DISK ARRAY

A 'disk array' is an enterprise storage system which contains multiple disk drives. It is differentiated from a disk enclosure in that an array has cache and ''intelligence'' so that it can perform functions like RAID and virtualization.
Components of a typical disk array include

★ Disk array controller

★ Cache

★ Disk enclosures

★ Power supply
Typical disk arrays fall into five categories: NAS, Modular SAN arrays, Monolithic SAN arrays, Storage Virtualization and Utility SAN Arrays.
===Network attached storage (NAS) arrays===
Network attached storage is a hard disk storage system on a network with its own LAN IP address. Examples:

★ 3PAR and ONStor UtiliCat Unified Storage

★ HP ProLiant'®' Storage Server

★ Network Appliance Filer

★ Sun StorageTek 5000 family
===Modular storage area network (SAN) arrays===
A SAN is a dedicated network, separate from LANs and WANs, that is generally used to connect numerous storage resources to one or many servers. Examples:

★ 3PAR Inc. InServ E-Class

★ EMC CLARiiON

★ Fujitsu ETERNUS 4000/3000 series storage arrays

★ HP Storageworks EVA family products

★ Hitachi Thunder family products

★ IBM DS4000/FAStT family of storage servers

★ IBM DS6000 series storage servers

★ Infortrend EonStor/EonRAID family

★ Network Appliance FAS series Unified storage servers

★ ONStor Pantera

★ Sun StorageTek 6x40

★ Xiotech Magnitude 3D
===Monolithic (Enterprise)storage area network (SAN) arrays===
Although this is not a strict definition, the array is considered ''monolithic'' when even basic configuration is physically too large to fit into a standard rack cabinet. These arrays are suited for large-scale environments.
Examples:

★ EMC Symmetrix

★ Fujitsu ETERNUS 8000/6000 series storage arrays

★ Hitachi Lightning and TagmaStore USP family products

★ HP XP

★ IBM Enterprise Storage Server (ESS)

★ IBM DS8000 series of storage servers

★ Infortrend EonStor / EonRAID family

★ Sun StorEdge 99xx (9970, 9980, 9985, 9990)
===Storage virtualization===
Intelligent SAN or Storage Servers (Software that adds disk controller functionality to standard server hardware platforms). Hardware independent software that typically runs as a control program on top of a standard OS platform (Windows, Linux, etc.):

★ DataCore Software Corporation SANsymphony and SANmelody Storage Server Virtualization Software

★ Falconstor IPStor Software

★ IBM SAN Volume Controller

★ Network Appliance V-Series storage virtualization solutions
===Utility Storage storage area network (SAN) arrays:===

★ 3PAR InServ Storage Servers

★ Network Appliance FAS GX Series

★ Pillar Data Systems Axiom