Business News Holding

Tag: sas

  • SGI Releases InfiniteStorage 5000 SAS External Storage System

    SGI, a provider of HPC and data center solutions, today announced the release of SGI InfiniteStorage 5000, a RAID storage system that combines leading edge hardware with a choice of host interfaces and drive technologies in a powerful external storage platform.

    SGI InfiniteStorage 5000 is SGI’s first storage system to employ 6Gb/s SAS technology.

    SGI InfiniteStorage 5000 provides customers with improved performance and scalability, multi-protocol host connectivity, flexible drive support, data security features and advanced energy savings. With SGI’s DMF software, SGI InfiniteStorage 5000 is an ideal primary or secondary storage solution for tiered virtualization implementations.

    It is also ideal as a front-end for active archive architectures using an SGI® COPAN™ MAID solution on the back-end. It perfectly complements SGI® Altix® UV server and Rackable™ rackmount server environments.

    “As data volumes in the enterprise continue to grow, increased performance, reduced power consumption and system flexibility are of primary concern to customers,” said Rick Chapek, SGI senior vice president of hardware engineering. “By utilizing 6Gb/s SAS technology, SGI InfiniteStorage 5000 brings performance, reliability and a strong feature set normally seen in high-end Fibre Channel systems to an aggressive entry-level price point.”

    SGI InfiniteStorage 5000 delivers bandwidth up to 4,000 MB/s on sustained reads from disk, a 4X performance improvement compared to the previous generation product. The system delivers 40,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second) random disk reads, a more than 2X improvement over the prior generation.

    “Although 6Gb/s SAS for drives has already become common in the industry, completing that transition by including the host side has finally begun in earnest,” said Benjamin S. Woo, program vice president, worldwide storage systems research at IDC.

    “With both 6Gb/s host and drive-side architecture, InfiniteStorage 5000 should provide an affordable entry-point system that offers improved storage performance and scalability, and greatly decreased power consumption. Furthermore, it is ideally-suited for mixed workloads and virtualization, making it a top choice for storage upgrades.”

    SGI InfiniteStorage offers the ability to intermix drive types, allowing organizations to address a wide range of capacity and performance requirements. Customers can deploy high performance solid-state drives (SSDs) or SAS drives for the most demanding application workloads as well as cost-effective nearline SAS drives for less performance-sensitive, high-capacity applications.

    SGI InfiniteStorage 5000 consumes less energy with power supplies that meet the forthcoming Energy Star, 80 PLUS® energy efficiency and Climate Savers Computing specifications.

    Four native 6Gb/s SAS host interfaces can be intermixed with eight 1Gb/s iSCSI or eight 8Gb/s Fibre Channel (FC) host ports per dual controller. This flexible and multi-purpose dual protocol approach allows organizations to implement a variety of configurations – from rackmounted server and storage DAS implementations using SAS, to iSCSI and FC SAN environments for larger consolidation and virtualization projects.

  • 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 Introduces Greener More Efficient RAID Controllers


    Adaptec has announced the availability of its Series 5Z Unified Serial (SATA/SAS) RAID controller family.

    The company said these high-performance controllers integrate an industry first – a flash-based Zero-Maintenance Cache Protection module that provides data center managers with a single controller solution for data protection in the event of both power loss and drive failure.

    Designed to replace a current generation of Lithium Ion battery-based cache back-up devices, the Adaptec RAID Series 5Z is an integrated solid state solution designed to "significantly reduce" annual data center operating costs and environmental impact.

    The controllers offer an integrated, maintenance-free design, eliminating the need to monitor battery charge levels or shut down servers for battery replacement.

    Scott Cleland, director of marketing, Adaptec, said that as enterprise storage demands skyrocket, there is an enormous need for feature-rich, maintenance-free data storage I/O solutions that work to lower overall IT costs and provide significant environmental advantages.

