Hard Drive Storage
The DXi4700 system is based upon high speed disk drives instead of tape drives (see HDDs). The usable capacity is 5–135 TB.
- DXi4700 VTL configurations present the drive storage area as VTL partitions (see Virtual Tape Storage).
- DXi4700 NAS configurations present the drives storage area as NAS shares and/or OST LSUs (Logical Storage Units) (see Network Attached Storage (NAS) or OpenStorage (OST)).
- DXi4700 Multi-Protocol configurations present the drive storage area as VTL partitions (see Virtual Tape Storage), NAS shares, or OST LSUs (Logical Storage Units) (see Network Attached Storage (NAS) or OpenStorage (OST)).
By making use of high speed drives, the DXi4700 greatly reduces the time required for backup/restore functions and improves confidence in completing the backup in the time allowed.
DXi Usage Scenarios
DXi storage presentations are optimized for backup usage rather than file sharing. Backup application usage is typically characterized by:
- Aggregated name spaces and file contents.
- Limited direct, active file access.
- Limited browsing, scanning, or stating.
- Limited metadata manipulation (including rename).
Usage diverging from these characteristics must be qualified to ensure acceptable behavior with respect to functionality, performance, replication, and recovery.
Note: Using Backup Exec with GRT (Granular Recovery Technology) over CIFS is not recommended usage. GRT requires frequently overwriting portions of and appending data to existing files, which is inconsistent with the DXi usage scenarios. Instead, Quantum recommends using OST.
