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Tag: raid

  • LSI Launches RAID Controller Cards Based On 6Gb/s SAS Technology


    LSI has launched a new generation of MegaRAID SATA+SAS RAID controller cards based on 6Gb/s SAS technology.

    The storage and networking solution provider has also announced its new channel strategy for worldwide customers.

    Compared with 3Gb/s predecessors, the company said the 6Gb/s SAS RAID-on-chip (ROC) system provides more video streams, more database transactions and faster backups.

    This enables the MegaRAID 9200 series controllers to double the data transfer rate and deliver up to 2.88 GB/s in sequential reads and 1.87 GB/s in sequential writes, according to the company.

    The 9200 series controllers also provide channel customers with a low-cost upgrade that is designed to easily integrate with existing 3Gb/s SATA and SAS infrastructure, the company said.

    Suresh Panikar, senior manager of worldwide channel partner marketing and communications at LSI, said the controllers also support both high-performance SAS hard drives and cost-effective, high-capacity SATA drives, as well as energy-efficient solid state drives (SSDs) and bring standardized zoning which improves storage efficiencies by allowing multiple servers to share storage devices.

    They come with four ports and eight ports to reach up to a storage capacity of 480 terabytes.

    The new LSI MegaRAID controllers include five models – MegaRAID 9260-8i (eight internal ports), MegaRAID 9260-4i (four internal ports), MegaRAID 9280-8e (eight external ports), MegaRAID 9260DE-8i and MegaRAID 9280DE-8e. The 9260-8i is available now while the rest will be available by September.

    In addition to the next-generation product, the company announced it has teamed up with channel partners include vertical OEMs (VOEMs), direct market resellers (DMRs), resellers, and distributors to service its customers worldwide. LSI also provides forward looking fundings to those channel partners quarterly in advance for them to have more sufficient resources in promoting and selling LSI products.

    Phil Bullinger, executive vice president and general manager of the Engenio Storage Group at LSI, said: "LSI’s strong channel partnerships are a key strategic advantage in the marketplace and central to the company’s business strategy."

  • Adaptec Announces Support For VMware vSphere


    Adaptec has announced that its newly launched Series 5 Unified Serial (SATA/SAS) RAID Controller Family will be providing support for VMware vSphere.

    The VMware Technology Alliance Partner (TAP) program member’s controller family is supported natively via an in-box driver, ready for immediate installation.

    VMware vSphere is the industry’s first cloud operating system. It allows datacenters to be transformed into simplified cloud infrastructures.

    Scott Cleland, director of marketing at Adaptec, said that by supporting VMware vSphere, Adaptec can further extend the value of its Series 5 Unified Serial (SATA/SAS) RAID Controller Family into customers’ next-generation datacenters.

    He said this helps customers to manage large collections of infrastructure — including CPUs, storage and networking — as a seamless, flexible and dynamic cloud environment.

    "Virtualization and cloud computing environments are constantly changing and adapting to meet the demands of growing enterprises," he said.

    "VMware vSphere provides the most feature-rich solution available today to meet and exceed these growing needs."

  • EMC Unveils Virtual Data Centre With High End Storage


    EMC Symmetric VMax is the latest breakthrough technology from EMC. It provides for a virtual data center with high end storage and scales up to 2 PB of usable protected capacity, writes Samantha Sai for storage.biz-news.

    Unlike alternate arrays, it equips its customers with an ability to consolidate workloads with a comparatively small footprint.

    These systems will be available immediately.

    Joe Tucci, EMC Chairman, President and CEO said: "The shift from physical to virtual computing is being driven by efficiency gains too compelling to ignore.

    "Virtualization’s ability to maximize resources and automate complex and repetitive manual tasks is overtaking the server world and is now happening in the storage world.

    "EMC is leading the way with the biggest breakthrough in new high-end storage design in nearly two decades, enabling storage customers to deploy a flexible, dynamic, energy-efficient information infrastructure and get the maximum value for their investment."

    The new architecture can be deployed with flash, Fibre channel and Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) drives.
    Virtualized and physical servers are supported including open systems, mainframes and system hosts.

    The Virtual Logical unit number (LUN) technology moves data to the right tiers and redundant array of independent disks (RAID) types at the right time.

