NetApp FAS2554 Hybrid Storage Array

Overview:

Integrating data management across flash, disk, and cloud

Organizations of all sizes and local offices of larger companies are challenged more than ever by shrinking budgets, overextended staff, and the ever-changing demands caused by data growth. Plus, recently there is flash and cloud adoption to consider. These challenges, coupled with the increasing complexity of your Microsoft Windows, VMware, or server virtualization environment, can quickly eat your budget and affect the productivity of your staff.

Hybrid storage with best-in-class data management

Designed to support more of your IT needs, NetApp FAS2500 hybrid storage arrays provide more value for your money than other systems in their class. FAS2500 running the NetApp ONTAP storage software simplifies the task of managing growth and complexity by providing support for a broader range of workloads, along with seamless scaling of performance and capacity.

And with proven integration with AFF all-flash arrays and the cloud, you can build a foundation for a data fabric that leverages flash acceleration and public storage resources to cost-effectively handle dynamic storage needs. For growing organizations that are concerned about budgets today and meeting challenging IT needs in the future, FAS2500 is the perfect choice.

Realize superior ROI. Reduce your operational cost. Adapt to business growth with NetApp FAS2500 hybrid storage arrays.

Whatever the size of your enterprise, you need powerful, flexible storage that manages growth and maximizes the long-term value of your IT investment. The NetApp FAS2500 series running ONTAP software simplifies storage operations and builds a foundation for a data fabric that flows data seamlessly across flash, disk, and cloud. Its unified architecture supports a broader set of SAN and NAS workloads—with faster setup than other entry-class hybrid arrays.

• Get more from your investment
  Leverage flash technology to accelerate workloads. Boost disk utilization with enhanced partitioning and storage efficiencies.
• Reduce IT operational costs
  Deploy a single unit or a complete cluster faster with System Setup. Automate storage management (provision, protect, monitor) with the click of a button.
• Maximize flexibility and minimize disruption
  Start small to minimize upfront costs. Scale to eight nodes—without disruption—as your data requirements grow. Connect easily to the cloud.

Key Benefits

Simplifies Storage Operations

• Goes from initial power-up to serving data in under 10 minutes
• Handles complicated management tasks with the click of a button
• Allows you to upgrade software and add or retire storage with zero downtime

Delivers Best Value for Your IT Investment

• Serves SAN and NAS workloads with advanced unified architecture
• Meets more business needs with best-in-class data management
• Achieves better priceperformance with up to 20x more flash than previous generation
• Increases return on investment with enhanced storage efficiencies

Grows with Your Changing Needs

• Lets you start small and grow big, invest in what you need, and add without disruption
• Builds a foundation for a data fabric across flash, disk, and cloud

Flexible Flash Architecture: Performance Where You Need It

The FAS2500 series has a very flexible architecture capable of supporting media configurations including all-flash, hybrid, and all-HDD deployments. I believe that for this platform, hybrid configurations combining either performance or capacity HDDs and SSDs are the sweet spot. Hybrid configurations using our virtual storage tier (VST) technology have been shown to accelerate workloads by up to 46% and increase usable capacity by 48%. This is achieved by replacing performance HDDs alone with a combination of high-capacity HDDs and SSDs.

NetApp VST technology is designed to use flash very efficiently, and actually benefits from the use of complementary technologies such as deduplication and cloning, so you get more acceleration from a smaller investment in flash. With support for up to 4TB of flash in hybrid VST configurations on all FAS2500 systems, you can accelerate many workloads, all sharing the same storage. Storage QoS can be used to make sure that no single workload hogs too many resources.

While VST deployment is certainly the most common type of hybrid deployment expected for the FAS2500, you also have the option of deploying a mix of SSDs and HDDs, using SSDs for performance-sensitive workloads and HDDs for capacity-oriented workloads.

