GLOBALNET

 A Family of Storage Servers for NT, Novell, Win98, Win95, and DOS

GlobalNet Express    GlobalNet Route 101    GlobalNet Shuttle    GlobalNet SST

For Optisys, GlobalNet marks the culmination of eight years as the technological leader in the development of interface software for optical devices. For the user and administrator, the GlobalNet family represents the simplest possible way to share a mass storage device on a network(s) (Novell, NT, Lan Manager/OS/2, Win95, etc) .GlobalNet defines the next generation of Optisys products and represents its first comprehensive hardware/software offering.

The range of GlobalNet products support standalone optical drives, RAIDs, CD-ROM and optical disk jukeboxes. GlobalNet Express is the server for standalone optical disk drives and disk-based jukebox storage devices(1-11) slots, redundant arrays of independent magnetic disks, RAIDs, and CD-ROM towers and autochangers(1-600 discs) and PD Libraries (1-50 slots). GlobalNet Route 101 is the server for standalone optical drives and disk-based jukebox storage devices(1-32) slots, redundant arrays of independent magnetic disks, RAIDs, and CD-ROM towers and autochangers(1-600 discs) and PD Libraries (1-100 slots). GlobalNet Shuttle is the server for small to mid-range optical disk jukeboxes(1-64 slots), and small to large CD-ROM jukeboxes(1-600 discs). GlobalNet SST is the server for mid- to large-size optical disk jukeboxes.

Once the server is attached to the network, the server configures itself. There is no software installation required. At no time does the network administrator have to bring down the network, nor does he have to customize and set user parameters on the network server. For example, the GlobalNet server registers on Novell Netware’s S-LIST, the server list, as another attachable Novell server. Up to 1,024 users are able to access the storage device over an ethernet 10BT, 100BT or token ring network simply by attaching to the server and mapping a drive. There is no software installation required on the user’s workstation. The software required to configure the server, interface with the network, and interface with the storage devices is part of the server.

The GlobalNet server works more efficiently and handles media requests faster than other systems because it was designed specifically as a nearline storage device server. It is the optical medium used in the jukebox that is characterized as being either offline, online, or nearline. A medium is offline if it’s outside the jukebox, online if it’s in the drive, and nearline if it’s in a slot. Everything about the server’s design is focused on the efficient transfer of data to and from media in an optical storage device, while minimizing “media thrashing,” the movement of media from slot to drive and back. GlobalNet servers use request scheduling, data caching, and data migration (future feature) to achieve this goal.

As large storage devices have increased in popularity as a long-term solution for storing data, the need to make the devices available to networked users has become a necessity. The lengths to which an organization must go to provide network access to storage devices has included the purchase, installation and configuration of a network file server, the installation and configuration of optical drivers, and the installation and loading of TSRs (Terminate and Stay Resident) on the workstations and NLMs (Network Loadable Module) on the network servers. TSRs present limitations for certain client applications because they compete for valuable conventional memory. NLMs are more attractive, but are still expensive, requiring the purchase of a license, a server, software, and often, additional memory. Downtime also has to be factored in, as the network must be shut down in order to add the server, and load the software on the server and on each user’s workstation.

While the storage devices and the stored data were accessible to the network, they were not readily accessible. Network server performance, always an issue with optical storage devices, can be degraded by an NLM, which uses server resources for process scheduling and data caching to manage user requests. For example, when multiple user requests for jukebox platters are generated on a Novell network, an NLM often uses up to 85% of the resources of the Novell server just to manage the request queue for the jukebox and cached optical data. GlobalNet has its own CPU, and because it is a dedicated server, it can focus all its resources on managing user requests for optical data. The benefit for the user is faster throughput and minimal contention for network resources.

GlobalNet is not a TSR. GlobalNet is not an NLM. GlobalNet is not a Novell server. Nevertheless, GlobalNet is easily connected to a Novell network and is 100% compatible with the Netware Core Protocol (NCP) network interface. It recognizes all the standard NCP commands, such as those used by the Volinfo, Session, Syscon, Attach, and Map utilities. There are no new commands to learn, nor is there any ramp-up to train users.

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