New Storage Products

• 03/24/1999

Trying to produce a smarter RAID solution, nStor Corp. Inc. introduced its AdaptiveRAID technology. The software product is targeted at increasing the flexibility of a RAID system and improving storage subsystem performance.

AdaptiveRAID runs on a Windows NT Server, which enables hardware independence from the type of storage subsystem being used. The product supports Ultra and Ultra2 SCSI as well as Fibre Channel storage subsystems. AdaptiveRAID gives users the flexibility to mix and match drive capacities within a single storage system. The company says AdaptiveRAID also can ease management tasks by minimizing RAID configuration questions, such as selecting the RAID levels or stripe sizes to be used.

Contact nStor, (800) 724-3511, www.nstor.com.

NetForce Gets Bigger

Procom Technology Inc. added two new models to its network-attached data server line. The NetForce 2000 and NetForce 2200 products add higher levels of capacity and performance to the Procom family.

Both products are positioned for larger workgroup use in Windows/Unix environments, supporting up to 900 GB in RAID 0, 1, 3, 5 and 10 configurations. The company says the NetForce 2000 and NetForce 2200 can generate up to 3,600 input/outputs per second with access times better than 10 ms. The systems also offer a 64-bit journaling file system and quota controls to manage user disk allocations.

Contact Procom, (949) 852-1000, www.procom.com.

B&L Associates Inc. announced its entry into the Windows NT market with its Vertices media management product. Vertices helps manage disk, tape, CD-ROM and other storage formats over network-attached or SAN-connected devices.

The product has its roots in the Unisys mainframe world, where B&L Associates has a significant install base. According to the company, Vertices media management extends across mainframe and Unix platforms as well.

Vertices offers features such as vault management, which enables managers to set policies for data movement; inventory management, where resources are managed by volume name; and retention management, where Vertices’ Advance Autolog assigns volume names before use to automate the retention process of older data. Vertices for Windows NT is priced at $9,900 for a single user license or $14,900 for three concurrent users.

Contact B&L Associates, (877) 837-8423, www.bandl.com.

Tandberg Ships Tape Drives

Tandberg Data Inc. is shipping two new tape drives, the DLT7000 and the DLT4000. Tandberg is a second source supplier to the industry of DTPtape standard devices.

The DLT7000 features four-channel parallel recording, which achieves a data storage capacity of 70 GB using data compression and a data transfer rate of 36 GB per hour. The media load time is 37 seconds, and the average file access time and the average rewind time are both 60 seconds.

The DLT4000 accepts 40 GB of compressed data storage and has a transfer rate of 10.8 GB per hour using two-channel parallel recording. The average file access time is 68 seconds and the average rewind time is 70 seconds.

Both units have read and write compatibility with other DLTtape products, as well as real-time read-while-write data verification, cyclical redundancy checking and error correction code recording. Both units are designed for mainframe environments and servers running Windows NT.

Contact Tandberg, +47 2218-9090, www.tandberg.com

Qualstar Corp. has launched its new TLS-412360 tape library. The new product offers a data-capacity-to-floor-space ratio of up to 46 TB in less than 23 cubic feet of space.

The library can provide 670 GB per hour of constant throughput when filled to its 12-drive capacity. The library comes equipped with a positive-pressure filtered air system that ensures cooling and prevents environmental contamination. Its case is just over 4 feet high and two feet wide.

The TLS-412360 is designed around Sony's AIT and AIT2 tape drives and operates with most major platforms, including Windows NT.

Contact Qualstar, (818) 592-0061, www.qualstar.com

MTI Unleashes Gladiators

MTI Technology Corp. recently announced two new storage products, the Gladiator 6700 and the Gladiator 3500.

The Gladiator 6700 is a Fibre Channel RAID array that enables users to expand storage to multiple terabytes of data. The system offers host support for applications requiring high bandwidth and fast transfer rates, such as data mining and online transaction processing.

The product features a volume-mapping facility that allows a large storage array to be partitioned into smaller units assigned to separate servers on a Fibre Channel SAN. Additionally, the product offers a secure computing environment by ensuring that storage dedicated to one host is not reported to any remaining hosts -- preventing data corruption and unauthorized access.

The Gladiator 6700's design is built on the Scalable Modular Architecture (SMA) technology. SMA helps users create custom configurations based on their system's current capacities but allows the system to be reconfigured and redeployed to meet changing needs. SMA also accepts plug-and-play upgrades to higher performance RAID elements when they become available.

The Gladiator 3500 is a RAID data storage subsystem designed for SCSI environments. The product is designed to upgrade the system to support Fibre Channel connectivity.

The Gladiator 3500, like the 6700, is equipped with SMA. It also features Data Consistency Check (DCC) for routine evaluation of the synchronization of data and parity to assure reliable data reconstruction in the event of power failure.

Contact MTI, (714) 970-0300, www.mti.com

Data General Corp.’s Clariion unit announced that its Fibre Channel technology supports Dell Computer Corp.'s centralized storage consolidation and back-up solution for Windows NT.

Clariion will supply Fibre Channel technology to Dell's PowerVault 650F storage system and assist Dell in delivering the SANs solution to the NT market. Both companies expect that bringing the Dell PowerVault SAN to Windows NT will encourage broader deployment of storage area networks and help Dell better meet the needs of its enterprise customers.

In addition, Clariion added another member to its Fibre Channel storage family. The new FC5700 Series Disk Array joins the Clariion the FC5000 Series JBOD and the FC5500 Series. The FC5700's storage processors deliver 120 MBps throughput and up to 30,000 I/Os per second.

The FC 5700 disk array includes two storage processors, a 10-slot chassis, two power supplies, two link-control cards and redundant fans. It is available in a deskside or rackmount chassis and supports up to 120 Fibre Channel disk drives.

Contact Clariion, www.clariion.com, (800) 67-ARRAY