Apple Xsan 2.2 Software for Mac OS X (Single-User License)

Easy Setup

A Simple SAN

With Xsan 2, it's easy for first-time users -- such as workgroups in small film and video productions, podcast clusters, small graphics shops, and boutique post houses -- to set up and deploy a SAN.

Snow Leopard Server automatically recognizes the presence of a Fibre-Channel storage area network and walks users through the Xsan installation and setup process.

It's no longer necessary to learn how to create private metadata networks or volumes optimized for different data types. A new SAN Setup assistant guides you through the volume creation process and setup of computers on the SAN. Xsan handles the complete "after cable-up" setup and configuration of the SAN

Xsan Admin 2

Easy Admin

Xsan 2 features Xsan Admin 2 -- an application completely redesigned to make day-to-day SAN administration much simpler

Storage Configuration

With Xsan Admin, complex tasks such as expanding a volume, optimally configuring volume settings, or managing file system permissions are now easier and less error prone. SAN components -- computers, volumes, and LUNs -- are logically presented as assets, and an overview of SAN health is prominently displayed

Xsan includes even more features for improved performance, and it's especially noticeable in large SANs with dozens or even hundreds of individual nodes. The Inspector feature provides information about volumes, LUNs, computers, and the other components that make up your SAN. A LUN identifier causes the hard drive lights to turn on, specifying a LUN. Xsan also includes new options for connecting to remote computers and servers using Server Admin, SSH, and screen sharing

Access Control

Volume mapping and masking let you control which computers access various volumes. For finer-grained control, you can use Xsan on Mac OS X in conjunction with Open Directory to manage application, user, and group access to specific folders and files in shared volumes. So you can control access to SAN storage in exactly the same way, from the same centralized directory you use to control access to network-attached storage. Xsan lets you manage storage consumption by setting quotas for users and groups

Admin Notification

Real-time monitoring lets you keep tabs on your SAN file system performance and throughput. Should it fall below a specified level, you can set the program to send you a notification via e-mail or pager. Xsan logs metadata controller activity and client access for each volume, and you can review these logs from any Mac OS X system on your network

Cluster File System

Cluster File System

Xsan is a 64-bit cluster file system that provides concurrent data access over high-speed Fibre-Channel to multiple systems on the network. For better performance and higher availability, you can pool storage across multiple RAID devices, and each Xsan client can use this centralized data as if it were directly connected

Support for 2PB Files and Volumes

Xsan lets your users share multiple files and volumes; each can be as large as 2 petabytes, or more than 3 months' worth of uncompressed 1080i high-definition (HD) video at 30 frames per second. Xsan supports billions of files per volume, with each metadata controller hosting multiple volumes at the same time

File Sharing over Fibre-Channel

Xsan storage networking eliminates the bottlenecks of traditional network file servers that use Gigabit Ethernet and that are not fast enough to transfer dense formats such as HD video. Fibre-Channel gives you a 4Gb-per-port connection for increased data transfer and can be used with Fibre-Channel multipathing for greater aggregate throughput. This is perfect for multiple editors working on a video project or a compute cluster that needs fast data access for maximum utilization of processing power

File-Level Locking

Fine-grained file-level locking enables simultaneous access to shared files. All clients can access all the files on the volume, but only the client that has read/write privileges can edit a locked file. This contrasts with volume-level locking, which enables only one computer at a time to write to an entire volume. File-level locking provides enormous productivity advantages in post-production workflows where multiple editors are using a single large file

File System Access Controls

Xsan supports flexible file permissions that not only work with Mac clients, but are fully compatible with Windows Server, Windows Vista, and Windows XP. With file system ACLs, any file object can be assigned multiple users and groups, including groups within groups. Each file object can also be assigned both allow and deny permissions, as well as a granular set of permissions for administrative control, read, write, and delete operations. For added security, Xsan supports a file permission inheritance model, ensuring that user permissions are inherited when files are moved to the SAN and rewritten when files are copied to the SAN

High Performance

Optimized Performance

Xsan has always been designed for performance, and Xsan 2 is no exception. Xsan 2 uses a next-generation data and storage pool distribution strategy with enhanced affinity management to dramatically improve high-bandwidth streaming workloads, such as those used by Final Cut editors.

