News

posted on 13 February 2008 09:35

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IBM has announced N series drive array upgrades, courtesy of NetApp, a new director, courtesy of Brocade, a refreshed archive manager product, and a half-height LTO4 tape drive.

Next Generation N series for Large Enterprises
IBM announced the next generation of the N7000 series as both an appliance and gateway. The new N7700 and N7900 models (NetApp FAS6040 and FAS6080 products) have better scalability for large scale data center operations as well as storage consolidation for large open system enterprises and mid-market clients. The new systems support up to 1,176 Terabytes of raw capacity, using 1TB SATA Drives, and enable customers to consolidate SAN and NAS storage needs to a single system, providing support for primary, near-line, regulatory compliant data retention, and archival storage, all in single platform.

Further enhancements for N series include:
For the SMB (small and medium business) client, the N3300 and N3600 now support SATA or SAS drives in the controller, giving midrange clients more flexibility and options;

- The N3300 has increased scalability of 68TB and the N3600 to 104TB,
- Extra capacity has been added to the N5300 (from 168 to 336TB), N5600 (from 252 to 504TB), N7600 (from 420 to 840TB) and the N7800 (from 504 to 1008TB),
- SnapManager for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server is now available on all N series systems, providing better data protection.

Next Generation Data Center Director
The IBM System Storage SAN768B (Brocade's DCX Data Centre Switch) establishes a platform for evolutionary growth with high performance computing and future Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) technologies. It is the first director-class product to support 8Gbit/s data transfer rates over Fibre Channel (FC) links, which enables a 100 percent improvement in data transfer speed over the previous generation. The SAN768B is the first product in the industry to support true interoperability between b-type (Brocade) and m-type (McDATA) directors in an 8 and 10 Gbit/s SAN infrastructure. For m-type and other large enterprise clients that run mainframes with FICON channels, this interoperability provides a roadmap for growth of their existing FICON fabrics. The SAN768B reduces power consumption with featured scalability of up to 768 ports across two domains.

Enhanced Archive and Data Retention Systems
A new generation DR550 v4.5 leverages System Storage Archive Manager (SSAM) for policy-based information retention. It enables transparent and automated movement of archived data between storage tiers for cost savings without compromising security. It is available as a single machine for enhanced for ease of customer setup and use. Customers can choose from two models: DR1 and DR2. The DR1 is a 25U tall rack, pre-integrated and ideal for mid-market clients. The DR2 is built for large enterprises, packaged in a bigger 36U tall rack and offering single or dual-node configuration options for higher availability and scalability.

Disk Systems Maximized for SMB Telco
IBM announced the new NEBS-compliant IBM System Storage DS3300 DC power model 32T, designed with no single point of failure for high availability and hot swappable redundant components for high reliability in the SMB telecommunications industry. The new features enable telecommunications service providers to deliver everything from basic voice telephony to Internet Protocol television (IPTV), video on demand (VoD), IP multimedia subsystems (IMS) and security.

The DS3300 DC easily integrates into existing IP networks with no distance limitations through iSCSI connectivity, including a dual iSCSI controller enclosure with 12 disk drive bays. The DS3300 has dual redundant DC power supplies and can go virtually anywhere beyond the corporate data center including remote locations. To meet the growing demand for storage capacity and scalability, three EXP3000 units are also available for support of up to 48 SAS and or SATA disks.

New LTO4 drives
IBM introduced the latest generation of the Linear Tape-Open (LTO) tape drive in a half height factor for the IBM System Storage TS3100 and TS3200 Tape Library Express Models, offering savings for cost and space conscious businesses.

IBM is the first company in the storage industry to offer Ultrium 4 Half-High SAS half-high tape drives in entry automation, enhancing tape performance over the previous generation. SMB customers can encrypt and manage data with the industry leading IBM Encryption Key Manager, without the need for additional appliances.

Pricing and Availability
The new N7700 and the N7900 will be generally available (GA) worldwide on April 18, 2008. The N7700 is available with a starting configuration price of $125,000. The new N7900 has a starting configuration price of $190,000. Additional pricing on the N series enhancements can be found at http://www.ibm.com/storage.

The enhanced DR550 DR1 will be generally available on February 29, 2008 with a starting configuration price of $26,000. The DR550 DR2 will be generally available on February 29, 2008 with a starting configuration price of $73,000.

The IBM System Storage DS3300 DC will be generally available on February 29, 2008 with a starting configuration price of $9,495.

The IBM System Storage TS3100 Tape Library Express Model and the IBM System Storage TS3200 Tape Library Express Model will be generally available on March 14, 2008 with a starting configuration price of $8,300.

The IBM System Storage SAN768B will be generally available on February 22, 2008 with an entry configuration price of $390,000

All offerings announced today are available either direct from IBM or through IBM Business Partners.

For more information about IBM and IBM System Storage, visit http://www.ibm.com/storage.