PRODUCT BRIEF

StorNext 4.0 Technical Product Brief

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Executive Summary
Keeping up with the rapid growth of unstructured file data while maintaining fast access to those business
critical digital assets is a monumental challenge for many organizations today. Consequently, IT Managers
and Storage Administrators are typically forced to choose between the shared-storage simplicity of NAS and
the high performance scalability of SAN. With Quantum StorNext data management software, you get the
best of both worlds. StorNext combines high-performance file sharing with cost-effective data management
and protection, delivering unrivaled performance, scalability, and data preservation.
The StorNext shared SAN file system accelerates business operations by storing information rapidly, then
sharing it simultaneously across heterogeneous platforms, including Linux, Windows, UNIX, and MAC OS
operating systems (see Figure 1). Via a single shared file system instance, files can remain on the SAN storage
while presenting simultaneously to multiple OS types running various applications accessing the same file.
This eliminates the need to physically move files or convert formats to accommodate a native OS file system.
Over time, the required cost and performance characteristics of those files will likely diminish. StorNext
enables cost savings and management simplicity with its policy-based tiered storage and archiving
capability. The data movement is all done transparently within the StorNext file system, keeping the file
online and accessible while significantly reducing storage and management costs. In addition, deploying
this automated tiered storage solution avoids added the cost and complexity to the environment introduced
by 3rd party applications required to move files from tier to tier.
With enterprise features, such as deduplication, replication, Distributed Data Movers, and tiered storage &
archiving, StorNext delivers powerful solutions that address current and future IT challenges.
Replication Enabling disaster recovery and business continuity by replicating business critical data to
remote locations. Business operations can continue on a secondary site in the event the primary site is
unavailable. In addition, the distribution of data to remote campuses enables branch offices to utilize a
copy of the data for enhanced business operations without impact to the primary location.
Data Deduplication Reducing the storage requirements for growing amounts of unstructured data. As
data within an enterprise continues to proliferate, the likelihood of multiple copies of the same file is an
increasing burden on IT resources. Data Deduplication intelligently saves only the changed data for more
efficient storage capacity untilization and reduced management overhead.
Tiered Storage & Archiving Delivering a transparent, policy-based storage tiering and archiving solution
to better correlate the cost and performance characteristics of your data with your storage. Store the right
data, on the rights storage tier, at the right cost. In addition, as environments grow, StorNext Distributed Data
Movers (DDM) enable unparalleled scale and performance for your tiered storage and archiving environment.

PRIMARY TIER

SECONDARY TIER

STORNEXT LAN CLIENTS

CIFS/NFS

StorNext
SAN Clients

FC/iSCSI

GigE TCP/IP
Infiniband IP

Optional
StorNext
Policy
Engine

TAPE LIBRARY ARCHIVE

VAULT

Metadata
Controller

Figure 1

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Methodology
StorNext software delivers flexible enterprise data management solutions, such as high speed data access
and cost-effective storage tiering and archiving with two core components, the StorNext shared SAN file
system (SN SAN Clients) and StorNext Storage Manager.
StorNext File System is enabled by SAN clients which reside on a Windows, Linux, UNIX, or MAC OS server
connected to a SAN. A StorNext Meta Data Controller (MDC) sits on a Windows or Linux server and acts as
the traffic cop for shared heterogeneous server access to the data pool on the SAN storage. Where the SAN
shares out the storage to a server community, the StorNext file system, enabled by the MDC, shares a common
name space, and data within, out to the applications simultaneously across different server platforms.
StorNext Storage Manager, residing on the MDC, is a policy-based data mover that automatically and
transparently copies or moves data to another tier of storage. Files can be truncated in the primary file
system, leaving behind a pointer, or can remain whole with a copy in a lower storage tier. Since this
movement is all done within the StorNext instance, the data remains local to the application accessing the
file system. If an archived file is requested, the Storage Manager fulfils the request and presents the file
back to the application as if it was resident in the primary file system.
There are many other features, including replication and deduplication, which further enhance these two
core components ability to manage enterprise data.

