1-2 SANRAD V-Switch CLI User ManualV-Switch OverviewThe V-Switch provides protocol bridging, routing, switching and volumemanagement in a single platform.Figure 1-1, details a standard V-Switch network topology. Two V-Switches sitin the center of the network, providing load balancing and failover ability.Above the V-Switches are IP clouds connecting the network(s) managementand host stations. The hosts can connect to the V-Switch directly or via an IPcloud. An iSCSI initiator agent in the host allows access to virtual volumes inthe V Switch.Below the V-Switches are the network storage devices, which include bothJBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks) and RAID subsystems. The V-Switch providesthe ability to connect via both SCSI and FC protocols, including FC clouds,increasing the number of potential attached storage devices.The V-Switch can be used in two modes: iSCSI bridging switch Storage virtualization switchEnd-to-end Fibre Channel protocol networks are expensive to implement. Asan iSCSI bridging switch, the V-Switch acts as a protocol bridge betweenstorage devices on a Fibre Channel network and hosts on a standard IPnetwork.The V-Switch also acts as a protocol bridge between SCSI storage devices andhosts on a standard IP network.Simple exposure of each storage device as a single LUN is an inefficient use ofstorage resources. As a storage virtualization switch, the V-Switch enablesbarrier-independent storage pooling with precise LUN carving of new virtualvolumes which support mirroring and striping with managed exposure.
