254 devices). The SNC uses one LUN for command and control
so that the remaining 255 LUNs are available for SCSI devices. For each FC interface,
the SNC occupies one FC ID and all SCSI target devices are available as LUNs
on the same FC ID.
The unit provides SCSI-3 68-pin VHDCI connectors for maximum mechanical reliability.
The cable lengths can be as long as 12 meters for LVD/SE interfaces. The SCSI
interfaces are compliant with the following SCSI specifications:
The 10/100 Base-T Ethernet port has an RJ-45 connector for out-of-band management.
It can be connected to a network hub using an unshielded twisted-pair Ethernet
cable. The Ethernet port complies with the IEEE 802.3 specification.
Service Port
The service port is an RS-232 connection with a 9-pin D-shell connector. It
is compatible with serial ports on personal computers and connects to the host
serial port with a 9-pin to 9-pin null modem cable. The service port is used
for local service and diagnostics when you use a terminal session to the shell
interface.
The service port is configured at:
19,200 Baud
8 data bits
No parity
One stop-bit
XON/XOFF
LED Indicators
The user panel of the SNC provides LEDs that indicate the status and activity
of the SNC and its interfaces. See Figure 3.
Figure 3. LEDs
When the Dell PowerVault 136T library is first turned on, some of the LEDs
will be on and others will flash while the library and the SNC are booting.
The following list describes how to interpret the LED signals.
FC 1-2
For each FC channel, the LED will be off when the channel
is not connected. It will be on when the channel is connected to a live
FC device. It will flash OFF when there is activity on the channel.
SCSI 1-4
For each SCSI channel, the LED will be off when no devices
have been detected on the port. It will be on when a target has been found
on the channel. It will flash off when there is activity on the channel.
The LED will return to the off state if the channel is reset.
PWR
The PWR (power) LED will be on when the SNC has power. It
will flash if the on-board power sensors determine that any of the required
supply voltages are out of range.
RDY
The RDY (ready) LED indicates status of Ready. Normally the RDY LED
flashes once per second indicating good health. The RDY LED begins flashing
after the SNC has finished booting. If the RDY LED remains on or off for
more than a few seconds, it means there is a problem.
The RDY LED will flash rapidly, 4 times per second, when the SNC is
running in diagnostic state.
ERR
The ERR (error) LED indicates that an error condition exists. This may
indicate such errors as over-temperature conditions, fan stalled or other
internally detected error conditions. See Power on
Self Test section for further information.
Supported Platforms
The SNC is a platform-independent product. You can connect a host to the SNC
after you have installed the appropriate host bus adapter and drivers. You can
also connect host systems with different operating systems to the SNC through
the FC.
For a current list of supported platforms, configurations, and host bus adapters,
visit support.dell.com.
Supported Devices
The SNC supports connections to Dell PowerVault 136T library and supports
all tape drives available for the Dell PowerVault 136T library.
Operating Specifications
This section contains the physical, electrical, and environmental specifications
for the product.
