Xserve RAID - Connecting 2 hosts

I've been asked to connect an additional computer to an Xserve RAID here at work so that both machines can access and share data from the RAID. I know little about networking RAIDs and was hoping someone could shed some light on a few questions:
1. Am I correct in assuming that if I put a fibre channel card in the new machine and connect it to 1 of the RAID controllers, and have the original machine connected to the other RAID controller, that both machines will only see 1 array each and won't be able to share data?
2. Do I need a fibre channel switch or hub to do what I'd like to do? If so, does anyone have any suggestions for a model that is compatible with the Xserve RAID?
Thanks so much for any help anyone can offer.

+1. Am I correct in assuming that if I put a fibre channel card in the new machine and connect it to 1 of the RAID controllers, and have the original machine connected to the other RAID controller, that both machines will only see 1 array each and won't be able to share data?+
This is correct - the sides of the Xserve RAID are logically separate and each port allows access to only one half of the RAID.
+2. Do I need a fibre channel switch or hub to do what I'd like to do? If so, does anyone have any suggestions for a model that is compatible with the Xserve RAID?+
There are many and Apple sells several on their site. But -
+*DO NOT DO WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING TO DO*+
Fibre channel access to a volume assumes complete control of the volume. If you attach more than one fibre channel host to a volume they will both act without any data arbitration and *data loss and corruption will occur*. Not may occur but will occur and much crying will ensue.
To correctly attach more than one machine to data over fibre channel requires an over-arching system to do data arbitration. The usual case in this situation is Apple's XSAN but diving into XSAN is an involved and (usually) expensive project and should not be undertaken lightly.
I suggest you find out what the ultimate goal is look for a different solution.
Hope my warning is clear enough,
=Tod

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Hey GCA! Could you possibly take a look at my discusion entry? Topic: NTFS/RAID Config Dilemma, Link: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=757306
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If an 80GB file takes 55 minutes that then that's about 25MB/s. If you could bring that down by a factor of 3 then that would be 36 minutes of saved - and hopefully billable - time. But if you're getting 40 MB/s a 80GB file would take 35 minutes and then your max savings is probably 15 or 20 minutes and it becomes less compelling depending on how many times a day you do it.
+You've been very generous with your time answering all of my questions, thank you again.+
You're welcome, hope it all works out for you,
=Tod
PS Remember that large single files get much better throughput than many small files on transfer tests. Also you might want to do your own math on what time = what throughput too. Those numbers were off the top of my head.

Connecting an xserve early 2008 to xserve RAID, Connecting an xserve early 2008 to xserve RAID

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Hi
A Fibre Channel Card installed in the XServe and at least one Fibre Channel cable. If your XServe RAID has both controllers populated with drives you'll need two.
You should find these manuals useful?
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/XserveRAID_UserGuide.PDF
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/XserveRAID_AdminDiskUtility.PDF
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I'm capturing in 10-bit to avoid loss of quality from analog sources like BetaCam SP as well as line 21 must be part of the captured file, because it contains line 21 for captioning. Eight bit has a banding issue that I can't have in the final product and 10-bit doesn't have this issue.
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I also create high quality QuickTime Streaming files from these source files, the higher the quality of the source video the the better the streaming files look when created.
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14
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We are having some issues with an Xserve RAID
connected to a G5 Xserve running 10.4.8 Server. The
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Hey GCA! Could you possibly take a look at my discusion entry? Topic: NTFS/RAID Config Dilemma, Link: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=757306
If you don't mind, I'd like to compare notes with you on how your managing your Xserve RAID connected to a Windows Server 2003. Thanks.

Xserve RAID - Connecting 2 hosts

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