Designed to Scale Out

While the expanded flash architecture of the FAS2500 series delivers substantial performance benefits, we've also optimized the platform for clustered Data ONTAP to allow it to scale out to achieve greater capacity and performance. As you've already seen, you can scale up any FAS2500 model by adding HDDs for capacity and SSDs for performance.

FAS2500 series scale-out capabilities expand performance and capacity while eliminating downtime.

When you reach the limits of scale-up in a single system, you can then scale out by adding additional controllers (nodes). With expanded scale-out capabilities (4 nodes for the FAS2520 and 8 nodes for the FAS255x) you can build out a storage infrastructure with up to 2.3 petabytes of total capacity. You can mix different types of media in your cluster to satisfy a variety of storage requirements and, when needed, you can transition from FAS2500 controllers to FAS8000 controllers for even greater performance and capacity—all without disrupting ongoing operations.

Simplified Installation and Management

While designing great hardware is important, NetApp has paid equal attention to software for the FAS2500 (and the entire FAS product line). Our wizard-driven System Setup software makes it possible to configure a FAS2500 system in 10 minutes or less. You can unbox aFAS2500 system, set it up physically including racking and cabling, configure the software, and be serving data in less than 30 minutes with no storage expertise required, and with everything done according to best practices.

System Setup software makes it possible to get a FAS2500 system up and running with no storage expertise required.

Similarly, our suite of OnCommand management tools including OnCommand System Manager and OnCommand Workflow Automation simplify management and allow you to automate routine processes.

Finally, when it comes to storage, it just makes sense to choose infrastructure that offers complete integration for enterprise applications such as Oracle Database, SAP, and Microsoft Exchange, SQL Server, and SharePoint. Integration facilitates deployment, management, and protection of important applications.

NetApp is widely regarded as an industry leader in the area of integration, providing API integration across the broadest set of technology partners, platforms, applications, and tools. We have more points of integration than any other storage vendor. This helps you to reduce IT complexity and increase availability, further accelerating the speed of business.

Cloud Connected

Ability to connect to the cloud to support backup, disaster recovery, and other functions is certainly appealing to everyone, and may be particularly desirable for smaller organizations that often don’t have or would prefer not to have a second facility for remote backup or DR.

Over 350 cloud service providers (CSPs) use NetApp FAS storage, and we’re forging relationships with hyperscale providers like Amazon Web Services. Utilizing the FAS2500 and Data ONTAP, you can choose a service provider and move data easily between your facility and the cloud using proven NetApp replication technologies to take full advantage of cloud resources.

Conclusion

The FAS2500 series is an ideal storage choice for almost any situation where there's a more modest storage requirement. Smaller shops will appreciate the FAS2500 for its easy setup, ease of use, flexibility, and consistent, flash-accelerated performance for both SAN and NAS workloads. Larger enterprises will benefit for many of the same reasons. Full feature compatibility with its larger FAS cousins and easy cloud connectivity make any of the FAS2500 models an easy choice for smaller storage requirements like remote and branch offices that need to be backed up to a central location or the cloud.

Features:

Simplifies storage operations

Free up your time, money, and people. You don’t need to be a storage expert to deploy and manage NetApp storage systems. The NetApp FAS2500 series offers a powerful range of technologies to help reduce complexity and increase the efficiency of your storage administrators. Your organization can:

• Go from initial power-up to serving data in under 10 minutes by using the System Setup utility. The updated NetApp OnCommand suite of software tools lets you handle complicated management tasks with the click of a button.
• Manage 2x to 3x more storage. Leading integration with key business applications helps administrators to be more efficient.
• Upgrade software and add or retire storage without downtime. The FAS2500 with non-disruptive operation (NDO) technology lets you dynamically handle more storage tasks during regular work hours without costly interruption to IT.
• Keep operations running at peak efficiency. You can easily tune and troubleshoot your storage environment with OnCommand management software. And quickly resolve issues with proactive service diagnostics.
• Protect your critical data more efficiently with integrated data protection by using NetApp technologies such as RAID-TEC (triple-parity), RAID DP, and Snapshot.

