Wednesday 19 December 2012

Avamar nodes capacity and hardware

For Gen4 3.9TB node :
Raw capacity is 6 TB and licensed capacity is 3.9 TB









For Gen4 7.8 TB node:
Raw capacity is 12 TB and licensed capacity is 7.8 TB


So, In a RAIN config with 1 utility node and 4 storage nodes (7.8 TB), the total capacity should be 48 TB and total licensed capacity is 31.2 TB


Single Node:
  • A single stand-alone node of Avamar with the brains and the storage capacity all in one.
RAIN Configuration:
  • Redundant Array of Independent Nodes.  Think of a RAID5 array of servers instead of disks
Storage Node:
  • A single Avamar server appliance (2U server).  They are available in 1TB, 2TB and now 3.3TB configurations.
Utility Node:    
  • An Avamar appliance similar to the storage node (same physical size) that works as the brains of an Avamar system.

With the release of the new Gen4 nodes, we can now take advantage of higher density disks and improved hardware configurations.  There are 6 different type of nodes: Accelerator node, Utility node, 1.3TB, 2.6TB, 3.9TB and 7.8TB storage nodes.

All of the above node types now sport a single Quad Core Processor with the exception of the Accelerator node containing 2 Quad Core Processors, this is a step above the single processor in previous Gen models. 
Disks are now configured in a RAID 1 configuration for increased performance.  All node chassis’ are the R710 model with support up to 6 drives, except the 7.8TB node that has a R510 chassis which can support up to 12 drives.

A thing to note about the 7.8TB node, is the inclusion of a 100GB SSD for increased memory performance focusing on indexes.  With the increased amount of disks and activity, this should keep the performance in line with the other nodes.
Here is a table with the different type of Nodes and their perspective hardware configuration:

Nodes Disk RAM CPU Ethernet Chassis RAIN
7.8TB 12x2TB SATA
6x RAID 1 pairs
32GB
100GB SSD
1 4 R510 Yes
3.9TB 6x2TB SATA
3x RAID 1 pairs
36GB 1 4 R710 Yes
2.6TB 4x2TB SATA
2x RAID 1 pairs
24GB 1 4 R710 No
1.3TB 2x2TB SATA
1x RAID 1 pair
12GB 1 4 R710 No
Utility 2x300GB SAS
1x RAID 1 pair
12GB 1 8 R710 -
Accelerator 2x300GB SAS
1x RAID 1pair
36GB 2 4 R710


Switch:
Manufacturer:              Allied Telesis
Model:                                 AT-9924 (dumbed down to basically a hub)
Type:                                   Multilayer IPv4 and IPv6 Gigabit switch
Ports:                                    24
Power:                                 Dual Power Supplies – 75W maximum
Heat (BTU):                     256 BTU/hr
Size:                                        1 U each
Switching Capacity:   48Gbps