Dell™ PowerVault™ 136T Storage Network
Controller Recommendation
The Dell PowerVault 136T tape library may be connected to a storage area network by way of the
optional Storage Network Controller (SNC) module. The SNC acts as a bridge between the
SCSI and Fibre Channel protocols and provides additional management, security, and
operational features unavailable in most native Fibre Channel libraries. Dell recommends using
the 6101 SNC, sometimes referred to as the SNC2 or second generation SNC, for Fibre Channel
connectivity. Using the 6101 SNC maximizes the performance of the PowerVault 136T Tape
Library with LTO-3 drives in a Fibre Channel environment.
The 6101 SNC has double the performance of the 5101 SNC, the first generation SNC for the
PowerVault 136T. The maximum throughput of the 6101 SNC is 400 MB/s, while the maximum
performance of the 5101 SNC is rated at 200 MB/s.
LTO-3 drives have a native throughput performance of 80 MB/s. In environments that require
higher throughput (i.e. >200 MB/sec), the 5101 SNC could limit the performance of the LTO-3
drives, particularly in library configurations with three or more drives. Dell strongly recommends
using the 6101 SNC for Fibre Channel connectivity for PowerVault 136T configurations with
three or more LTO-3 drives, where optimum performance is required.
The 5101 SNC can easily be identified by the orientation of the SCSI connectors, all four of
which are in a single line. The SCSI connectors in the 6101 SNC are in a two-by-two
configuration. The table below lists the specifications of both the 5101 SNC and 6101 SNC.
5101 SNC 6101 SNC
General
Overhead Processor IBM®PowerPC®405GP IBM PowerPC 440GP
Data Bus PCI
66 MHz
PCI-X
133 MHz
Throughput 200 MB/s (max) 400 MB/s (max)
SCSI Channels
Processor Two LSI 53C1010 Dual channel
configured as Ultra 2 SCSI
controllers (four ports)
Two LSI 53C1030 Dual channel Ultra
320 SCSI controllers (four ports)
Connectors Four VHDCI connectors (in line) Four VHDCI connectors (two dual
stacks)
December 2005
6101 Recommendation v3am0.fm Page 9 Tuesday, December 13, 2005 10:04 AM
