StorageAdmins: CX4-120 Overview / Features

CX4-120 Storage Array Overview

The Dell|EMC CX4-120 is the direct replacement for the CX3-10C storage array. It is designed to meet the same customer needs as it's predecessor, but offers more flexibility, performance and capacity.
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The CX4-120 is supplied in a 2U rack mounted chassis enclosure, which houses the following components:

Dual redundant storage processors
4 lane PCI architecture
4 redundant power supplies (400W), with integrated fans
I/O module bays (up to 10 bays, but only 6 are usable)
2 management modules
Chassis mid-plane

Front view of CX4-120 storage array:

Rear view of CX4-120 storage array:

CX4-120 Storage Array Specification

The table below shows the specifications for the CX4-240 storage array.

CX4-120 Specifications
Processors per SP	One 1.2Ghz dual core LV-Woodcrest CPU Modules
Memory	3GB per SP
Host connectivity (max)	128 High Availability (HA) hosts
Flare drives	FC or SATA
Max number of drives	120
Max number of DAEs	8
Max number of LUNs	1024
Max number of back-end loops	1
Min number of I/O modules per SP	1 FC and 1 iSCSI
Max number of I/O modules per SP	3
Max I/O port configurations supported per SP	6 front-end 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel host ports 1 back-end 4 Gb/s Fibre Channel ports 4 front-end 1 Gb/s iSCSI host ports
Max initiators per SP	128

CX4-120 SPE Base Configuration

The table below shows the base configuration supplied with every CX4-120

CX4-120 Base Configuration
Number of Storage Processors	2
Base configuration number of I/O Modules per SP	2 (1 FC and 1 iSCSI I/O module)
Number of BE FC ports per SP	1
Number of FE FC ports per SP	2 per SP
Number of iSCSI ports per SP	2
Min number of DAEs	1
Min number of Flare disks (in first DAE on BE0)	5 (SATA or FC)
Min number of Standby Power Supplies (SPS)	1

Field Replaceable Units (FRUs)

The lists of available FRUs for this array is as follows:

Storage Processor
Management module
I/O modules
SFPs
DIMMs
SPE Chassis
SPE Power Supply/blower
Standby Power Supply (SPS)
Disk Drives
DAE Enclosures
DAE Link Control Cards (LCCs)
DAE Power Supplies

CX4-120 Storage Array Components

As with the previous generation Dell|EMC storage arrays, the CX4 Storage Processor Enclosure (SPE) does not contain any internal hard drives. This means that the minimum CX4-120 configuration must include a Disk Array Enclosure (DAE). This first DAE will include the 5 hard disks that contain the Flare code from which the storage array will boot and be managed and controlled.

Note:

SATA hard disks can be used for Flare disks on the CX4-120 storage array only.

The CX4-120 is supplied with a single Standby power supply (SPS) in the base configuration. A second SPS is supplied as an option.