File System Background

To understand StorNext, it is helpful to understand some file system basics. For purposes of this product brief
we will discuss file systems used for normal business operations (such as the file system on your laptop). A file
system is a structure for storing and organizing data. NTFS, EXT3, FAT are all examples of file systems in which
a user creates directory structures, assigns access permissions, and stores files. File systems are created on top
of one to many disk systems (sometimes aggregated into LUNs) that may be internal to a server or a part of a
larger disk array accessed via a LAN or SAN. In general, file systems are mounted and owned by a single server
(for example, Windows server ABC owns D:\ which is a RAID 5 volume on a disk array).
While this configuration allows a server to read and/or write data to/from the file system very quickly,
the disk capacity is available only to that server. In environments with many servers, this results in large
amounts of under-utilized capacity and over spending on storage budgets. It also implies that only users
and applications on a given server can access data in that file system. In many situations this is acceptable
(e.g., user PCs, specialized systems that require dedicated resources, etc.). However, there are many
instances where it is useful to have a file system, and its stored content, accessible to many individuals and
applications. In this case, network file system protocols like NFS (Linux/UNIX) and CIFS (Windows) are
utilized to make a servers file system available to a larger group of servers, users and applications.
This allows storage consolidation and the ability to easily share content between multiple applications. NFS
and CIFS are well established protocols that have been utilized on servers and specialized NAS appliances
to make file systems available over an IP (Internet Protocol) network. While the performance of these
protocols is not very high (50 70 MB/s generally for NFS, 35 MB/s generally for CIFS over Gigabit Ethernet
connections), they are most commonly used for general purpose file serving of office files and documents.
For larger files or content that requires low latency, a different solution is required. To meet these needs,
shared file systems and centralized storage are utilized. Client-based software allows multiple servers to
share a common storage pool with a single namespace. Applications send data to the shared file system
directory (or folder) just like any other file system (e.g. a Windows NTFS). The difference is that the client file
system software, not a file server, processes read and write operations locally and coordinates access to
all other servers and clients. Most file systems lack volume management features and must utilize other 3rd
party volume management tools. Simple shared file systems are homogeneous, allowing many servers of a
single OS type (usually Linux) to share the file system. While this can be sufficient in small environments, it
lacks scalability within organizations that have servers running different operating systems like Windows,
Linux, UNIX and even Mac.

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StorNext File System High-Performance Shared Data Access

StorNext is unique from other file systems in that it is a heterogeneous shared file system that allows
multiple servers access to a common disk repository regardless of OS type. Nearly all serverswhether they
are Windows, Linux, UNIX, and/or Mac OS (via Apples Xsan)can run a StorNext client and obtain access
to the shared file system. StorNext software is developed for each OS type to ensure the file system is
presented coherently and data requests are properly processed (e.g. a Windows kernel behaves differently
from a Solaris kernel).
Because multiple servers are accessing a single file system, some form of traffic cop is required to prevent
two applications or users from writing to the same disk location and guarantee that a server reading a
file is not accessing stale content because another server is updating the file. In StorNext, this function is
performed using a MetaData Controller (MDC).
The MDC is a light weight server that sits outside the file system data path and is responsible for
negotiating access while maintaining coherency between clients (critical for allowing real-time parallel R/W
operations to a single file). Clients communicate with the MDC via an IP connection to obtain information
about file location and block allocation, providing direct, block level access to the disk (see Figure 2).

PRIMARY TIER
Metadata
Controller

1
GigE TCP/IP
Infiniband IP

StorNext
SAN Clients

FC/iSCSI

Figure 2

Data access breaks down as follows:

1. Application issues a write command and StorNext client sends an op request to the MDC via the LAN
2. MDC processes and responds via LAN with the disk blocks where the client can write data
3. StorNext client receives the data block locations and StorNext client writes directly to the file system
at wire speeds
StorNext is designed as a heterogeneous SAN file system, allowing servers and clients attached to a
Fibre Channel (FC) or iSCSI SAN to directly access the same file system. This provides the highest level of
throughput and the lowest possible latency in a mixed OS environment. StorNext utilizes one or more FC
connections on a server to access disk resources. This produces single server performance scalability from
100s of MB/s to multiple GB/s simply by adding FC Host Bus Adapters (HBAs). Of course, performance is
not only based on host and network capabilities, but also the performance of disk that makes up the file
system. For this reason a StorNext file system provides volume management of multiple disk LUNs and
multiple arrays. This is similar to the functionality available on most OS types that allow administrators to
create a single volume from multiple RAID disk devices.

