Using Infiniband-based storage arrays with Oracle
We are interested in Infiniband (IB) storage arrays - i.e. the storage array is directly integrated with the IB switch.
Why? Numerous reasons. Performance. Costs. Management. And especially the ease of configuration and management of IB resources. At the moment we are using 2 basic configs. The traditional method of using HBA's on the server and running fibre directly to the SAN. We are also now also wiring the SAN into the IB switch and make the LUNs visible to servers using the IB switch (which now means using a 30Gbit or larger IB pipe from the server via the switch into the SAN).
The traditional large SAN costs are however pretty expensive... which is why we want to look at h/w that integrates both the IB switch and the SAN into a single unit. SATA and SAS disk technology are significantly cheaper, provides large capacity, and can perform at similar levels than the large SAN.
There are a few products like this on the market, such as the Galaxy Aurora IB system - but this is RAID6 and specifically designed for the movie industry. Interestingly, about a month or two ago in a meeting with Oracle, we mentioned IB-SAN as an option that we want to pursue. We were enigmatically told to "+watch this space+". :-)
Any one else out there looking at similar technology? Or better still, using such technology? And please note, we are looking also at TCO.. and SLEDs are not really part of the equation IMO. In case a vendor gets the idea to try and sell me SLEDs here.. (not that I won't be interested - but you will need to do some serious convincing)