Key words: FabricCache, QLogic, caching, Fibre Channel adapter, cluster environment, virtualization.
All the existing solutions to accelerate applications in the data center by data caching while working in a SAN infrastructure are divided into two main classes: server-side caching and storage-side cashing. The article describes a new technology and a new class of solution: caching Fibre Channel (FC) host bus adapters. This technology is a hybrid solution that combines the advantages of both classes, as the FC adapters are plugged inside a server but the cached data is available both from within the server, as well as outside - to everyone who has access to the SAN. The article contains the results of testing of the FabricCache family FC adapters in a virtualized (VMware) cluster environment when working with applications such as databases (SQL), Oracle RAC, MS Exchange. The performance increase was in a set of configurations of clusters of 7 to 22 times, showing a good scalability and the possibility of actually summing of cache memory of all the cards between nodes of the cluster. As an essential advantage is marked the independence of the solution on the operating environment, ease of deployment and management in the existing infrastructure of the customer.