Quick and easy setup of FAS2500 systems with the System Setup utility.

System Setup is an intuitive GUI-based utility that dramatically simplifies the setup and provisioning of your FAS2500 systems; now it takes just minutes. It automatically discovers your new system and uses a wizard process that provides recommended defaults for optimal system utilization and performance. OnCommand System Manager is a simple but powerful browserbased management tool to simplify ongoing management and administration.

In addition to the standard set of powerful software that comes with every FAS2500 system, the optional extended-value software products offer advanced capabilities such as instant data recovery, instant cloning, data replication, disk-to-disk backup, and application-aware backup and recovery.

Delivers the most value for your IT investment

FAS2500 hybrid storage arrays are built to deliver robust capabilities, so your investment supports the broadest possible set of IT needs. Every system includes unified support for NAS and SAN workloads and can be configured as a hybrid, even an all-flash, system to meet specific price-performance and latency goals. In addition, each FAS2500 delivers:

• Increased price/performance value
  Leverage the industry’s most efficient hybrid flash technology, increasing usable capacity by 48% and accelerating workloads by up to 46%, compared with hard-disk-only systems.
• Best-in-class storage efficiency
  Enhanced compression delivers efficiency and storage savings without compromising performance. Along with deduplication, compaction (new), thin provisioning, and other data reduction technologies, these features deliver leading storage efficiency.
• Advanced IT integration options
  FAS2500 supports a broader set of applications and delivers 2x the connectivity than the previous generation with flexible, onboard unified target adapters (UTA2s).
• Expanded enterprise-class data management
  Access NDO, QoS, and superior virtualization integration, which are usually offered only in the highest end systems, to meet complicated IT needs.

Built to meet your changing needs

As your business grows and priorities change, it is important to have a storage solution that responds to your changing IT requirements dynamically and cost-effectively. The NetApp FAS2500 series provides multiple ways to support your growing needs:

• Start small and grow big by nondisruptively adding more nodes as needed, without incurring large capital expenses up front.
• Scale out up to 8 nodes to support your increasing storage requirements.
• Upgrade to higher-end NetApp systems while using the same data management software and tools, which reduces administrative overhead by up to 60% by eliminating retraining.
• Get built-in investment protection with the ability to convert your FAS2552 and FAS2554 systems to an external disk shelf when you upgrade to larger NetApp systems.

You can also build a foundation of a data fabric across flash, disk, and cloud. Move your data to where it’s needed and place it on the storage environment that delivers the best combination of flash performance, storage capacity, and cost efficiency. Organizations are increasingly turning to the cloud to be more responsive to user needs and to deliver a level of off-site data protection that up to now has been outside their budgets. If your plans include the cloud, now or in the future, FAS2500 running ONTAP is a great choice.

Your storage can become part of a private cloud by using options such as OpenStack or Microsoft Private Cloud. The FAS2500 extends the reach of your business by connecting with cloud services, including:

• Hundreds of cloud service providers that have built their services by using NetApp
• NetApp ONTAP Cloud, which is ONTAP software running in the cloud
• Our suite of NetApp Private Storage for Cloud offerings, delivering superior I/O performance and data security

You don’t need to be an expert to configure your storage with the simple, easy-to-use NetApp System Manager console.

With best-in-class data management and control for the hybrid cloud, NetApp cloud solutions enable seamless movement of data in and out of the cloud.

Specifications:

Choosing the Right System

NetApp offers three systems in the FAS2500 family to help you find the balance of price, performance, capacity, and features that best fits your needs.

