Seneca 's Nexlink Servers Protected by CacheVault
Posted by
Ed Stone on Fri, Jun 29, 2012 @ 11:07 AM
Have You Changed Your RAID Batteries?
You’ve done all the right things in your server configs; great RAID level for the server role, RAID Battery Backup (BBU), and installed a correct sized UPS to give the server plenty of time to run while everything shuts down. After a year or two, do you make a regularly scheduled maintenance visit to change the RAID BBU? Yes sadly it is true; the RAID BBU needs to be replaced periodically. Leaving an uncharged battery on the RAID card leaves the cache exposed in the rare case of a power outage.. In my 20 plus years in the business I can confidently say that this has happened exactly twice to two different customers. In both cases the customers attempted to re-build the array and both had the same outcome; the RAID array failed to recover, leaving both clients stuck without their systems for multiple days. What can be done to protect your clients and your reputation?
Switch to Flash Memory Instead of Batteries
How about using flash RAM that doesn’t require a battery at all? LSI ‘s MegaRAID® CacheVault flash cache protection is just that. MegaRAID CacheVault uses solid-state NAND flash memory to protect data stored in RAID controller cache by automatically transferring cached data to flash when a power failure occurs. CacheVault technology eliminates the need for Lithium-ion batteries, and their associated hardware maintenance costs, resulting in a greener, lower total cost cache protection solution.
CacheVault technology is powered by a super capacitor that keeps the electrical current running while DRAM cache memory is written to NAND flash memory during a power or server failure. When power is restored, the DRAM is recovered from flash and the workflow resumes without loss of data.
Nexlink Servers Featuring the MegaRAID SAS 9260CV-4i and the MegaRAID SAS 9260CV-8i have CacheVault built-in. The next time you build a server consider choosing one of these cards to protect your customer’s precious data and your reputation.
Ed Stone has worked at Seneca since 2003, during most of this time he was a member of the Channel Sales team. In 2011 he transitioned to the Marketing Department to grow cooperative marketing with Seneca’s vendors. With more than 20 years of experience in the Channel as a VAR and Distribution Salesperson, he has a varied technical background with robust product knowledge