New Release H19-308_V4.0 HCS-Pre-sales Questions

This statement is true according to Huawei’s storage networking fundamentals. iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface) encapsulates SCSI commands into TCP/IP packets for transmission over standard Ethernet networks. Because it leverages the universal TCP/IP stack, iSCSI can operate across existing routers, switches, and long-distance WAN links without requiring the specialized, expensive hardware associated with Fibre Channel (such as FC switches and Host Bus Adapters).

This reliance on standard Ethernet infrastructure provides iSCSI with superiorscalability and flexibility. For example, iSCSI allows storage to be accessed over any distance where an IP connection exists, which is inherently simpler than the complex "FCIP" tunneling required to extend FC over long distances. Additionally, as Ethernet speeds continue to evolve rapidly (10GbE to 25GbE, 100GbE, and beyond), iSCSI can easily scale its performance by upgrading standard networking components. While Fibre Channel often offers lower latency and better raw performance in dedicated local environments, the ease of expansion and integration into existing IP networks makes iSCSI the more scalable choice for broad data center environments.

Huawei OceanStor Dorado supports Non-disruptive Upgrade (NDU), which allows the storage system’s software (firmware) to be upgraded while services are running. In a traditional storage environment, an upgrade might require a system reboot or cause a failover that interrupts I/O for several seconds or minutes. However, Dorado's NDU leverages the multi-controller architecture and advanced caching mechanisms.

During an NDU, the system upgrades controllers one by one or in batches. While one controller is being upgraded and rebooted, its workloads are transparently taken over by other active controllers in the same cluster. Because the host-side multipathing software handles the path failover and the storage system maintains cache mirroring, the application servers experience zero downtime and negligible performance impact. This feature is essential for mission-critical environments that require 24/7 availability and cannot afford scheduled maintenance windows for routine software updates.

The SMB (Server Message Block) protocol, which is primarily used for Windows-based file sharing, relies on a centralized authentication and authorization mechanism to manage permissions in an enterprise environment. In Huawei OceanStor NAS documentation, Active Directory (AD) is the primary domain controller system supported for the SMB protocol.

When a Huawei storage system joins an Active Directory domain, it can authenticate users and groups defined in the AD, allowing for seamless integration with Windows environments. WhileLDAP (Option A)andNIS (Option B)are supported by Huawei NAS for theNFSprotocol (typically used in Linux/Unix environments), the SMB protocol is inherently designed to work with the Kerberos and NTLM authentication provided by Microsoft’s Active Directory. This ensures that NTFS-style ACLs (Access Control Lists) can be properly mapped and enforced across the network.

A Storage Area Network (SAN) is a dedicated network for block-level data access. Huawei OceanStor systems support a variety of block-access protocols to ensure compatibility with different infrastructure environments. Fibre Channel (FC) is the industry standard for high-performance enterprise SANs, offering dedicated, low-latency, and lossless delivery. iSCSI provides block-level storage over standard TCP/IP Ethernet networks, making it a flexible and cost-effective alternative for many organizations.

InfiniBand (Option B)is a high-bandwidth, low-latency interconnect protocol often used in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and specialized SAN clusters to connect compute nodes to storage pools at extremely high speeds.NFS (Option D)is excluded from this answer because it is aNAS (Network Attached Storage)protocol. NFS (Network File System) provides file-level access rather than block-level access. While modern Huawei systems like the OceanStor Dorado series are "Unified Storage" (supporting both SAN and NAS on the same hardware), technically, only A, B, and C are considered SAN protocols.