Smart switch for smaller SANs

The two-application management style is a bit annoying, as admins may need to look through both applications before they find the feature they need to configure. It becomes less problematic over time as you learn the system, though, and other than having to look through both apps, there are no huge downsides to having the two separate applications.

Free IT resource Virtualization Insights from Top Experts - Learn how virtualization gets real! Sponsored by Dell Free IT resource TechNet: More ways to know it, share it, and keep it running. Sponsored by Microsoft Maxxan MXV250 Intelligent Application Switch Maxxan Systems, maxxan.com Very Good  8.0 criteria score weight Manageability 7 25% Performance 9 25% Scalability 8 25% Setup 8 15% Value 8 10% Cost: An MXV250 with FC switch ports and an application card with integrated IPStor software starts at $62,500 Bottom Line: The MXV250 offers all the sophistication and features of Maxxan’s larger MXV500, but in a smaller and less expensive package suitable for smaller SANs. The wide array of available features gives admins plenty of flexibility in meeting business requirements for a SAN. The two separate management apps for configuration and management may give pause. About our Reviews and Scoring Methodology

Performance and Virtualization
While I was concerned primarily with testing the functionality of the system, I did test the MXV250’s basic performance by connecting it to two servers and two storage subsystems. The servers were HP DL370s with QLogic QLA2342 2Gb HBAs, one running Windows 2003 Server and the other running Red Hat Linux 3.0.

I established a baseline for performance using IOmeter, first with the two systems connected directly to the two storage units, then connected to the MXV250. I then enabled virtualization and retested. There was more variation from run to run in each scenario than between the three test scenarios, indicating that using virtualization introduced no latency or throughput overhead. With only two systems, I was unable to verify the 320Gbps backplane bandwidth.

I quickly set up replication from one storage array to the other; scheduling asynchronous replication was straightforward, and synchronous replication took little effort. I also tested the snapshot and TimeMark functionality by creating snapshots and then changing files in the original volume. I located the appropriate snapshot and restored deleted or changed files with no problems.

Virtualization presents several different storage systems as one virtual disk or several pieces of one storage array as several different server volumes. Because of the number of decisions that must be made to achieve this -- file systems, naming of virtual storage, presentation form, and so forth -- virtualization is necessarily somewhat complex. The IPStor app, however, does an good job of making the task of setting up virtualization as simple as possible. Its wizards and clean design make the complex process as easy as anyone could expect.

The MXV250 can also be used to present existing FC storage as iSCSI storage, or to enable long-distance replication over the Internet using FCoIP. Both of these features are straightforward to set up and worked well in my tests.

Switching Smarts
The MXV250 is a telco-grade FC switch that can be used to provide a wide array of advanced functions, and it does a very good job. Admins interested in the advanced features who do not want to make the initial investment in an MXV250 or MXV500 should investigate Maxxan’s SA100 and SA110 stand-alone appliances, which offer the same feature set without the switching functionality.

Thanks to the explosion of interest in intelligent storage management, Maxxan is no longer the only vendor offering such capabilities -- Brocade, Cisco, Maranti Networks, McData, Sun, and Troika Networks have all brought out products in this space in the last year or so. However, the MXV250 is a second-generation intelligent switch with solid interoperability, easy configuration, and a broad feature set. It should definitely be on the short list for SAN administrators who would like to move their storage applications to the fabric.