The MSA 2052 includes solid-state drives in SFF and LFF configurations to allow users to accelerate application performance. In addition to including two SSDs in the base configuration as a standard feature for flash acceleration, the MSA 2052 also features a rich set of standard software that includes a license for 512 snapshots as well as Remote Snap replication and Performance Tiering capabilities.
Each MSA 2052 model ships standard with 1.6 TB (2 x 800 GB) mixed-use SSDs that can be used as read cache or as a start to building a fully tiered configuration. With the inclusion of the Advanced Data Services software license, customers can choose how to best use these SSDs to provide the optimal flash acceleration for their environment.
The MSA 2052 storage system uses a real-time tiering algorithm, which works without user intervention to place the hottest pages of an array on the fastest medium at the right time. The tiering engine moves hot pages up to SSD for flash acceleration and moves cooler, less-used pages back down to spinning disks as workloads change in real-time. All these tasks are performed without any intervention from the IT manager.
Using the MSA 2052 SSDs for read cache
This section details the best methods for using MSA 2052 arrays.
With two SSDs standard on the MSA 2052, each storage pool can have one read cache SSD. The method to construct this setup is:
1. Create a virtual disk group on Pool A using enterprise SAS or midline SAS drives.
2. Create the read cache for Pool A by using SSD Number 1.
3. Create a virtual disk group on Pool B by using enterprise SAS or midline SAS drives.
4. Create the read cache for Pool B by using SSD Number 2.
Now you have used each SSD of the MSA 2052 as read cache for both pools.
Using the MSA 2052 SSDs for Performance Tiering
With two SSDs standard on the MSA 2052, only one storage pool can have a performance tier disk group without the need to purchase additional SSDs. This is because you need a minimum of two SSDs to construct a RAID 1 disk group to use for auto-tiering onto the performance tier. If you purchase additional SSDs, then you may create RAID 1, 5, or 6 disk groups.
The method to construct this setup is:
1. Create a virtual disk group for Pool A using the SSDs.
Now you have provisioned SSDs installed in the MSA 2052 as a disk group to be used as a performance tier.
Furthermore:
Why Choose HPE MSA 2050/2052 storages?
HPE MSA 2052 Storage Data Sheet