The rack-mountable 7133 Advanced Model D40 drawer is designed for integration into a supported 19-inch rack. The 7133 Advanced Model T40 is a free-standing deskside tower unit.

Both 7133 Advanced Models can be populated with 145.6GB, 72.8GB, 36.4GB and 18.2GB 10,000 RPM and 72.8GB and 36.4GB 15,000 RPM disk drives. Drive capacities can be intermixed, providing the flexibility to build storage capacity from gigabytes to terabytes. The 7133 Advanced Models can be intermixed in the same loop with other models of the 7133 (Models 010, 020, 500, 600) as well as with the 7131-4052.

Capable of connecting and sharing storage with multiple UNIX, Windows NT, and Novell NetWare hosts, the 7133 Serial Disk System is ideally suited for clustered server environments. Servers attach to IBM 7133s via SSA host adapters or via SCSI or FC host adapters combined with IBM 2108 or 7139 routers. These adapters and routers provide flexibility and offer RAID functions for increased data protection and availability.

Capable of connecting and sharing storage with multiple UNIX, Windows NT, and Novell NetWare hosts, the 7133 Serial Disk System is ideally suited for clustered server environments. Servers attach to IBM 7133s via SSA host adapters or via SCSI or Fibre Channel (FC) host adapters combined with IBM 2108 or 7140 routers. These adapters and routers provide flexibility and offer RAID functions for increased data protection and availability.

The IBM Enterprise Storage Server is a general-purpose disk system, providing outstanding flexibility with many options (IBM offers several predefined configurations to simplify ordering). The system consists of disk drives attached to a storage server via high-speed serial interfaces. A variety of host attachment options (UltraSCSI, ESCON, FICON, and Fibre Channel) enable the system to be optimized for the specific requirements of each computing environment.

IBM SSA technology features significant availability advantages over SCSI-based technology. If a cable failure occurs on the loop, the SSA adapter automatically continues accessing disks through an alternate path. If a disk failure occurs, the hot-swappable drives can be removed and replaced without disrupting the communication between the adapter and other disks on the loop.
To further increase availability, the 7133 Advanced Models monitor and provide detailed information on the status of power, cooling, and disk drives.

The 7133 Serial Disk System helps protect investments in existing equipment while providing a clear path for growth. Existing SCSI-based applications should migrate easily, because SSA is compatible with the SCSI command set. The 7133 Serial Disk System is a key building block in the IBM Seascape* architecture, a blueprint for innovative storage solutions.
To facilitate server consolidation, IBM supports the relocation of existing 7133 Advanced Model D40s into the IBM Enterprise Storage Server*.

When configuring a System-p5 (pseries) / RS6000 AIX volume group using a single SSA 15+P RAID 5 array created using only 72.8 GB or larger HDDs or a single RAID 0 array using 15 72.8 GB or larger HDDs, the customer must set the FORM FACTOR to 2 or above from the command line. This will prevent the number of physical partitions created for the volume group from exceeding the AIX limit of 1016. Unless this is done the volume group will fail to configure.