About the SC4020 Storage System
The SC4020 storage system provides the central processing capabilities for the Storage Center Operating System and management of
RAID storage.
Topics:
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Storage Center Hardware Components
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Storage Center Architecture Options
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SC4020 Storage System Hardware
Storage Center Hardware Components
The Storage Center described in this document consists of an SC4020 storage system, enterprise-class switches, and expansion
enclosures.
To allow for storage expansion, the SC4020 storage system supports multiple SC200/SC220 expansion enclosuresand up to two SC280
expansion enclosures.
NOTE:
The cabling between the storage system, switches, and host servers is referred to as front
‐
end connectivity. The
SAS cabling between the storage system and expansion enclosures is referred to as back-end connectivity. If expansion
enclosures are not used, the SAS cabling between the storage controllers is referred to as back-end connectivity.
SC4020 Storage System
The SC4020 is a 2U storage system that supports a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 24 internal 2.5-inch hot-swappable SAS hard drives
installed horizontally side-by-side.
The SC4020 storage system contains two redundant power supply/cooling fan modules and two storage controllers with multiple I/O
ports that provide communication with servers and expansion enclosures.
Switches
Dell offers enterprise-class switches as part of the total Storage Center solution.
The SC4020 storage system supports Fibre Channel (FC) and Ethernet switches, which provide robust connectivity to servers and allow
for the use of redundant transport paths. Fibre Channel (FC) or Ethernet switches can provide connectivity to a remote Storage Center
to allow for replication of data. In addition, Ethernet switches provide connectivity to a management network to allow configuration,
administration, and management of the Storage Center.
Expansion Enclosures
Expansion enclosures allow the data storage capabilities of the SC4020 storage system to be expanded beyond the 24 internal disks in the
storage system chassis.
An SC4020 a total of 192 disks per Storage Center system. This total includes the disks in the storage system chassis and the disks in the
SC200/SC220 expansion enclosures or SC280 expansion enclosures.
An SC4020 can support:
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Up to fourteen SC200 expansion enclosures
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Up to seven SC220 expansion enclosures
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Any combination of SC200/SC220 expansion enclosures, as long as the total disk count of the system does not exceed 192
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Up to two SC280 expansion enclosures
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About the SC4020 Storage System
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