Drive Storage

The DXi6900 system is based upon high speed disk drives instead of tape drives (see HDDs). The usable capacity is 17–510 TB.

The DXi6900-S system is based upon solid state drives in the Node (see SDDs) and high speed disk drives in the Array and Expansion Modules (see HDDs). The usable capacity is 34–544 TB.

The DXi6900 can present its drive storage using multiple protocols:

By making use of high speed drives, the DXi6900 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.