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An additional performance factor taken into consideration by StorNext, but not by most traditional
file systems, is metadata location. A file is composed of content (the actual data) and metadata (the
information about the file which includes attributes, permissions, etc.). Whenever a file is written, updated,
or deleted the metadata is changed. This means that whenever a file is written, not only must the data be
written but metadata must be written as well. With larger files, write performance can be reduced because
a file may be written sequentially for high performance, but the metadata write operations requires disk
head movement in bursts to another location on disk. For this reason, StorNext allows metadata to be
written to a different disk volume so that the sequential writes of data are isolated from more random
metadata writes, providing the best possible throughput.
In addition, StorNext includes cache coherency mechanisms to ensure that data is coherent and up-to-date
even when data is changed by multiple clients. These mechanisms also limit the required metadata
operations by having the clients communicate with only the MDC for certain requests, such as file creation,
deletes or allocations.

Distributed LAN Clients (DLC)

While SAN file systems are excellent for applications requiring extremely high-speed and low latency access,
not all applications fit this profile. In fact, an increasing number of environments are composed of a mix
of applications requiring different access methods. For example, while online editing applications require
high-speed and low latency access, compute nodes and rendering applications require CPU-intensive
computational operations with less dependency on data access performance. StorNext Distributed LAN
Client provides a NAS interface to the shared storage for these latter types of applications.
DLC allows servers on an IP network to connect to StorNext volumes through SAN clients designated as
clustered gateway servers. These gateways are SAN clients that connect directly to the shared storage pool
over FC and/or iSCSI, but primarily service DLC I/O instead of running customer applications. DLC is ideal for
customers who have farms of servers (rendering, compute nodes, web servers, etc.) all needing to access
a shared set of files, but not at FC speeds. DLC is also used when customers have a variety of performance
needs and want to mix SAN and NAS characteristics (see Figure 3).
While this might sound similar to traditional CIFS/NFS data sharing, Distributed LAN Client is unique in
that it utilizes a specialized block-based IP protocol designed for higher per-stream performance and
resilient communication. This specialized protocol is optimized for StorNext and can achieve near line-rate
throughputs over standard IP network connections. The protocol also provides resiliency by having each DLC
automatically attach to multiple clustered gateways.

SCALES TO THOUSANDS OF STORNEXT DISTRIBUTED LAN CLIENTS

PRIMARY TIER

Vendor Agnostic
SECONDARY TIER

StorNext DLC
C
Gateway Servers
FC/iSCSI
GigE TCP/IP
Infiniband IP

Optional
StorNext
Policy
Engine
Vendor Agnostic
TAPE LIBRARY ARCHIVE

Metadata
Controller

Figure 3

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Load balancing and clustering is provided when the DLC requests I/O across the attached gateways. If a
gateway system is unavailable or the network connection is lost, DLC transparently fails over I/O to another
attached gateway. Additionally, a DLC load balances data requests across all available network interfaces
on the client. In the chart below you can see a comparison between NFS, DLC and SAN Client performance
using the exact same system (see Figure 4). Those numbers are not maximum throughput numbers;
however, they show how throughput increases dramatically from NFS to DLC (nearly 3x the throughput on
the same network).
Distributed LAN Client is an important part of the StorNext data sharing offering, allowing lower cost high
speed LAN connectivity for applications connected via the network. This is especially attractive to customers
with High Performance Computing (HPC) and rendering projects where a large dataset is broken into
segments and processed by multiple servers.
For more information on Distributed LAN Client please see the Quantum StorNext Distributed LAN Client
Product Brief (PB00021).

