---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SunSoft Introduces Online: DiskSuite 3.0 SunFLASH Vol 70 #12 October 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Electronic Journal For Sun Users Since 1988 John J. Mclaughlin, Publisher & Editor - flash@sun.com ____________________________________________________________________________ 70.12 SunSoft Introduces Online: DiskSuite 3.0 SunSoft, Inc., introduced Online: DiskSuite(tm) 3.0, the third generation logical volume management technology for the Solaris(R) operating system environment. The product, which is copackaged with Solaris 2.4 Workgroup and Enterprise server software for both SPARC(R) and x86 architectures, improves the capacity, reliability, availability and performance of disk subsystems. (139 lines) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- High Performance Volume Management for Solaris 2.4 Online: DiskSuite 3.0 addresses critical customer needs for managing the disk storage subsystems for enterprise computing environments. The primary features of this product are: UNIX(R) file system journaling for quick system recovery, disk mirroring for data availability, disk striping for improved application performance, and dynamic concatenation for online file system expansion. "SunSoft is dedicated to establishing integrated system and network administration in order to lower the cost of managing the enterprise computing environment." said Denis Yaro, Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Management Products for SunSoft. "Online DiskSuite 3.0 is a powerful tool that enables the system administrator to handle the complexities of volume management in the most demanding commercial environments." High Performance I/O Using UNIX File System Journaling UNIX file system journaling features in Online: DiskSuite 3.0 increases Solaris 2.4 file system performance through faster directory operations and by speeding synchronous disk writes. File system checking performance and reboot times have been improved from 10 minutes per gigabyte down to seconds per file system, regardless of size. Local directories can be created and removed up to 8 times faster, and under optimal conditions, NFS(R) creates and removes can run more than 1.5 times faster than configurations running without the journaling capability. In addition, NFS writes can run up to twice as fast under optimal conditions, with synchronous data writes running more than 4 times faster. Disk striping further augments application performance by increasing I/O throughput by spreading the I/O load over several disks and increasing the throughput available to a single process. Improved Disk Availability Traditionally, UNIX file systems had to be checked before coming back online after a failure to avoid later panics or data corruption. Checking file systems could be very time consuming, especially for large file systems. The UNIX file system journaling feature of Online: DiskSuite 3.0 eliminates the need for file system checks (fsck) enabling faster system reboots. This feature represents a significant advancement in volume management capability, is compatible with the standard Unix file system and does not require any data conversion. In addition, journaling safely records file system updates in a log before they are applied to the file system which can then be mirrored for increased data availability. Scalable Volume Management Solution The Solaris operating system is being deployed in commercial environments that require high performance volume management capabilities. Online DiskSuite 3.0 has been designed specifically for these high-end commercial installations, enabling system administrators to establish a fault-tolerant disk environment for maximum data availability and reliability. In addition, Online: DiskSuite is scalable, handling the logical volume management needs from desktops to large storage arrays. Disk mirroring technology enhances system uptime, allowing users to work uninterrupted through disk failures by transparently maintaining a mirror copy of the data on another disk. Online data recovery in the case of hardware failure is further improved by the Hot Spares(tm) feature which automatically migrates in new partitions to replace the failed disk, then automatically generates a new mirror. Dynamic concatenation features of Online: DiskSuite allow a file system to be expanded beyond the current UNIX limitation of 2 gigabytes. A file system can now grow online to the full size of the storage subsystem, enabling up to a terabyte of data to be held in a single file system and mirrored for maximum availability. In addition, Online: DiskSuite 3.0 has the capability to manage and reconfigure hundreds of disks online, thereby significantly simplifying the process for increasing file system capacity in large storage arrays. Solaris 2.4 Now Shipping SunSoft today announced that it has shipped Solaris 2.4, the most versatile, hardware independent, 32-bit operating environment available today. Solaris combines high performance, proven networking and admin- istration services, a broad application base and the scalability required to make it an optimal platform for heterogeneous, enterprise-wide networked computing. Pricing and Availability Online: DiskSuite 3.0 is copackaged with the Solaris 2.4 Workgroup and Enterprise server products, or sold separately for $995 (US) on SPARC and Intel platforms. SunSoft is offering current Online: DiskSuite customers a $300 upgrade to the new version. For additional product information call SunSoft product information at 1-800-SUNSOFT. SunSoft, Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems, Inc., with offices worldwide. SunSoft's charter is to design, market, sell and support the industry's highest-quality software environment for enabling businesses to gain a competitive advantage through information systems. SunSoft delivers a suite of solutions that easily and cost-effectively connect, integrate and manage large enterprise environments. The products are licensed by SunSoft and distributed through major computer manufacturers and resellers worldwide. # # # (c) 1994 Sun Microsystems Inc. Sun, SunSoft, Solaris, Online: DiskSuite and NFS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc., in the United States and other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, exclusively licensed through X/Open company, Ltd. SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, and products bearing the SPARC trademark are based on an architecture designed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. All other products or service names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.