IBM TotalStorage DS3400

IBM TotalStorage DS3400

The IBM TotalStorage DS3400 disk storage system is a cost-effective Fibre Channel (FC) Storage Area Network (SAN). The IBM DS3400 features 4 Gigabits per second (Gbps) FC host connectivity and uses either Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) disk drives featuring a 3 Gigabits per second (Gbps) interface. In fact, the IBM System Storage DS3400 can be equipped with up to 12 3Gbps SAS disk drives on its own, and can expand the total storage capacity by attaching up to 3 EXP3000. When the 3 IBM EXP3000 expansion units are attached, then the IBM DS3400 storage array features a disk drive capacity of up to 36 additional disk drives for a total of up to 48 disk drives. When maxed out with EXP3000 expansion enclosures at 48 disk drives, the IBM DS3400 disk storage system offers an incredible 28.8 Terabytes (TB) of SAS storage capacity or 96TB of SATA storage capacity.

The IBM DS3400 disk storage system is a great, inexpensive SAN that can support multiple servers by adding additional FC switching. For the company looking for shared storage, but has tight IT budget restrictions, the possibility of an FC SAN like the IBM DS3400 is a great option. And when your IT budget allows for a little more flexibility, the FC infrastructure will already be in place to support other high-end FC SANs. Further advantages of the IBM System Storage DS3400 include easy deployability and management thanks to the DS3000 Storage Manager, as well as a dual-active RAID controller and support for RAID levels including RAID-0, RAID-1, RAID-3, RAID-5, RAID-6, RAID-10. Also offering a Direct Current (DC) powered option, other components such as dual-redundant hot-swappable fans and power supplies make the IBM TotalStorage DS3400 disk storage system a highly available FC SAN option.