Somebody at Apple didn't get the memo that Xsan 1.4 is not quite released yet. There is a new KB article titled About the Xsan 1.4 Update. This joins articles on compatibility between Xsan & StorNext (similar to the ADIC matrix), using Xsan with Intel Macs (install the shrink-wrapped edition), and a new Xsan Migration Guide.

Maybe Apple is just trying to build excitement?

ADIC today announced StorNext 2.8, an update to its Xsan-compatible SAN solution.

• StorNext 2.8 Release notes
• Software Product Upgrade Requests
• StorNext Product Manuals and Instructions

Although we haven't seen the announcement, it seems that StorNext FX 1.4 is imminent.

Please note ADIC's super-handy Compatibility Matrix for determining the compatibility of all types & versions of metadata controllers & clients.

Today at WWDC2006, Apple announced Xsan 1.4. The new version is universal binary, running on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. It also supports access control lists (ACLs) on the Xsan volume.

Of course, PowerPC and Intel version may be mixed on the same network.

[Ed. Note: the download link doesn't yet seem active. We'll update this article when we learn more.]

Apple has just released Mac OS X 10.4.7, a free update to 10.4. Not only are the release notes the most comprehensive I've seen in a long time, it's also the first time they've acknowledged fixing several Xsan bugs in the OS.

There are no guidelines yet for upgrading an existing Xsan workgroup. Typically, however, you must make sure all metadata controllers are the most up-to-date systems on the SAN. So before you install 10.4.7 on your clients, install it on your MDCs. (Personally, however, I'd wait until someone installs it on a test system before jumping in.)

From the notes:

• Resolves an issue that could cause Xsan clients to stop responding when accessing the SAN if an Xsan peer was rebooted. [Ed. Note: this had bitten a client big time, and shows up when using redundant fibre links. We hope it's really fixed!]
• Increases the maximum number of vnodes on systems with 2 GB or more RAM to avoid an issue that could cause Xsan clients to become unresponsive when the vnode table became full.
• Resolves an issue using "Save As..." from certain Adobe applications to an Xsan volume reshared via AFP.
• The cp, mv and tar commands now pre-allocate space on Xsan volumes to avoid file fragmentation.

QLogic announced several new products yesterday, expanding its line of popular fibre channel switches.

The SANbox 9000 series is a high-density "distribution" switch. With room for eight blades in a 4U chassis, the SANbox 9000 is configurable with up to 128 4Gbps ports (16 ports per module). Additional modules include 10Gbps FC (four ports per module), iSCSI and Fibre Channel-over-IP, and 10Gbps Ethernet.

The SANbox 8000 Storage Services Platform is a programmable, SAN-independent end-node device. Applications have been announced to perform replication and data consolidation. No word yet whether it plays nicely with Xsan, but it does have a mightily attractive big white power button on the front panel.

The SANbox 6000 Intelligent Storage Routers translate between Ethernet and Fibre Channel. The SANbox 6140 presents FC Storage to iSCSI targets (e.g. clustered or remote servers). The SANbox 6142 bridges FC over an IP WAN to let you split your SAN over long distances.

QLogic also announced that the workhorse 5200 series switches now are supported up through six switches and 96 ports. Hmmm, some of us have been doing that for a while now...

There's not much word yet about pricing or availability, and their web site isn't yet updated. Maybe they will have more information after their partner conference is through.

Finally, a anecdote from the conference. Yesterday QLogic showcased three very different customers on a panel: iNDEMAND Networks (producing the Howard Stern show), Sony Playstation, and the U.S. Secret Service. Take a wild guess which SAN platform all three use?

ADIC has announced StorNext FX 1.3, the Xsan client for non-Apple operating systems. The new version offers compatibility with Xsan 1.3. StorNext FX runs on Windows, Red Hat and SUSE Linux, IRIX, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, and UNICOS/mp.

This release marks a new version numbering scheme for StorNext FX, matching the corresponding version of Xsan. ADIC's contract with Apple requires it to release a feature-compatible version of StorNext FX each time Apple updates Xsan (or maybe it's the other way around :-). The previous version of StorNext FX was 2.6. The new system should make it simpler for us Mac users, until next year when we may end up with a second round of 2.6!

Rarely explained are the different flavors of StorNext:

• StorNext FX -- the Xsan client for non-Apple operating systems. The major limitation is that a computer running StorNext FX can not be a metadata controller. A Mac running Xsan must be the metadata controller. StorNext FX is a bit more expensive than Xsan, but still a lot cheaper than...
• StorNext (sometimes called StorNext FS) -- the full Xsan-compatible cross-platform SAN. A non-Mac will be the metadata controller. You can set up a Mac running Xsan as a client. A StorNext-hosted SAN can also run the cool StorNext Management Suite that automatically migrates files among storage pools and even tape libraries as needed.

We've already noted the release notes for StorNext 2.7, which correspond to StorNext FX 1.3.

Finally, a few useful documents:

• Apple's Xsan/StorNext compatibility chart
• ADIC's instructions to connect StorNext cleints to a Xsan-hosted SAN
• Apple's instructions to connect Xsan clients to a StorNext-hosted SAN

The storage world continues to consolidate as Quantum is purchasing ADIC for about $770 million. ADIC makes StorNext, the foundation of Xsan.

• Press Release
• CRN article

What effect will this have for Xsan? The press release tries to reassure StorNext customers: Both Quantum and ADIC have been at the forefront of developing innovative solutions in disk-based data protection, one of the most dynamic and fastest growing segments of storage. The combined company will be able to capitalize on the scale and synergies in this area, as well as build upon ADIC's StorNext(R) data management software.

ADIC has an contractual agreement with Apple, which would presumably be continued by Quantum. Let's hope that what ADIC has learned from Xsan will be passed up to Quantum.

Apple is now recommending Xsan Admin 1.3 for all versions of Xsan, 1.0 through 1.3.

The release notes show the following improvements:

• labeling and initializing Fibre Channel LUNs larger than 2TB in size
• growing Fibre Channel storage pools and volumes
• working with multiple Xsan metadata controllers in a heterogeneous environment
• displaying progress messages while performing lengthy operations
• preventing manually modified configuration settings from being overwritten during a save
• accurately reporting Fibre Channel multipathing errors

Apple Product Line Manager Eric Zelenka announced Xsan 1.3 today, available for download after 1 PM PDT.

Update: Here's your download link for Tiger. Here's your download link for Panther. Here's your download link for Xsan Admin, and here's your download link for the Uninstaller.

Eric notes the following improvements:

• Support for LUNs greater than 2TB in size
• preventing labeled LUNs from becoming unlabeled
• improving AFP performance when re-sharing Xsan volumes
• more accurate file permissions when sharing Xsan volumes via AFP
• accessing Xsan volumes larger than 16 terabytes in size
• greater server stability when re-sharing Xsan volumes via NFS
• handling quotas with no associated user or group name
• maintaining access to Xsan volumes when metadata controller fail-overs occur
• providing metadata controller services to 10.3.9 and 10.4 systems running Xsan 1.2
• operating Xsan in environments with a mix of 10.3.9 and 10.4 systems
• compatibility with third-party applications and devices

Several Xsan admins are beginning to discover problems after installing Mac OS X 10.4.6 on Xsan 1.2. This Xsanity forum thread&sid=2fb256c4a7e639fb0b2bfc760356f0c1 is tracking the discussion. Please continue to direct comments to the thread as we track the issue.

Apple's Knowledge Base article 303549 describes the fix for Xsan 1.1 and earlier. Apparently the same fix can be applied to Xsan 1.2.

Kudos to MattG for the original post.