Increased access to data through volume/file sharing: The ability to read and write to multiple volumes. With Dynamic Share, multiple systems or workstations can simultaneously share data, greatly increasing workgroup productivity. With the appropriate privileges, virtually any application in the can access and share any file, at any time, at Fibre Channel or Ultra160 SCSI speeds.
No additional training required.
Provides an easy to use, intuitive interface saving precious learning time and money: Configure your storage as you always have, using the tools within Windows.
Works with any storage and most HBA’s: Dynamic Share works in an open environment giving the user the ability to choose the best platform value for the application.
Lower cost of ownership than other comparable systems: Dynamic Share provides better value than competing solutions.
Works in stand-alone and clustered servers: Regardless if the network configuration has clustered systems or not, Dynamic Share provides the ability of data sharing.
NTFS native solution: Dynamic Share is an NTFS native solution, providing compatibility with existing and future operating systems, applications and management utilities, access control and security.
Automatic data updates: The automatic refresh function (ARF) updates all Dynamic Share users when a change is made to a file/volume. Thus, users are ensured of always being aware of changes made by other users on the network.
Increased reliability: Should one server or workstation fail, with Dynamic Share another computer can easily access that file/volume. Thus, Dynamic Share can also be used to implement preventative measures to reduce unscheduled downtime of revenue generating applications.
Can pay for itself in the first month of use: Dynamic Share can reduce storage costs by better utilizing or eliminating the use of redundant storage. The real impact, however, is that Dynamic Share will improve many of your operational tasks, but it will also raise your company to increased level of efficiency and competitive advantage.
PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
Dynamic Share provides the simplicity of LAN-based file sharing to direct-attached networks and storage area networks (SANs).
Dynamic Share is a software tool that enables direct-attached networks and SANs to be more than just consolidated storage, it allows users to work collaboratively and share data within a workgroup of users at Ultra160 SCSI or Fibre Channel speeds; allowing users to do more work in less time. Dynamic Share was developed as a complementary solution to Windows NT/Windows2000, to seamlessly provide added functionality to the OS, allowing multiple workstations or hosts to share files through the network.
Dynamic Share supports all standard Windows NT and Windows 2000 applications and can be utilized in the following environments:
Digital Video and Audio editing
Pre-Press
Web farms
Clustered servers
CAD/CAM
All Windows NT/Windows 2000 requiring file/volume sharing.
Dynamic Share adds functionality to share files/volumes within Windows NT and Windows 2000 networks; all readers can share a file; while write privileges to a file are assigned on a volume basis.
Volume Sharing
Dynamic Share provides read and write access to the same volume from multiple machines. Unmanaged write operations from several machines to the same volume will inevitably corrupt data. Dynamic Share resolves this issue by allowing only one computer at a time to write to a given volume. The write access is automatically transferred between computers on the network, so each one of them can write data to the volume as the need arises.
Transparent to the User
Dynamic Share integrates seamlessly into the Windows environment after the initial setup. Dynamic Share is incorporated into the Windows
Explorer interface and is a hardware independent solution. At first glance the user won't see any change in the Windows environment after Dynamic Share is installed. However, Dynamic Share adds a menu entry to the context sensitive menu (the right-click menu) for each drive letter in the Windows Explorer. If the Dynamic Share entry does not show in the right-click menu, it means that Dynamic Share is not set to attach to and hence protect that particular volume. In automatic configuration the right-click menu interface will not be used so often, since Dynamic Share operates automatically and user intervention is rarely necessary. In manual configuration the right click menu interface is used for all read/write access settings. The only indication that Dynamic Share is running might even be the occasional error messages that the volume is write-protected that would baffle the unsuspecting user. Of course, the user who is aware of Dynamic Share presence and functions, will know that these messages simply mean that another machine is currently writing to the volume, so his/her machine is not able to perform a write operation.
Automatic Update
Changes made to the volume from one machine are visible on the other Dynamic Share machines on the network. Copy some files to the shared volumes, delete, or rename files - whatever changes are introduced to the volume will appear within 30 seconds on the other machines automatically. SAN and direct-attached network users want to share the most up-to-date information that the writing computer has put to the volume. Modern operating systems use caching to increase performance, but these techniques may get in the way in a networking environment. The OS assumes that there is no reason for cache update, since it has changed nothing on the volume - being unaware to the fact that another machine has written new data to the same volume. Dynamic Share takes care of cache synchronization and makes sure that all machines 'see' an up-to-date copy of the data on the volume.
Increased Reliability
Loss of a machine doesn't render the volumes inaccessible and LAN malfunction doesn't lead to data corruption. The first statement can easily be illustrated by shutting down a machine - all the other machines still see the volumes and operate normally on them. LAN malfunction can be simulated by unplugging network cables from machines, hubs or switches or even by temporary reprogramming a network switch to not allow traffic between some network segments. A network with direct-attached systems or a SAN with Dynamic Share can be designed without a single point of failure. Dynamic Share systems are organized in a kind of a peer-to-peer network. There is no main or central computer, such as a metadata server. With Dynamic Share, if a system goes off-line due to a hardware or software failure or because it is just turned off, the other systems still can access the volumes/files on the central storage and remain fully functional. Dynamic Share also has built-in fault tolerant functions to avoid possible data corruption resulting from domain break down (LAN, SCSI or Fibre Channel). Dynamic Share relies on another network beyond SCSI or Fibre Channel (i.e. TCP/IP) to relay its system communications, thus, it is theoretically possible a malfunction in this network to divide it into two non-connected, but still working networks. Dynamic Share uses an additional mechanism for another level of protection, preventing what technicians refer to as the “split brain problem”. Dynamic Share is designed to ensure the maximum level of data sharing, maximum up-time and maximum productivity for the users.
NTFS Native Solution
The volumes that are protected by Dynamic Share are fully functional NTFS local volumes. This can easily be seen in Windows Explorer - all the volumes on the shared storage are still local. Disk Administrator, for example, recognizes the volumes as containing the NTFS file system. Security on the volumes has not changed. All the applications should see the volumes in the same way after installation of Dynamic Share. Native NT/W2K administration tools are used for standard storage administration.
* Pictures might vary from the actual units. Neither Dynamic Network Factory nor are its affiliates responsible for any misprints. For more information, contact your DNF Representative.
Dynamic Share,
Dynamic Network Factory, DNF, DNFstorage, StorageExpert and RAIDexpert are trademarks of Dynamic Network Factory, Inc.