350
300
250
200

Throughput (MB/s)

150
100
50
0

NFS (2x 1Gb)

LAN Client (1x 1Gb)

LAN Client (2x 1Gb)

SAN Client (2x 4Gb)

Figure 4

Tiered Storage and Data Preservation

SAN and NAS file systems are typically used for ingest and as a working area for most file types. However,
there are many files that are candidates for movement beyond primary storage. These files are described as
reference or static data types; data that is rarely, if ever, accessed or changed. Similarly, there are some
data that only needs to be preserved, whether its for protection or long-term archiving.
Most people are familiar with the protection component of a data management strategy. Almost every
company employs some product to safeguard file system content. This might include applications like
backup software or integrated data protection features like snapshots. To protect content, these products
make duplicate copies of files (or data blocks) enabling point-in-time recovery in the event of data loss.
While these products are critical to provide continuance of business operations, it is important to note
that they do not reduce the amount of primary storage. This is especially important to consider today as
individual file sizes and number of files maintained by an organization are increasing exponentially. As more
data is stored for longer durations, it becomes increasingly cost prohibitive to keep every file on primary
diskboth in terms of capacity costs, power and cooling costs and data protection costs. For instance, as
more data is maintained, backup windows get longer and more tape/disk is required to backup files.
Storing all data on primary disk might be acceptable if all data in the environment is actively used, but in
most organizations only a fraction of data is actively in use or changes frequently. In fact, the majority of
data in most organizations is used for only a short time after creation.

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This is where a tiered data approach becomes important. Tiered strategies are aimed at reducing the cost
of storing content while still keeping it accessible to users for re-purposing. Archiving is a specific example
of how data retention can be implemented to prevent expensive primary storage from being overwhelmed
by inactive data. Archiving in this regard is not necessarily for compliance adherence but instead for costeffective data storage. Data management software helps control storage costs by moving data off of
primary storage and on to lower-cost secondary storage tiers. This allows users to reduce the amount of
expensive, primary disk in play and instead use more cost effective mass storage devices for infrequently
used content (i.e. tape technologies, VTLs or MAID). Tiered and archived data is kept in a near-line state
and accessible to users so it can be re-purposed for future revenue-generating projects.

StorNext Replication
General file-based replication has many use cases including data consolidation, data distribution,
repurposing, and data protection for disaster recovery, just to name a few. StorNext Replication is an
asynchronous, host based replication feature that is highly flexible and configurable. Replication is
implemented at the directory level and is policy driven to initiate timed or user initiated copies of data.
The policy engine within StorNext also includes the capability to specify how copies are maintained and
managed on both the source and target locations. For example, replicated files that have been deleted on
the source can be kept at the target location. With StorNext Replication, environments can be designed to
replicate up to five source StorNext file systems into one centralized StorNext target location (see Figure 5).
Similarly, StorNext replication can also be configured to replicate from one StorNext file system to as many
as three target StorNext file systems (see Figure 6). The target file system can be the same machine as the
source, different machines on the SAN, or in a remote StorNext environment over a LAN or WAN.

DATA CONSOLIDATION AND PROTECTION

SOURCE

TARGET

DATA DISTRIBUTION AND PROTECTION

SOURCE

TARGET

Remote Office
Off
ff

mote Office
Remote
Off
Remote Office

WAN
WAN

Off
Remote Office
Central Datacenter
acenter

mote Office
Remote

Central D
Datacenter

Remote Office
Off
mote Office
Remote

Remote Office
Off

Figure 5

Figure 6

For customers who already have a StorNext Storage Manager environment and want to ingest those files
into a replicated environment, files will need to be retrieved from the disk or tape device and passed
through the Replication policy engine to be replicated to a new target location. Environments can be
replicated in many different combinations, including:
StorNext File System to StorNext File System
StorNext File System to StorNext Storage Manager
StorNext Storage Manager to StorNext Storage Manager