    "For both SATA and SAS drives, the Adaptec Series 5Z family not only delivers the performance, scalability and power efficiency that our customers demand, but with Zero-Maintenance Cache Protection, it offers a simple, maintenance-free solution that provides a critical layer of data protection that is often overlooked," he said.

    All three Adaptec Series 5Z controllers are available now priced at the following MSRPs: Adaptec RAID 5405Z (USD $785), Adaptec RAID 5805Z (USD $965), Adaptec RAID 5445Z (USD $1,045).

  • Phoenix Introduces Fastest, Most Versatile SSD VME Mass Storage Module


    Phoenix International has unveiled its new VS1-250-SSD Serial Attache SCSI (SAS) or Serial ATA (SATA) based VME data storage plug-in blade.

    The VS1-250-SSD delivers high capacity, high performance data storage – with burst data transfer rate to 300MB/sec and sustained data transfer to 120MB/sec.

    The 6 U module can hold one or two SAS or SATA SSDs with a total capacity up to 512GB.

    It can be interfaced through its front panel connector or its P2 connector.

    The module is intended for military, aerospace and industrial applications requiring rugged, secure and durable mass data storage.

    Other major features of the Phoenix VS1-250-SSD Solid State Disk Module include:

    • Operational temperature from -40o to 85o C
    • Individual point-to-point device connectivity
    • Low power consumption
    • 1,300,000 MTBF
    • Integrated SLC NAND Flash
    • Meets military and IRIG 106-07 declassification standards
    • Advanced flash management for enhanced reliability and durability
    • 80,000 feet operational altitude
    • 50g, 11 ms operational shock
    • 16g rms, 10-2000Hz random vibration

    No information has been released on pricing and availability.

  • 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."

  • Nexsan Launches iSCSI SAN Aimed at Standalone or Virtualised IT Environments


    Nexsan has introduced its first iSCSI SAN, which has been specifically designed and priced to give SMBs and SMEs a new value-alternative in implementing the protocol.

    The Nexsan iSeries is intended as a complete, easy-to-implement, enterprise-class SAN that is ideal for use in standalone or fully virtualised IT environments.

    It is available in two configurations which include additional storage expansion to meet customers growing data storage requirements.

    Bob Woolery, Nexsan’s senior vice president of marketing, said the iSeries gives customers flexibility and value.

    "We’ve designed the iSeries to give customers a solution with all the storage services, data protection and scalability they need at a price they can afford," he said.

    "And, we’re giving our channel partners a new value alternative in this growing market segment. We’ve truly changed the game with value."

    The iSeries offers iSCSI, Fibre Channel and NAS configurations from the same system and provides up to 1PB of storage.

    It also includes a complete suite of easy-to-use enterprise storage services, including virtualisation.

    Woolery said the iSeries was being sold for a single up-front price to affordably accommodate a company’s increasing storage needs.

    "This holistic approach simplifies pricing, removes hidden costs and licensing fees associated with competitive products and smoothly accommodates an organisation’s IT requirements as they change," he said.

    Other benefits offered by the Nexsan iSeries include:

    • Virtualised storage for flexibility and intelligent automation of routine tasks
    • High performance for running multiple demanding applications from a single high-density system
    • Simultaneous use of SAS and/or SATA disk drives in the same storage chassis for application flexibility and low-cost scalability
    • VMware-certified, ensuring high performance in both physical and virtual environments
    • Easy to deploy and manage with wizard-based setup, administration and central management of volumes, snapshots, HA/data replication, mirroring and data migration
    • High-performance with up to four RAID engines per storage system
    • Nexsan’s AutoMAID™ energy-saving technology reduces energy costs by up to 60% without compromising application performance
    • Key application support: storage pooling, virtual servers, archiving
    • High-speed, highly responsive – hyper transport bus, real-time OS, enterprise-class network chip set
    • Fully redundant and designed for 99.999% availability
    • Available immediately through Nexsan’s global network of authorized value-added resellers.