MTI Enters Fibre Channel Networking Market With New Switched Fabric-Based NorthStar Series
New Product Combines Switched Fabric Technology With
Existing Gladiator 6700 Information Servers
ANAHEIM, Calif., July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- MTI Technology Corp. (Nasdaq: MTIC), a leading manufacturer of Fibre Channel enterprise-class storage solutions, has announced the NorthStar series, a new line of products that combine Fibre Channel switched fabric technology, high-availability information servers and integrated management services. By unifying these technologies in a single, fully certified product, MTI has significantly simplified the deployment and management of Storage Area Networks (SANs).
"With the introduction of the NorthStar series, MTI moves beyond being simply a Fibre Channel storage solutions provider to a Fibre Channel networking company," said Kevin J. Liebl, vice president of marketing at MTI. "The marriage of information storage servers, Fibre Channel switched technology and management services within the NorthStar series ensures Fibre Channel interoperability. All the essential elements of a SAN, aside from the application servers, have been integrated into a fully tested, high-availability, enterprise storage solution. The result is that customers can now achieve the benefits of SANs without the inherent risks associated with emerging technology."
The NorthStar series incorporates a complete set of modules required to implement an enterprise SAN solution with the highest level of data availability and integrity. Its switched fabric technology enables the storage system to control and direct the flow of data in the most efficient manner resulting in higher system performance.
"By incorporating the necessary elements into NorthStar storage servers for full-functioning Fibre Channel connectivity, MTI has taken important steps to eliminate the problems customers face when trying to integrate a myriad Fibre Channel products such as host-bus adapters, hubs and switches," Liebl said. "As a fully integrated system with embedded Fibre Channel switching technology and management services, the NorthStar system offers customers a fast and reliable storage infrastructure that can be quickly and simply plugged into the network."
The NorthStar system is a fault-resilient, scalable storage system incorporating MTI's high-availability Gladiator 6700 RAID technology that enables users to expand storage to 3 terabytes of data. The system offers multiple concurrent host support for a variety of applications that require high bandwidth and maximum transfer rates such as large enterprise data warehousing, data mining, Internet/intranet/extranet applications and online transaction processing (OLTP) environments.
NorthStar includes MTI's DataAssure technology that protects host/array data integrity and WriteGuard, an MTI patented process that ensures writes in progress are completed in the event of a power interruption. These features combine to create one of the most robust storage solutions on the market today. NorthStar also features a built-in management processor that provides a GUI-based storage management facility. This feature enables centralized administration of all aspects of storage configuration, fault notification and performance monitoring of one or more MTI storage servers from anywhere on the network, anywhere in the world. Optional services will provide LAN-free and server-free backup operations via the management processor that can eliminate backup window constraints and performance problems associated with traditional server-based backup.
To ensure high levels of data integrity and availability, the NorthStar series can be configured with MTI's DataShield volume mapping that allows a large storage array to be partitioned into smaller units assigned to separate servers on a Fibre Channel-based SAN. This enables storage to be consolidated into a single, easy-to-manage logical storage space that can be assigned to servers on an as-needed basis. In addition, the technology offers a more secure computing environment by ensuring that storage dedicated to one host is not reported to any remaining hosts, preventing data corruption and unauthorized data access.
Data replication for the NorthStar storage server is handled by MTI's powerful DataSentry technology. DataSentry is a tool for performing mission- critical tasks in the enterprise, including local and remote mirroring for Y2K compliance testing, online data backup protection, disaster recovery, off-line decision support and quality-assurance testing. DataSentry protects and manages corporate data in 24x7 and distributed computing environments providing Continuous Access to Online Information(SM). It virtually eliminates downtime associated with system outages at corporate data center facilities. DataSentry is designed to keep mission-critical applications up and running by providing continuous data access despite a complete failure in a primary server or data storage system.
The NorthStar series will support a wide array of open systems operating environments including Hewlett-Packard HP-UX, IBM AIX, Microsoft Windows NT, Novell NetWare, SGI IRIX and Sun Solaris. The system allows capacity scalability with disk expansion to 3TB in a single cabinet. Entry-level system pricing starts at $129,000 and ranges to $400,000 for a fully configured system. The new product is now available for shipment 30 days after receipt of order.
MTI's mission is to provide Continuous Access to Online Information through fault-tolerant, cross-platform data storage servers for the enterprise. MTI develops, manufactures, sells and services data server solutions for Fortune 1000 companies on a worldwide basis. Headquartered in Anaheim, Calif., the company offers services and support from more than 40 offices in the U.S. and Europe. Authorized distributors provide additional sales and service capabilities in Latin America and Asia/Pacific regions. MTI may be reached by phone: 800-999-9MTI or 714-970-0300, fax: 714-693-2256 or e-mail: info@mti.com. Information can also be accessed via MTI Online, the company's World Wide Web server on the Internet at: www.mti.com.
MTI and Gladiator are registered trademarks, DataShield, DataSentry, DataAssure, and WriteGuard are trademarks and Continuous Access to Online Information is a service mark of MTI Technology Corp. All other company, brand or product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.
This press release includes forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the company's product development plans, which are subject to change. The actual results may differ materially from those described in any forward-looking statement. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ are set forth in the company's periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission including its recent Form 10K.
SOURCE MTI Technology Corp.
CO: MTI Technology Corp.
ST: California
IN: CPR
SU: PDT
07/21/99 09:30 EDT prnewswire.com
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