Hitachi HW100 limitations
Not too long ago I have purchased a brand new Hitachi HW100 Workgroup Storage. 14+1 400GB SATA disks, dual-interface, each holding two fiber ports (2Gb/s LC). A nice machine. However, two limitations I have discovered are clouding my day:
1. It supports only Raid0 and Raid5. It will not allow me no-parity Raid, aka, Raid1. It is a pity, because my storage is meant for the lab, and not for production, and I wish to decide my own Raid level. That is why it’s 14+1 disks, and not 15. You must have a spare disk.
2. While not connected directly to hosts (Private Loop), only one port out of two ports in an interface works. It means I bought 4 ports, and actually got two. Why would I need four? I need to simulate multi-path, load balancing and utilize maximum flexibility when connecting this storage to my fiber network. After all, this network is all lab, no production network, and I need to maximize my output, with as little redundancy as possible.
These two limitations are somewhat hidden, and, especially the second one, was discovered only after I’ve questioned HDS’ support person. Pity. I will want to return it, and get a more capable one. I need to see what I can do with it.