    Virtual provisioning efficiently allocates, grows and reclaims storage.

    The Extended distance protection replicates data over distances and achieves zero data loss protection.

    Information centric security systems with advanced RSA security technology have been built in to keep the data safe; reduce risk and improve compliance. The high end storage array uses multi core processors to lower power costs and IOPS per dollar.

  • Drobo Goes PRO, Let Your Data Grow


    DroboPro is the latest storage array that has been released by Data Robotics. The earlier versions of the device were known as Drobo External Storage Device. This version of the storage array is designed to manage itself. It is bigger, stronger and more capacious. It has 8 bays and is targeted for use by small businesses and creative professionals.

    Drobo Pro is similar to the earlier versions in looks. It supports up to 16 TB of storage and features the proprietory BeyondAID technology which was the mainstay of its predecessors. The technology permits a number of hard drives of varying capacities to be aggregated into one volume for redundancy and data protection. It cannot be used with networks. However, the subtle changes that distinguish this product are that it has integrated power supply and fully supports dual drive redundancy. Users can also switch between single and dual drive redundancy from a user friendly dashboard. The time that will be taken to shuffle the data around is displayed while we wait for the process to complete. This device is compatible with a 3U rack mount attachment that will have to be purchased separately. Hotswap is possible up to one drive at a time in single redundancy mode and two drives in a dual redundancy mode.

    The array has a USB 2.0 port, twin Fire Wire 800 sockets and gigabit Ethernet jack. The FireWire supports both 800 to 400 adapters. The Ethernet jack cannot be used to set it up for NAS. It is there to take advantage of iSCSI that is a fast interface that is used with severs and workstation rigs. OS X users get a homegrown iSCSI driver free.

    Data Robotics has clearly indicated that it prefers that the DroboPro should be used for direct attached storage with an option to connect it to a Windows Home Server or a networked computer if network access is essential. It is also possible to do professional video work on Drobo Pro.

    Tom Loverro, Director of Product Marketing at Data Robotics says: "One of the beta testers, who is well known in the video editing and animation community, is editing on DroboPro using Final Cut Pro with three video streams of 720p using Apple’s ProRes with no problems. That’s not to say you can do 5 streams of uncompressed 4K on DroboPro though — that sort of situation obviously calls for a different type of solution. But I do think we address 75% of the video editing market with this product according to our research."

    The price of the completely empty Drobo Pro is $1299. Pre stocked options cost $1599-$1949 and the top of trees version costs $3999 with 16 TB capacities. Existing Drobo Pro customers will receive a discount of $200 on the MSRP as an appreciation of their loyalty. The product has been shipped on April 7th.

  • ATTO Adds Industry-first 8-GB Fibre Channel To RAID Storage Controllers


    ATTO Technology has announced the release of the industry’s first 8-Gb Fibre Channel-to-SAS/SATA RAID storage controller.

    FastStream SC 8500 is an independent external RAID Storage Controller that provides 8-Gb Fibre Channel host connectivity to multiple tiers of low-cost, off-the-shelf SAS/SATA disk storage enclosures.

    ATTO says the SC 8500 is well-suited for mid-range storage solutions.

    It is the highest performing RAID controller in its class delivering up to 1400 MB/sec. access to data while providing parity RAID protection to multiple tiers of disk enclosures.

    FastStream RAID Storage Controllers are designed to sit between workstations or a SAN and low-cost JBOD disk storage providing users the ability to scale their performance and storage capacity without purchasing a RAID controller every time expansion is needed.

    The FastStream is well-suited for applications in DVA and IT infrastructures including digital film production, high-definition video post-production, imaging, digital prepress, disk-to-disk backup, audio production and transaction-based environments.

    Tom Kolniak, director of products for ATTO Technology, said the FastStream SC 8500 Storage Controller was ideal for customers looking to improve workflow performance and add RAID protection in a collaborative environment.

    “The 8500 allows those currently using Direct Attached Storage to move to an affordable Storage Area Network solution providing them with the benefits and savings realized from a lower total cost of ownership for storage and increased efficiency in workflow production,” he said.

    He cited performance, scalability, and ease-of-use of the FastStream SC 8500 as key elements for customers looking to implement a solution that fits their needs while remaining within their budget.