Q: I am intrigued by the answers to the NetApp questions. However I don't think you fully address some of the features that NetApp has, such as snapshots, replication etc., which make it a great product for consolidating departmental servers and replicating the data to other sites. Is Sun planning to have those features included in its 5210 NAS device? A: With respect to your specific inquiry "does the StorEdge 5210 NAS Appliance have features like the NetApp snapshots and snapmirror?" -- yes. Now and very soon. The StorEdge 5210 NAS Appliance has a "copy on write" feature called "StorEdge File Checkpoint". StorEdge File Checkpoint enables the creation of point-in-time images of a StorEdge NAS file system taken at the volume level. Creation speeds are almost instantaneous. Creation doesn't disrupt normal operation, and it consumes minimal storage space. While the active file volume can be modified with read/write operations, a virtual volume produced at the time of checkpoint creation remains available in a static, read-only state. StorEdge File Checkpoint is a feature of the StorEdge NAS operating system and included with the StorEdge 5210 NAS Appliance. Remote replication is an optional feature that is scheduled to be available by the end of this calendar year -- StorEdge File Replicator. StorEdge File Replicator is an optional StorEdge 5210 NAS application that provides IP-based remote replication of data. Individual StorEdge NAS systems volumes can be mirrored from any system to any other system (even StorEdge NAS systems from different families). Q: Will the Sun NAS products be certified to be used with Oracle databases (single instance and clustered databases)? A: Yes, the StorEdge 5210 NAS Appliance has completed the Oracle Storage Compatibility Program (OSCP) for both Oracle 9i and 10g. You can expect to see official postings about this in the future on both Sun's and Oracle's respective sites. Q: I have 2 (or 3 :-) questions concerning the 5210: 1. Backup -- I understand that NDMP is the only option. Is the 5210-NDMP also supporting Legato (6.1.1) NDMP? 2. Concurrent use of CIFS/NFS -- We're interested in using the 5210-Filer for UNIX (NFS) and Windows (CIFS) clients simultaneously. 2a) Are there any file system-specific items which aren't supported by the filer, so that the native client (Win or U*X) could have problems accessing the files? 2b) How is locking implemented, or are there any strategies to allow r/w access from both 'worlds' (Win or U*X)? A: Good questions! I'll address them in order: 1. Backup -- I understand that NDMP is the only option. Is the 5210-NDMP also supporting Legato (6.1.1) NDMP? Support for Legato Networker and Sun-branded "Enterprise Backup Software" 7.1 with NDMP in is currently "in process". When completed, we plan to move to supporting version 7.2. 2. Concurrent use of CIFS/NFS -- We're interested in using the 5210-Filer for UNIX (NFS) and Windows (CIFS) clients simultaneously. Support for both CIFS and NFS (v2 and V3) clients is a standard feature of the StorEdge 5210 NAS Appliance. There's no need to to purchase additional licenses when implementing the StorEdge 5210 NAS Appliance in a heterogeneous (NFS/CIFS) environment. 2a) Are there any file system-specific items which aren't supported by the filer, so that the native client (Win or U*X) could have problems accessing the files? We are not aware of any issues that would result in problems accessing files using NFS and CIFS, from Windows and *nix clients. At this time we do not support Solaris ACLs, as their syntax is incompatible with the ACLs used in Windows NT, and intermixing them in a mixed Windows/UNIX environment may lead to security conflicts in some situations. Work is being done to address this issue in a forthcoming software release. 2b) How is locking implemented, or are there any strategies to allow r/w access from both 'worlds' (Win or U*X)? The StorEdge 5210 NAS Appliance supports Windows ACLs and files with UNIX permissions. Cross-protocol file locking is limited to blocking NFS writes to a file when a SMB/CIFS client has the file open. The converse is not implemented, in part because the often stateless nature of NFS access makes it difficult to determine when a file is being modified via NFS. Q: Can we use NAS 5210 as a FC SAN? NetApp FAS 270 supports four protocols (CIFS, NFS, iSCSi, FCP). Also, is it worth pushing Sun NAS vs. NetApp Filers, or we can compare it with HP NAS only? A: Attachment of the Sun StorEdge 5210 NAS Appliance to a SAN is not supported as its storage is SCSI based and not accessible via Fibre Channel protocols. We support both NFS and CIFS access by default -- no need to purchase additional licenses. The administrator may also enable FTP access if desired. Support for iSCSI is planned for a future date. While Network Appliance filers certainly command a good deal of market share, we strongly believe that we can hold our own against them in a direct feature and price comparison, particularly from a price/performance and ease-of-use perspective. We also believe that the StorEdge 5210 NAS Appliance can offer you considerably more features than Windows Server products such as those offered by HP, especially in mixed-protocol environments. |
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