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Replication policies can be assigned to more than one directory at a time for easy management. For added
flexibility, StorNext Replication supports the concept of cascading (or multi-hop) replication, meaning
any directory can be designated as a source and/or target for replication. Files are replicated only when
the primary copy changes, and has the ability to truncate (remove) the primary copy of the file once the
replicated copy is stored, thus freeing up valuable capacity on primary disk systems.
Benefits of StorNext Replication over array based or 3rd party replication products include:
Flexibility StorNext can replicate multiple OS types, multiple vendor SANs and can be combined with
tiered data environments
Cost StorNext replication is license-based on per server basis, versus a capacity based model
Web services in the StorNext Management Console can be utilized to integrate Replication more closely
with 3rd party and custom applications
Deduplication used with Replication provides enhanced replication performance in low bandwidth
environments making recovery time much faster because you dont have to pull as much data back from
the remote site to rebuild the files

StorNext Deduplication
Quantum has long been an innovator in data management software, including data deduplication
technology. We developed the pioneering technology known as variable-length hash-based data
deduplication that has become an industry leader in the deduplication market. The introduction of
Deduplication in the StorNext File System now embraces this technology in the primary storage tier and is
changing the way tiered storage is used in file systems.
StorNext Deduplication reduces the amount of capacity consumed by data on disk. Unlike compression
technologies that use static pattern table methodologies based on an individual file being compressed,
StorNext Deduplication builds its redundancy index based on all the data being deduplicated, not just the
file being processed at that moment. StorNext Deduplication will find redundancies within a file making it
extremely efficient at saving storage space (up to 93% in some documented use cases).
With StorNext Deduplication (see Figure 7), any area of primary storage can become the repository for
the deduplicated dataset. StorNext Deduplication utilizes the same file system policy engine running on a
Linux MDC that is put in place for StorNext Replication. The system allows the administrator to set policies
through the Management Console or command line based upon:

Directories to deduplicate
How quickly deduplication will occur after files are created or changed
When, and if removal of primary file occurs
Meeting file size requirements in order for a file to be deduplicated

A typical use case for StorNext Deduplication is for reducing the capacity utilization due to having multiple
copies of the same, or even similar, file. Imagine how much disk space can be saved by deduplicating large
static files, images, and video that have been intentionally or unknowingly stored in multiple locations.
Capacity reductions also occur for customers who push pre-production copies of deduplicated data to target
locations (using StorNext Replication), then push production copies of the same data to the target location
later. With StorNext Deduplication only small amounts of production data are transferred at this time.
StorNext Deduplication can also take advantage of WAN acceleration techniques during replication. Before
newly created data is replicated from the source to the target location, the replication engine will check to
see what deduplicated data already exists at the target site and only send the unique bits of the file across
the WAN, greatly reducing bandwidth and transfer time.

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For those who need the maximum file retrieval performance available, StorNext Deduplication allows
application and user access to the file before the entire file is completely retrieved. Similarly, utilizing Solid
State Disk (SSD) storage devices to house the block pool index can optimize performance.
For customers who utilize StorNext Deduplication as part of a tiered storage methodology with Storage
Manager, file retrieval will occur from the Deduplication block pool before retrieving from Storage
Manager. The only reason files would be retrieved from Storage Manager is if the block pool is unavailable.
This increases the performance of file retrievals while maintaining the highest possible file preservation
techniques. Protection of the blockpool is achieved through the use of StorNext Replication.

