EqualLogic this week is expanding its product line with iSCSI storage arrays that support tiered storage.
The PS3000 Series Storage Arrays use Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives of different speeds and capacities. The PS3800XV uses 15,000-rpm 150GB SAS drives (2.8TB) for the highest performing tier; the PS3600X uses 10,000-rpm 300GB SAS drives (4.8TB) for secondary storage. Combined with 7,200-rpm Serial Advanced Technology Attachment drives, the arrays will now allow for three tiers of storage.
The disks in the PS3000 Series Storage Arrays are fully redundant and hot swappable. Each module has dual controllers, 16 disk drive bays, plus fans and power supplies. They connect to the network with three 1GB Ethernet connections. A management system on the enclosure monitors component status, disk drive health and temperature.
Management software included with the storage array enables configuration and installation, storage-area network virtualization, provisioning and RAID 5, 10 or 50 placement. A phone-home feature is available for automated troubleshooting.
Optionally, the customer can enable multiway replication for disaster recovery, snapshots for data protection and multipathing I/O support for redundancy.
Equallogic competes in the iSCSI market with companies such as Nexsan Technologies and LeftHand Networks, and with more established array vendors such as EMC and Network Appliance.
The arrays start at $65,000 and are expected to be available in October.
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