Standard System Configurations
535-0045-00 Rev 02
Violin 6000 Series Memory Array Installation Guide
9
Standard System Configurations
This section shows diagrams of standard configurations supported by Memory Arrays. It includes
the following configurations:
• SAN-attached Storage Configurations on page 9
• Direct-attached Storage Configurations on page 11
See Connecting the Memory Array to a Host or Network on page 23 for specific port-to-port cabling
instructions.
SAN-attached Storage Configurations
In many applications, it is preferable for the Memory Array to be shared by many hosts, many of
which may not be in the same rack as the Memory Array. In these scenarios, a storage area network
(SAN) or local area network (LAN) connection is preferable. The Memory Array can connect to the
SAN via Fibre Channel or InfiniBand, or the LAN via 10GbE iSCSI.
A Memory Gateway is used to provide the SAN/LAN block storage function. The Violin Memory
software application installed on the Memory Gateways manages the network connectivity and
provides storage virtualization services such as LUN provisioning, masking and exporting.
See the Violin 6000 Series Memory Array User’s Guide for information on managing clusters and
configuring the system.
Note: A mix of network interface cards (NICs) in one Memory Array system is not supported.
Fibre Channel and iSCSI ports on the Memory Gateway may be connected either directly to specific
hosts or to switches. The switches may be standalone switches for use within a rack or networked
switches that connect large numbers of hosts across the data center. The latter case is the most
common.
Internal Memory Gateways
The Memory Array includes two internal Memory Gateways. Each internal Memory Gateway
supports two network interface modules (shown in Figure 1.2), each of which can support the
following:
• Four 8 Gbps Fibre Channel ports that auto-negotiate down to 4 Gbps
• Four InfiniBand ports operating at 4X Quad Data Rate (QDR)
• Four 10GbE iSCSI ports
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