This paper provides a basic overview describing the most commonly used storage strategies for clusters, and some emerging technologies that attempt to answer the problems associated with largerscale data distribution in large clusters. It assumes the reader is familiar with the basics of RAID, file serving, Network Attached Storage (NAS), distributed file systems, and their storage management, scalability and performance shortcomings.

The focus of this paper will be on the next level solution that overcomes these shortcomings and enables large-scale shared data clusters via an integrated SAN and NAS solution and the use of InfiniBand. This white paper will provide a technical overview of the S2A9550 Solution architecture and how it enables large-scale shared data clusters that integrate NAS and SAN storage solutions. It will also show why the S2A9550 is the best choice for NAS solutions by providing a more effective utilization of hardware and software resources, simpler scalability, and increased availability and performance.