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The following table provides definitions for some of the terms that are used in this document.
Term | Definition |
Appliance | Solution containing the base enclosure and any attached expansion enclosures. |
Base enclosure | Used to reference the enclosure containing both Nodes (Node A and Node B) and 25x NVMe drive slots. |
Cluster | One or more appliances in a single grouping and management interface. Clusters are expandable by adding more appliances to the existing cluster, up to the allowed amount for a cluster. |
Expansion enclosure | Enclosures that can be attached to a base enclosure to provide additional storage. |
Fibre Channel (FC) protocol | A protocol used to perform Internet Protocol (IP) and Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) commands over a Fibre Channel network. |
File system | A storage resource that can be accessed through file-sharing protocols such as SMB or NFS. |
Internet SCSI (iSCSI) | Provides a mechanism for accessing block-level data storage over network connections. |
Intra-cluster Management (ICM) Network | An internal management network that provides continuous management connectivity between appliances in the PowerStore cluster. |
Intra-cluster Data (ICD) Network | An internal network that provides continuous storage connectivity between appliances in the PowerStore cluster. |
Network-attached storage (NAS) server | A virtualized network-attached storage server that uses the SMB, NFS, FTP, and SFTP protocols to catalog, organize, and transfer files within file system shares and exports. A NAS server, the basis for multitenancy, must be created before you can create file-level storage resources. NAS servers are responsible for the configuration parameters on the set of file systems that it serves. |
Network File System (NFS) | An access protocol that allows data access from Linux/UNIX hosts on a network. |
Node | Component within an appliance that contains processors and memory. Each appliance consists of two nodes. |
NVMe over Fibre Channel (NVMe/FC) | Protocol used to perform Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) commands over a Fibre Channel network. |
NVMe over TCP (NVMe/TCP) | Protocol used to perform Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) commands over an Ethernet network. |
PowerStore Command Line Interface (PSTCLI) | An interface that allows a user to perform tasks on the storage system by typing commands instead of using the UI. |
PowerStore Manager | An HTML5 user interface used to manage PowerStore systems. |
PowerStore Q model | Container-based storage system that is running on purpose-built hardware. This storage system supports unified (block and file) workloads, or block-optimized workloads. The PowerStore Q model supports Quad-Level Cell (QLC) NVMe SSDs for data storage. |
PowerStore T model | Container-based storage system that is running on purpose-built hardware. This storage system supports unified (block and file) workloads, or block-optimized workloads. The PowerStore T model supports Triple-Level Cell (TLC) NVMe SSDs for data storage. |
Representational State Transfer (REST) API | A set of resources (objects), operations, and attributes that provide interactive, scripted, and programmatic management control of the PowerStore cluster. |
Server Message Block (SMB) | A network file sharing protocol, sometimes referred to as CIFS, used by Microsoft Windows environments. SMB is used to provide access to files and folders from Windows hosts on a network. |
Snapshot | A point-in-time view of data stored on a storage resource. A user can recover files from a snapshot, restore a storage resource from a snapshot, or clone the snapshot to provide access to a host. |
Storage Policy Based Management (SPBM) | Using policies to control storage-related capabilities for a VM and ensure compliance throughout its life cycle. |
Volume | A block-level storage device that can be shared out using a protocol such as iSCSI or Fibre Channel. |
vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) | A VMware storage framework that allows VM data to be stored on individual Virtual Volumes. This ability allows for data services to be applied at a VM-level of granularity and according to SPBM. Virtual Volumes can also refer to the individual storage objects that are used to enable this functionality. |
vSphere API for Array Integration (VAAI) | A VMware API that improves ESXi host utilization by offloading storage-related tasks to the storage system. |
vSphere API for Storage Awareness (VASA) | A VMware vendor-neutral API that enables vSphere to determine the capabilities of a storage system. This feature requires a VASA provider on the storage system for communication. |