PRIMARY TIER

Vendor Agnostic
SECONDARY TIER

StorNext
SAN Clients

StorNext
Policy
Engine
Vendor Agnostic
DEDUPLICATED
REPOSITORY

Vendor Agnostic

Figure 7

Affinities
The simplest example of a tiered storage practice using the StorNext File System is the use of Affinities.
As mentioned before, StorNext can simultaneously manage multiple types of storage (FC, iSCSI, SAS, and
SATA) from different vendors under one namespace. Affinities are used to steer data within the file system
to a specific stripe group which is made of one or multiple LUNs. Assigned at a directory level, Affinities
can be used to steer data to the most appropriate device. An example is steering very important, high
throughput files to a FC disk volume while temporary files are stored in a directory that is tied to SATA disk.
Users and applications do not see this operation: they simply see the directory structure of the file system,
thus reaping the benefit of a single namespace combined with cost-optimal data location.
The example below shows various data-flows in a StorNext environment (See Figure 8). In this example
data is first stored in directories 1 and 2. Affinities are steering data stored in Directory 1 to Storage
Group A, which is a high-performance, mirrored FC Storage System, while data in Directory 2 is stored on
Storage Group B, which is lower-cost SATA-based storage system.
STORAGE GROUP A

FILE SYSTEM A

Directory 1
StorNext
Client

STORAGE GROUP B
Directory 2

SINGLE NAMESPACE

Figure 8

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StorNext Storage Manager Intelligent Archiving and Data Preservation

StorNext Storage Manager is an optional software component of StorNext that provides advanced data
preservation services. Storage Manager is responsible for automated policy-based transparent data
movement as well as capacity management of storage devices. Storage Manager accomplishes this through
an integrated policy engine which administrators can easily customize based on specific needs.
Policies are assigned at a directory level allowing users to create different tiered storage strategies based on
unique file and project requirements within a single namespace. For instance, certain files could be copied
to tape for data protection but never removed from primary disk because of their need for continuous use.
Other files might be copied to SATA or NAS disk and then truncated (removed from primary disk so only the
copy remains) after 30 days of inactivity to create a tiered storage practice. Other files may never be copied
(e.g. temp files) and would be cleared out by users as needed. Storage Managers flexible features are used
for moving files to tiered storage for cost reduction, data protection and long-term archiving.
Additionally, when a file is retrieved from the archive, it can be placed on a primary disk tier that is
different than where it was originally located. Optionally, StorNext has the ability to leave up to 2TB
of stubs files (headers) on the primary storage device for files that have been truncated. This provides
immediate access from the beginning of a file for applications expecting header information to be
retrieved at primary disk speeds.
Data movement policies occur in a the following process:

Create target destination copy(ies) of file at a designated time

Mark copy of file on primary disk as candidate for truncation (removal)
Remove file from primary storage so only archive copy(ies) remain
Future access of the file will trigger a transparent retrieval of the file from tiered storage or the archive

StorNext Distributed Data Movers

In most software archive architectures there often exists some sort of bottleneck when moving data (I/O)
to and from the archive. These architectures are problematic causing unknown server sizing as well
as limitations to load level as performance needs grow. In Storage Manager, the actual data movement
is handled by a Distributed Data Mover (DDM) which acts as the conduit for passing data to and from
primary storage to the storage tiers (see Figure 9). As the archive becomes more active, you can simply add
more DDMs to scale the system performance. These movers enable reads and writes of file copies for data
preservation and retrieval while still providing fast access to data via the copy on primary disk.

PRIMARY TIER

SAN
Client

FC/iSCSI

DDM
Server

SECONDARY TIER

StorrNext
StorNext
SAN
N Clients
Clientts
with
h DDMss

FC/iSCSI

DD
DDM
Server
Ser

MDC &
DDM

FC

FC

TAPE LIBRARY ARCHIVE

DDM
Server

FC

Figure 9

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It is important to note that all Storage Manager features are tightly integrated with the StorNext File
System to provide complete transparency. When files are moved from primary storage to a storage tier, the
StorNext File System metadata is updated to point to the storage tier location. From an application or users
perspective, the StorNext File System provides the mechanism to make the entire namespace seem as though
its on primary disk, even if its an archived copy on tape. When a moved file is subsequently requested,
the StorNext Storage Manger moves the file back to the StorNext File Systems primary disk for access.
For protection purposes, up to four copies of a file can be transparently managed by Storage Manager.
Imagine having a duplicate copy of a file on tier 2 SATA disk for nearline access, a copy in the tape library
and an offsite copy (vaulted copy) in a remote site. In this scenario, there is no need to backup the copy
on SATA, as duplicate copies exist in protected areas. If the SATA failed or became inaccessible, Storage
Manager would automatically and transparently retrieve the data from the next fastest storage area. A
typical use case for this is for protection of large StorNext File Systems where utilizing a backup application
is not feasible due to incompatibility or lengthy backup windows.

