Iomega Introduces 12-Drive Rack-mount Network Storage Array
Designed for small, mid-size enterprises; configurations start under $5,000 for 4TB, scale to 24TB capacity for under $10,000
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Iomega announced the most advanced entry in its lineup of easy-to-use network storage products with the launch of the new Iomega StorCenter ix12-300r Network Storage array. Incorporating enterprise-class EMC storage technologies, the StorCenter ix12-300r is designed as a rackmount storage device for small and medium businesses as well as small enterprise locations such as workgroups, departments, and distributed/branch offices that require expandability, reliability, and advanced capability features without the need for a dedicated IT staff.
Easily supporting groups of up to 250 users, the StorCenter ix12-300r Network Storage array provides up to 24TB of networked storage in a 2-rack unit (2U) form factor. The StorCenter ix 12-300r has configuration and networking features often only available in larger enterprise installations and is ideal for production file (NAS) and block (SAN) data storage, backup to disk (B2D) of critical business data, shared storage for virtualized environments including Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and VMware vSphere, and application-specific storage such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.
The StorCenter ix12-300r mounts in an EIA-310 standard equipment rack and starts with 4TB and 8TB base configurations that can be expanded in four-drive increments of 4TB or 8TB, up to a total of 24TB.
An Affordable Rackmount Array for Primary Storage, Backup, and Application Data
The new StorCenter ix12-300r utilizes the EMC LifeLine software, a Linux operating environment and suite of applications that protects data and performs valuable business tasks above and beyond simple storage. EMC LifeLine software is designed for cross-platform support of Windows-, Mac-, Linux- and UNIX-based computers and is HCL certified for the leading virtualized environments, including VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix XenServer.
The ix12 can be configured with different levels of RAID support: RAID 5 (pre-configured), RAID 6, RAID 1 and RAID 10 (all with automatic RAID rebuild), as well as JBOD (a single volume of storage). RAID 6 provides dual parity drives for each group of data drives, further ensuring data integrity should two drives fail. The ix12 supports storage pools; drives inside the array can be grouped together by similar size and data protection mechanism.
The ix12 also supports multiple storage pools -- for example, an eight-drive RAID 6 group for file and database data and a four-drive RAID 10 group for log data. Additionally, the ix12 supports online RAID type migration from RAID 1 to RAID 5 to RAID 6 to let users tune data protection on the fly.
The ix12 also supports online capacity expansion so users can expand their ix12 unit without impacting online operations.
With four Gigabit Ethernet connections and a high-performance Intel Core2Duo CPU, the StorCenter ix12-300r can serve as the only shared storage device a small enterprise or remote workgroup needs. The ix12-300r also has three USB 2.0 ports to support an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to ensure data integrity in the event of a power failure or to connect external storage capacity with USB drives for loading and unloading data. Two other new features debuting on the ix12-300r are 2GB of main memory to support both I/O workloads and software functionality, and user replaceable redundant hot-swap fans and power supplies to maximize system availability.
Key Features of the EMC LifeLine Software
The new StorCenter ix12-300r Network Storage array supports the entire LifeLine feature set. Additional new EMC LifeLine software capabilities announced with the StorCenter ix12-300r include:
- EMC LifeLine 64-bit software. In addition to the SMP support noted above, the ix12 features the first true 64-bit operating system in its class. LifeLine’s internal expanded addressing capability supports the ix12’s increased performance and storage capacity.
- High-performance Ethernet network port bonding. The LifeLine software supports link aggregation between its four Gigabit Ethernet ports for high I/O workloads.
- Virtual LAN (VLAN) capability. The ix12 delivers the management simplicity of virtual LANs over a shared network infrastructure.
- Windows DFS (Distributed File System). The ix12 supports Microsoft’s DFS single file name space capability across multiple arrays. DFS simplifies both capacity expansion and management with a single file name as additional arrays are added.
- WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) enables applications to manipulate files directly on the ix12.
- Panasonic video surveillance camera compatibility with the ix12’s internal video surveillance application, which includes scheduling recordings, encoding and archiving video.
More information is available at www.Iomega.com.