This document contains information and instructions necessary for the operation
of the Dell PowerVault 136T SNC.
Other Documents You Might Need
Dell PowerVault 136T Library User's Guide
Dell PowerVault SNC Manager User's Guide
Dell PowerVault System Information Guide
Explanation of Symbols and Notes
The following symbols and 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,
for example, Chapter 2, Description
File
name, for example, ERRORS.TXT
Bold
Special
term, for example, Utilities
Operating
element/key on the Operator Panel
Terms
appearing on the Operator Panel
Courier
State of the equipment, for example, ONLINE
Switch position, for example, ON, OFF
Getting Help
If problems cannot be solved with the aid of this document or if training
is desired, contact Dell. 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 for an overview of the recommended configuration.
Figure 1. Configuration Overview
Dell PowerVault 136T
Configuration Support
The SNC provides two FC interfaces. The FC interfaces are configured with
gigabit interface converter (GBIC) modules. In addition, the SNC has four
low-voltage differential/single-ended (LVD/SE) Ultra320 SCSI interfaces. See Figure
2.
Figure 2. Configuration Support: Front Panel View
FC ports
(FC 1, FC 2)
Two Fibre Channel (FC) interfaces provide small form
factor pluggable transceiver (SFP) modules. Cables should have a duplex LC
connector on the SFP end and a connector appropriate to the host bus adapter
(HBA) in use on the host end. The two SFP interfaces for host attachment can
interoperate
with
both 2-Gb/s and 1-Gb/s data links. Throughput for these fibre-optic transceivers
depends on the specifics of your SAN and its components. An SFP is hot-swappable
and field-replaceable.
SCSI ports (SCSI 1, SCSI 2, SCSI 3, SCSI 4)
Four Ultra320 Low-Voltage Differential/Single-Ended
(LVD/SE) SCSI channels with internal termination provide automatic speed
and width negotiation capability for wide or narrow bus widths and Standard,
Fast, Ultra, Ultra2, Ultra3, or Ultra320 speeds.
These parameters can be viewed from the Dell PowerVault SNC Manager
User's Guide.
Service port (null-modem)
The service port is an RS-232 (DTE) connection with a 9-pin D-shell. It connects to the host serial port through a null-modem cable compatible with serial ports on personal computers. The service port allows access to a shell interface for local service and diagnostics.
Ethernet ports (RJ-45 1, RJ-45 2)
Two 10/100 Base-T Ethernet ports with RJ-45 connectors can be connected to a network hub, switch, or router using an unshielded twisted-pair Ethernet cable. The Ethernet ports comply with the IEEE 802.3 specification.
Ethernet port #2 is disabled internally.
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 is a method of access security 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 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® 440GP 500-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). See 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 Ultra320 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, Ultra160, and
Ultra320 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
None
LED Indicators
The front panel of the SNC provides LEDs that indicate the status and activity
of the SNC and its interfaces. See Figure 3.
Figure 3. LED Indicators
FC 1 FC 2
For each FC, the LED is ON when the channel is connected to a live
fibre channel and OFF when the channel is not connected. It flashes
with channel activity.
SCSI 1 SCSI 2 SCSI 3
SCSI 4
For each SCSI channel, the LED will be OFF when no devices have been detected on the port and ON when a target is available. It flashes when there is activity on the channel and returns to the OFF state if the channel is reset.
RJ-45 1 RJ-45 2
Each RJ-45 port provides two connection status LEDs. The green LED is ON when the cable is plugged into another active network device. It turns OFF whenever the Ethernet cable is disconnected or the device at the opposite end is powered down or disconnected. The yellow LED flashes to signify port activity. At the time of this printing, Ethernet port #2 was disabled internally.
PWR
The PWR (Power) LED is ON whenever the SNC 6101 has power applied. It flashes if the on-board power sensors determine that power supply voltages are out of range.
ERR
The ERR (Error)
LED indicates a fault condition. This condition may be caused by excessive
temperature, the fan stalled, or some other internally detected error
occurred. See Power-on Self-Test for further
information.
RDY
The RDY (Ready) LED normally flashes when the SNC 6101 has finished booting. If the RDY LED remains ON or OFF for more than a few seconds, it indicates a problem. The RDY LED flashes 4 times per second when the SNC 6101 is running in diagnostic mode.
When the tape library is first turned on, some of the LEDs
will be on and others will flash while the tape library and the SNC are booting.
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 the tape library and supports
all tape drives available for the tape library.
Operating Specifications
This section contains the physical, electrical, and environmental specifications for the product.