FAS2520
Geared toward value-oriented deployments, the FAS2520 is a good fit for:

• Smaller organizations, remote offices, and local storage
• Consolidating virtualized environments with a small number of Windows applications or general file-serving workloads
• Customers who need a powerful system at a competitive price

FAS2552
Equipped for higher performance needs, the FAS2552 is a great fit for:

• Midsize organizations and distributed sites of larger organizations that require a smaller form factor and lower power consumption
• Windows applications and virtual server consolidation with multiple workloads
• Customers who require higher performance, I/O flexibility, and investment protection for future growth

FAS2554
Equipped for higher capacity needs, the FAS2554 is a great fit for:

• Midsize organizations and distributed sites of larger organizations
• Windows applications and virtual server consolidation with multiple workloads
• Customers who require cost-effective larger capacity, I/O flexibility, and investment protection for future growth

	FAS2554		FAS2552		FAS2520
	Single Controller	Dual Controller	Single Controller	Dual Controller	Single Controller	Dual Controller
Maximum drives	1152TB	1152TB	1052TB	1052TB	672TB	672TB
Maximum capacity	24	24	24	24	12	12
Supported Internal Drives
Performance HDD	N/A		600GB, 900GB, 1.2TB		600GB, 900GB, 1.2TB
Capacity HDD	2TB, 3TB, 4TB,6TB,8TB		N/A		2TB, 3TB, 4TB,6TB,8TB
SSD	200GB, 400GB, 800GB		200GB, 400GB, 800GB, 1.6TB, 3.84TB		200GB, 400GB, 800GB, 1.6TB, 3.84TB
Self-encrypting Drives	4TB at 7.2K RPM AES-256, FIPS 140-2 compliant		900GB at 10KRPM, 4TB at 7.2K RPM AES-256, FIPS 140-2 compliant		900GB at 10KRPM, 4TB at 7.2K RPM AES-256, FIPS 140-2 compliant
Max. Drives (Internal + External)	144	144	144	144	84	84
ECC Memory	18GB	36GB	18GB	36GB	18GB	36GB
Controller Form Factor	1 or 2 controllers in a single 4U chassis		1 or 2 controllers in a single 2U chassis		1 or 2 controllers in a single 2U chassis
Maximum Flash Pool	16TB1	16TB1	16TB1	16TB1	16TB1	16TB1
NVMEM/NVRAM	2GB	4GB	2GB	4GB	2GB	4GB
Onboard I/O: UTA 2 (8Gb FC/16Gb FC/FCoE/10GbE/1GbE)2	43	83	43	83	N/A	N/A
Onboard I/O: 10G Base-T	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	44	84
Onboard I/O: 6Gb SAS	2	4	2	4	2	4
Onboard I/O: GbE	2	4	2	4	2	4

