Dell PowerVault MD3220i Owner's Manual - Page 51
Host Types, Snapshot Virtual Disks
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Page 51 highlights
• Host server-to-virtual disk mappings are shared between RAID controller modules in the storage array. • A unique LUN must be used by a host group or host server to access a virtual disk. • Not every operating system has the same number of LUNs available for use. Host Types A host server is a server that accesses a storage array. Host servers are mapped to the virtual disks and use one or more iSCSI initiator ports. Host servers have the following attributes: • Host name-A name that uniquely identifies the host server. • Host group (used in Cluster solutions only)-Two or more host servers associated together to share access to the same virtual disks. This host group is a logical entity you can create in MDSM. All host servers in a host group must be running the same operating system. • Host type-The operating system running on the host server. Snapshot Virtual Disks A snapshot is a point-in-time image of a virtual disk. The snapshot provides an image of the virtual disk at the time the snapshot was created. You create a snapshot so that an application (for example, a backup application) can access the snapshot and read the data while the source virtual disk remains online and user-accessible. When the backup is completed, the snapshot virtual disk is no longer needed. You can create up to four snapshots per virtual disk. Snapshots are used to recover previous versions of files that have changed since the snapshot was taken. Snapshots are implemented using a copy-onwrite algorithm, which makes a backup copy of data the instant an error occurs. Data on a virtual disk is copied to the snapshot repository before it is modified. Snapshots are instantaneous and take up less overhead than a full physical copy process. Planning: MD3200i Series Storage Array Terms and Concepts 51
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