Xsan 2 provides performance-optimized volume configuration settings, data placement and storage pooling, Fibre-Channel multipathing services, and support for multiport 4Gb Fibre-Channel cards.

With SAN Setup, you can pool multiple storage devices into a single logical volume. Xsan can create and optimally configure different types of volumes for common SAN scenarios. Just choose the volume type that best fits the needs of your SAN users. If you want to configure all volume settings yourself, choose Custom

MultiSAN

One for All. All for One.

Now a single workstation or server can access Xsan volumes simultaneously. MultiSAN is ideal for users who need to access multiple Xsan volumes from the same workstation or server, such as newsrooms with separate SAN volumes for production and broadcast.

MultiSAN allows a single workstation or server to access Xsan volumes hosted by separate Xsan metadata controllers. Hosting volumes on separate Xsan controllers can improve the performance, reliability, and sustainability of critical volumes. Each volume is independently hosted, so a failure of any one volume does not affect another.

Users can copy data between Xsan volumes directly over Fibre-Channel. Prior to Xsan 2 and MultiSAN, data had to be moved over a slower Ethernet connection to copy data from one independent Xsan volume to another. With Fibre-Channel, production workflows are significantly more efficient, and greater collaboration can be achieved

Spotlight

Fast Find

Finding the right file can be like finding a needle in a haystack, especially when you have terabytes upon terabytes of shared online storage. Xsan 2 leverages the power of Spotlight, making it easy and instantaneous for users to find files on massive SAN volumes -- even across terabytes of data -- right from the Finder.

Spotlight works the way people think: by searching the content itself, not just the filenames. With richer Spotlight vocabulary in Mac OS X, searches can be more exact. Options include Boolean logic, quoted phrase searching, category labels, and range support. And with the Quick Look and Cover Flow features in Mac OS X, users can scan hundreds of files in just seconds, without ever needing to open them

High Availability

Unstoppable Network

Xsan 2 is designed for high availability, with features that make it well suited for mission-critical environments

Metadata Controller Failover

Xsan uses one system connected to the SAN, called a metadata controller, to manage access to shared storage. If this system fails for any reason, Xsan picks another computer on the SAN to take over its role. Cascading metadata controller failover ensures that you can access your data as long as any system on your SAN is active.

Using Xsan Admin 2, you can define per-volume failover priorities and set which volumes are hosted by which metadata controllers. Sophisticated algorithms ensure that succession occurs properly, avoiding "split brain," or multiple conflicting metadata controllers. Once the file system clients "elect" a new metadata controller, the failed system can be deactivated until the problem is resolved.

For high-volume, mission-critical production environments, you may want to dedicate a computer as a standby controller. Having a standby controller also enables you to update Xsan software without interrupting service to your users

Fibre-Channel Multipathing

Apple's Fibre-Channel host bus adapters (HBAs) are dual-port or quad-port cards, providing every Mac desktop or Xserve system with two or four connections to the SAN. Fibre-Channel multipathing takes advantage of multiple connections: If one Fibre-Channel path fails, Xsan continues to use another for storage access -- eliminating a potential single point of failure at the cabling layer

All data paths from the client to the various storage volumes are discovered automatically based on load and availability. This provides two major benefits: Any failure is handled without affecting the user's work, and all paths are load-balanced to ensure maximum performance and reliability

File System Journaling

Xsan is a journaled file system that can be recovered in seconds in the event of a catastrophic failure. Journal data includes a record of file system transactions, eliminating the need for time-consuming integrity checks after an unplanned shutdown of the entire network or the metadata controller. Your storage can be back online almost immediately