NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Disk array controller

In computing, a disk array controller is a computer hardware device which provides secondary storage services to computer systems, often in large servers. It is the critical component of a disk array. Originally, the word computing was synonymous with counting and calculating, and a science that deals with the original sense of computing mathematical calculations. ... Computer hardware is the physical part of a computer, including the digital circuitry, as distinguished from the computer software that executes within the hardware. ... In information technology, a server is a computer system that provides services to other computing systemsâ€”called clientsâ€”over a network. ... Hewlett-Packard Disk-Arrays: HASS (top) and NIKE (OEMd Data General SCSI Clariion) EMC CLARiiON CX500 (Cover removed on one Shelf) EMC Symmetrix DMX1000 A disk array is an enterprise storage system which contains multiple disk drives. ...

A disk array controller usually attaches to a number of disk drives in disk enclosures which are organised into RAID sets or groups for data protection and performance reasons. Disk Drive is the afternoon show on CBC Radio Two. ... A disk enclosure is a computer storage device designed to contain disk drives. ... In computing, a redundant array of inexpensive disks, also later known as redundant array of independent disks (commonly abbreviated RAID) is a system which uses multiple hard drives to share or replicate data among the drives. ...

Disk array controllers often provide other services in addition to RAID arrays. These include read cache, write cache and copy services such as Flash Copy and Peer to Peer Remote Copy (PPRC). Various vendors have different terms for these concepts. Look up cache in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In IBM zSeries mainframe computers, with two DASD Control Units connected through dedicated connections, Peer to Peer Remote Copy or PPRC is the protocol to mirror a DASD volume in one Control Unit (the primary) to a DASD volume in the other Control Unit (the secondary). ...

Disk array controllers attach to computers using a number of different methods. These include:

The actual disks on the Disk Array Controllers attach to the Controller using an interface technology like: Fibre Channel is a gigabit speed network technology primarily used for Storage Networking. ... San or SAN can refer to any of the following: Look up San in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Look up san in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Internet Protocol (IP) is a data-oriented protocol used for communicating data across a packet-switched internetwork. ... Fibre Channel is a gigabit speed network technology primarily used for Storage Networking. ...

Examples of SATA PCI-Express Controllers: ESCON (or Enterprise Systems Connection) is an optical serial interface between IBM mainframe computers and peripheral devices such as storage and tape drives. ... In computing, FICON (Fiber Connectivity) is an input and output protocol used in IBM mainframe computers and peripheral devices such as storage arrays and tape drives. ... A 1990 Honeywell-Bull DPS 7 mainframe Mainframes (often colloquially referred to as big iron) are large and expensive computers used mainly by government institutions and large companies for mission critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as censuses, industry/consumer statistics, ERP, and financial transaction processing. ... Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is a new generation serial communication protocol for direct attached devices designed to allow for much higher speed data transfers and is compatible with SATA. SAS uses serial communication instead of the parallel method found in traditional SCSI devices but still uses SCSI commands for interacting...

See also

Categories: Computer storage devices Hewlett-Packard Disk-Arrays: HASS (top) and NIKE (OEMd Data General SCSI Clariion) EMC CLARiiON CX500 (Cover removed on one Shelf) EMC Symmetrix DMX1000 A disk array is an enterprise storage system which contains multiple disk drives. ... A disk enclosure is a computer storage device designed to contain disk drives. ... Enterprise storage is the field of information technology focused on the storage, protection, and retrieval of data in large-scale environments. ... In computing, a redundant array of inexpensive disks, also later known as redundant array of independent disks (commonly abbreviated RAID) is a system which uses multiple hard drives to share or replicate data among the drives. ... Fibre Channel is a gigabit speed network technology primarily used for Storage Networking. ... Internet SCSI (iSCSI) is an official standard ratified on February 11, 2003 by the Internet Engineering Task Force that allows the use of the SCSI protocol over TCP/IP networks. ... Network-attached storage (NAS) systems are generally computing-storage devices that can be accessed over a computer network, rather than directly being connected to the computer (via a computer bus). ... SCSI stands for Small Computer System Interface, and is a standard interface and command set for transferring data between devices on both internal and external computer buses. ...