Summary
No longer do IT managers and Storage Administrator have to choose between performance and scale.
Quantum StorNext File System delivers high-performance shared pools of storage to optimize file sharing to
increase productivity and scale with the demands of your organization, while providing enterprise solutions
for managing and protecting business critical data.
High Performance Data Sharing
SAN File System: delivers high-performance file creation, storing, & sharing
Distributed LAN Client: provides NAS-like scalability to thousands of server nodes
Shared File System: offers simultaneous file access across platforms
Platform Independence: supports Windows, Linux, Mac and UNIX
Enterprise Data Management & Protection
Storage Vendor Agnostic: supports all major Disk and Tape systems
Replication: enables flexible data protection and data distribution solutions
Deduplication: optimizes capacity and cost of nearline and archived storage
Management Console: simplifies data management
Storage Manager: drives transparent tiered storage and archive
Distributed Data Mover (DDM): improves access performance and scalability of storage tiers
The data management challenges experienced today will only become increasingly complex and
overwhelming over time if the right solutions are not deployed now. StorNext is designed to meet the
demands of the enterprise organization today and into the future.

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Frequently asked questions

Where can I find more information on StorNext?
Check out Quantums StorNext website at http://www.quantum.com/StorNext/
Where can I download a StorNext Evaluation?
Check out Quantums StorNext website at http://www.quantum.com/StorNext/
Where can I download product documentation and data sheets?
Check out Quantums Product Information website at
http://www.quantum.com/ServiceandSupport/SoftwareandDocumentationDownloads/Index.aspx
Where can I find operating system and tape library/drive compatibility information?
Check out Quantums Compatibility Guides at
http://www.quantum.com/ServiceandSupport/CompatibilityGuides/Index.aspx
What primary disk storage systems does StorNext support?
StorNext is disk agnostic supporting many different vendors FC, iSCSI and NAS attached disk
storage systems.
What storage virtualization features does StorNext offer?
StorNext offers a variety of storage virtualization features, including:

Spanning file systems across multiple, heterogeneous storage systems

Dynamically move data from one to another storage system while data is being accessed
Dynamically replace out-of-service storage systems while data is being accessed
Dynamically enlarge file systems to incorporate increased capacity or additional storage systems
Automatically and transparently move data between on-line and near-line storage tiers, including
disk and tape
All clients have access to the same data at the same time, regardless of Operating System and
connectivity type
How does StorNext work with NAS devices?
While some data might be suitable to reside on NAS for primary data access, StorNext as a high
performance file system leverages NAS devices as tiered storage through policy-based movement.

Additional Information
For additional details on StorNext File System and StorNext Storage Manager, including integration options
for your environment, consult Quantums Software Architecture Group or contact the Software team at
softwareinfo@quantum.com.

For contact and product information,

visit quantum.com, call 800-677-6268 or send
an email to softwareinfo@quantum.com

Preserving the Worlds Most Important Data. Yours.

2010 Quantum Corporation. All rights reserved. Quantum, the Quantum logo, and all other
logos are registered trademarks of Quantum Corporation or of their respective owners.

About Quantum

Quantum Corp. (NYSE:QTM) is the leading global storage company

specializing in backup, recovery and archive. Combining focused expertise,
customer-driven innovation, and platform independence, Quantum
provides a comprehensive range of disk, tape, media and software
solutions supported by a world-class sales and service organization.
This includes the DXi-Series, the first disk backup solutions to extend
the power of data deduplication and replication across the distributed
enterprise. As a long-standing and trusted partner, the company works
closely with a broad network of resellers, OEMs and other suppliers to
meet customers evolving data protection needs.
PB00035

Jan 2010