Sun Microsystems Sun Fire V490 - Manual (Page 93)

Chapter 5 System Administration Software 65
■
Multiplexed I/O (MPxIO) is a new architecture fully integrated within the Solaris
OS (beginning with Solaris 8) that enables I/O devices to be accessed through
multiple host controller interfaces from a single instance of the I/O device.
For More Information
For information about setting up redundant hardware interfaces for storage devices
or networks, see “About Redundant Network Interfaces” on page 48.
For instructions on how to configure and administer Solaris IP Network
Multipathing, consult the IP Network Multipathing Administration Guide provided
with your specific Solaris release.
For more information about Sun StorEdge Traffic Manager, see the Sun Fire V490
Server Product Notes.
For information about MPxIO, see “Multiplexed I/O (MPxIO)” on page 66 and refer
to your Solaris OS documentation.
About Volume Management Software
Sun Microsystems offers two different volume management applications for use on
Sun Fire V490 systems:
■
Sun StorEdge™ Traffic Manager
■ Solstice DiskSuite™ software
Volume management software lets you create disk volumes. Volumes are logical disk
devices comprising one or more physical disks or partitions from several different
disks. Once you create a volume, the operating system uses and maintains the
volume as if it were a single disk. By providing this logical volume management
layer, the software overcomes the restrictions imposed by physical disk devices.
Sun’s volume management products also provide RAID data redundancy and
performance features. RAID, which stands for redundant array of independent disks, is
a technology that helps protect against disk and hardware failures. Through RAID
technology, volume management software is able to provide high data availability
,
excellent I/O performance, and simplified administration.
Sun’s volume management applications offer the following features:
■ Support for several types of RAID configurations, which provide varying degrees
of availability, capacity, and performance
■ Hot-spare facilities, which provide for automatic data recovery when disks fail