A High Availability Cluster with multiple JBODs over SAS or FC with Open-E JovianDSS is a typical cluster setup where the communication between nodes as well as the data transfer is based on two server heads connected to a common storage with one or more redundant JBODs. Depending on what kind of performance, availability, flexibility and costs is demanded, a-users can set up such a cluster by means of a SAS connection, or with Fibre Channel (FC). There is a certain limitation in regards to the distance between the nodes. In case of SAS connections, the distance between nodes is 33 ft (10 m) and with Fibre Channel connection, the distance is up to 31 miles (50 km). Therefore, a FC configuration is recommended for (Stretched) Metro Storage Cluster setups where both nodes are located in different geographical locations or just two buildings.

A HA Cluster with JBODS over SAS/FC prevents Single Points of Failure (SPOF) as the drives are being mirrored between JBODs. Strictly speaking, all hard drives on one node are shared with the other node, by means of a direct connection of HDDs to both nodes. Furthermore, the solution can be made even more resistant to failure thanks to multipath connections. In both SAS and FC cases, the system can easily be scaled up by adding extra JBODs in parallel, or as a chained setup.

In order to set up a HA Cluster with multiple JBODs over SAS or FC, it is required to purchase the Open-E JovianDSS Standard HA Cluster Feature Pack.