Alexei...
I'm going to leave your shelves-per-loop and loops-per-filer in the cluster scenario questions for our clustering product manager to address. He will have the latest information on exactly what configurations we have tested and are supporting on which filer. However, I will take a shot at the obvious question...
Ok, so the hardware guide says that a f740 and an f760 can both only have 112 fcal drives, 2 fcal loops max.
How does the 760 then do 1.4TB of storage and the 740 960GB? Seems there
are
56 or so drives missing.... another loop?
This was/is just a quality assurance and testing lag. The F760 should be going to the full three FCAL loop configuration in the near term (if it hasn't happened already?). Our latest GA release, 5.1.2, just officially gave the full 3 FCAL loop / 168 drive capability to our former high end unit, the F630, so hopefully the new F760 isn't too far behind! :-)
So, my bottom line question is: in a CF setup with 2 f740's, what is the
maximum
*useable* storage space I will have (combined)?
Don't take it as gospel, but I *think* you'll probably be looking at a couple of FCAL loops-worth. In other words, ~960 GB combined (~480 GB per filer). The actual *useable* space is dependent on some other configuration specifics.
Also, why does a f630 get to have 3 fcal loops?
Because it's been tested, certified and stamped as "approved" in a 3 FCAL loop configuration by our quality people.
Boy, I am just full of questions tonight...
Tell me about it! :-)
Keith