Box Hill and Adaptec Introduce First Complete Gigabit Fibre Channel Raid Storage System for Windows
NT
Business Wire - November 13, 1997 08:01
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 1997--
Comprehensive Storage System has Fibre Channel Interfaces on
Host CPU and Disk Drives with Embedded X/OR RAID Fault Tolerance
Box Hill Systems Corp. (NYSE:BXH) today announced the availability of a comprehensive Fibre Channel
RAID storage system that features Box Hill's Fibre Box(R) and is optimized by the Adaptec
(NASDAQ:ADPT) AHA-F940 PCI-Fibre Channel host adapter.
By combining Adaptec's PCI-Fibre Channel host adapter with Box Hill's Fibre Box -- both of which have
Fibre Channel interfaces -- this new storage system offers users of the Windows NT computing environment
an all-inclusive, turnkey Fibre Channel RAID storage solution with proven interoperability.
Additionally, because the Fibre Box is now equipped with Box Hill's newly developed proprietary
X/ORaid(TM) Module, it enables major RAID functions to be efficiently performed on Fibre Channel disk
drives -- a revolutionary development that eliminates the need for burdensome CPU processing of software
RAID or an external hardware RAID controller, while ensuring high availability and fault-tolerance.
Combined, the AHA-F940 and the Fibre Box deliver one of the fastest, most complete NT-based Fibre
Channel RAID storage systems available today.
Comments from Management of Adaptec Inc. and Box Hill Systems Corp.
"Box Hill's complete NT-based Fibre Channel RAID storage system is bringing the reality of
standards-based Fibre Channel products to market," said Dick Clayton, vice president of Adaptec's Mission
Critical Systems business unit. "As a leading Fibre Channel storage systems vendor, Box Hill is well
positioned to drive the acceptance of Fibre Channel as an important ingredient in high-performance
enterprise I/O subsystems solutions."
"Adaptec and Box Hill have integrated the highest performance Fibre Channel host adapter and the most
comprehensive Fibre Channel RAID storage system," said Philip Black, CEO of Box Hill Systems Corp.
"Together, we distinguish ourselves in the Fibre Channel storage market by providing the only pure Fibre
Channel embedded RAID storage system that features Fibre Channel interfaces on both the host CPU and
disk drives. This allows us to play an important role in the further development of high performance,
high-availability storage standards for NT servers."
About the System
Adaptec's high speed AHA-F940 PCI-Fibre Channel host adapter, which manages the I/O for the Fibre Box,
has demonstrated industry leading performance.
Box Hill's Fibre Box is a high-performance, hot-swappable, dual Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL)
storage system with capacities up to 72 GB per enclosure (1.1 TB total per loop) using 4 GB or 9 GB Fibre
Channel disk drives. Included in this system is Box Hill's X/ORaid Module, which activates the X/OR
RAID Processors embedded in Fibre Channel disk drives and provides three application-specific RAID
implementations for video, multimedia and transaction processing environments.
The comprehensive Fibre Channel RAID storage system also includes Box Hill's X/ORaid Module and Fibre
Box Array Explorer(TM) monitoring software, as well as cables, installation manuals and full
documentation.
About Fibre Channel
The Fibre Channel standard supports up to 126 peripheral device connections on the Fibre Channel
Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) and can support those connections up to 10 kilometers with fiber optic cabling.
Fibre Channel is capable of moving data between computer systems and storage systems at speeds of up to
100 MB per second (200 MB per second with dual loops).
These speeds allow external storage systems to send and store data faster, to keep pace with a wide variety
of complex computing applications such as transaction intensive databases, video and multimedia
programming applications.
In addition to longer cable lengths and greatly increased peripheral device connections, Fibre Channel
introduces a new RAID paradigm: X/OR RAID Processors are now embedded in the Fibre Channel disk
drives themselves, giving them RAID fault-tolerance.
Availability of Fibre Channel RAID Storage System
The Fibre Channel RAID storage system is available immediately for Windows NT 4.0, with additional
operating systems to follow. Requests for systems can be directed to Matthew Lewis at Box Hill at
212/989-4455 (800/727-3863), or via Email: info@boxhill.com .
A live demonstration of the Fibre Channel RAID storage system can be seen at Comdex Fall, Nov. 17-21, at
the Las Vegas Convention Center (Adaptec booth No. L5202 and Fibre Channel Loop Community (FCLC)
booth No. N250).
About Adaptec
Adaptec provides bandwidth management technologies for organizations building the global information
infrastructure. Its high performance I/O, connectivity, and network products are incorporated into the
systems and products of major computer and peripheral manufacturers.
Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., Adaptec (NASDAQ:ADPT) employs 3500 people
worldwide in design, manufacturing, sales, service and distribution. Adaptec's home page is
www.adaptec.com .
About Box Hill
Box Hill Systems Corp. (NYSE:BXH) is the leading, full-service provider of high-availability,
mission-critical storage and backup solutions that are bigger, faster and smarter than industry competition.
Box Hill is recognized worldwide by a customer base that includes many of the largest financial,
telecommunications, government and university research institutions in the world. Box Hill's home page is
www.boxhill.com . |