	FAS2554	FAS2552	FAS2520
Scale-Out Configurations (Hybrid and Disk-Only Configurations)
NAS/SAN Scaling	1–8 nodes (4 HA pairs)	1–8 nodes (4 HA pairs)	1–4 nodes (2 HA pairs)
Maximum Drives	576	576	168
Maximum Capacity	4.6PB	4.2PB	1.3PB
Maximum Flash Pool Capacity	64TB	64TB	32TB
Maximum Memory	144GB	144GB	72GB
Cluster Interconnect	10GbE	10GbE	10G Base-T
Storage Protocols Supported	FC; FCoE; iSCSI; NFS; pNFS; CIFS/SMB	FC; FCoE; iSCSI; NFS; pNFS; CIFS/SMB	iSCSI; NFS; pNFS; CIFS/SMB
OS Version	ONTAP 8.2.2 or later
High-Availability Features	Alternate Control Path (ACP); Ethernet-based service processor and ONTAP management interface; redundant hot-swappable controllers, cooling fans, and power supplies
Supported Configurations	Hardware Cluster Configurations: Single-node cluster Two-node switchless cluster Two-node switched cluster Clusters of HA pairs Back-End Disks: Single path with single controller or HA pair; dual path with single controller MP-HA with HA pair (best practice) Consult the Interoperability Matrix Tool for FAS2500 support on earlier versions of ONTAP software.
Disk Shelves Supported	DS2246 (2U; 24 drives, 2.5" SFF)  DS4246 (4U; 24 drives, 3.5" LFF)
Maximum RAID Group Sizes	RAID-TEC (triple parity, ONTAP 9) SSDs and Performance HDDs: 29 (26 data disks plus 3 parity disks) Capacity HDDs: 21 (18 data disks plus 3 parity disks) RAID 6 (RAID-DP) SSDs and Performance HDDs: 28 (26 data disks plus 2 parity disks) Capacity HDDs: 20 (18 data disks plus 2 parity disks) RAID 4 SSDs and Performance HDDs: 14 (13 data disks plus 1 parity disk) Capacity HDDs: 7 (6 data disks plus 1 parity disk) RAID 6 + RAID 1 or RAID 4 + RAID 1 (SyncMirror)
Host/Client Operating Systems Supported	Windows® 2000, Windows Server® 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows XP, Linux®, Oracle® Solaris, AIX, HP-UX, Mac® OS, VMware®, ESX®
Max. Number of LUNs	2048 per controller
Number of Supported SAN Hosts	Up to 6 ports per controller configured as front-end (host) connectivity ports Up to 12 directly connected servers per active-active configuration Connected hosts per HA pair: Up to 512 SAN connected servers
FlexVol Volumes	Up to 1,000 per controller
Snapshot Copies	Up to 255,000 per controller
Maximum Volume Size	60TB
Maximum Aggregate Size	120TB
	FAS2554	FAS2552	FAS2520
System Environmental Specifications
Thermal Rating	1,948 BTU (typical)  2,044 BTU (worst case)	1,218 BTU (typical)  1,737 BTU (worst case)	1,164 BTU (typical)  1,843 BTU (worst case)
Weight	111.3 lbs	55.4 lbs	58.6 lbs
Height	7" (17.9 cm), fits into 4U space	3.35" (8.5 cm), fits into 2U space	3.45" (8.76 cm), fits into 2U space
Width	19" IEC rack-compliant (17.6", 44.7 cm)
Depth (without cable management brackets)	22" (56 cm)	19" (48 cm)	20" (50.8 cm)
Operating temperature, altitude, and relative humidity	50°F to 104°F (10°C to 40°C); at ≤ 3,000m (at ≤ 10,000') elevation; 20% to 80% relative humidity, noncondensing
Nonoperating temperature and relative humidity	-40°F to 158°F (-40°C to 70°C); at ≤ 12,192m (at ≤ 40,000') typical of unconditioned airplane cargo bay, 8% to 80% relative humidity, noncondensing, in original container
Operating acoustic noise	FAS2520: Declared sound power (LwAd) per ISO 9296: 6.2 Bel Sound pressure (LpAm) (bystander positions): 49.6 dB FAS2552: Declared sound power (LwAd) per ISO 9296: 6.2 Bel Sound pressure (LpAm) (bystander positions): 49.6 dB FAS2554: Declared sound power (LwAd) per ISO 9296: 6.1 Bel Sound pressure (LpAm) (bystander positions): 49.6 dB
Compliance	RoHS-compliant (PDF)
Safety/emissions/immunity	Safety: EN 60950, CE, CSA 60950, UL 60950, CB IEC60950-1 (all national deviations), EN60825-1, IRAM, CU, BIS, BSMI, SONCAP, NRCS LOA (South Africa)  Emissions/Immunity: FCC Part 15 Class A, ICES-03, CE, KCC, VCCI, AS/NZS CISPR 22, EN55022, EN55024, EN61000-3-2, EN61000-3-3, SABS COC (South Africa), BSMI

¹ 16TB for ONTAP 8.3 and higher, 4TB for Data ONTAP 8.2. (cluster-mode and 7-mode)
² 1GbE optical and copper SFP support starts with the release of Data ONTAP 8.3.1RC. 1GbE is also supported on ONTAP 8.2.4 or later for 7-mode systems.
³ FAS2552 and FAS2554 onboard UTA2 ports can be configured as either 8Gb/16Gb FC port pair or 10GbE/1GbE port pair and mixed combinations.
⁴ FAS2520 onboard ports are 10GBASE-T only that can autorange to 1GbE.