MTI Enterprise-Class Gladiator 6700 Storage Solution Designed for SAN
Features Volume Mapping for Comprehensive Deployment of Storage in a SAN
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ANAHEIM, Calif., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- MTI Technology Corp. (Nasdaq: MTIC - news) continues to build on its Storage Area Network (SAN) strategy with the Gladiator 6700, the company's first enterprise-class storage solution designed specifically for the SAN environment. The modular enterprise SAN RAID solution offers storage allocation features that enable more comprehensive management of storage among multiple hosts.
The Gladiator 6700 introduces MTI's second generation of internally developed Fibre Channel RAID arrays. The fault-resilient, scalable RAID storage system enables users to expand storage to multiple 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 and online transaction processing (OLTP) environments.
Unique SAN Functionality
To ensure high levels of data integrity and availability, the Gladiator 6700 features MTI's volume-mapping facility that allows a
large storage array to be partitioned into smaller units assigned to separate servers on a Fibre Channel-based SAN. This brings a new level of flexibility to organizations. In the past, users had to manage many separate storage subsystems directly attached to individual systems, each with unused storage capacity that could not be accessed by other systems. Now, with the Gladiator 6700 and volume mapping, storage can 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.
''The Gladiator 6700 was specifically designed from the ground up to address the special storage needs of a SAN,'' said Earl Pearlman, MTI president and CEO. ''Features such as volume mapping make the Gladiator 6700 a truly SAN-ready product. Volume mapping is a crucial component to ensure that a SAN operates at its full potential and is a necessary element to conduct business in a SAN environment.''
''The Storage Area Network market is in position for tremendous growth, however, there are important issues to be addressed, such as resource allocation and heterogeneous platform support, before customers can realize the true benefits of this new architecture,'' said Sean Derrington, senior research analyst with the consulting firm, META Group Inc. ''Volume mapping and server partitioning are critical elements in providing a total SAN solution.''
Scalable Modular Architecture
MTI's Scalable Modular Architecture (SMA) represents the core design element of the Gladiator 6700. It enables the development of ''reusable'' adaptive architectures and consists of two major components, called RAID Elements and Storage Elements. These technologies enable users to create custom configurations based on their current performance and capacity requirements while, at the same time, allow the system to be reconfigured and redeployed to meet changing needs. MTI's SMA enables storage capacity and performance to be scaled independently of each other. In addition, SMA facilitates
''plug-and-play'' upgrades to newer, higher performance RAID Elements as they become available without discarding previous Storage Element investments.
Unique High-Availability Features
To protect sensitive and mission-critical data in the event of a power interruption or disaster, the Gladiator 6700 features a series of vital data protection features. The system includes MTI's unique HardCache technology; a fail-safe dedicated disk drive mounted on each RAID controller. In the event of a power interruption, all data stored in cache memory is copied to the HardCache to maintain data integrity until the system is back online. To ensure the highest level of disaster recovery, battery-backed power supplies in the Gladiator 6700 provide reserve power for HardCache operation.
In addition, MTI's patented WriteGuard technology ensures that storage writes in progress are completed even if a power failure occurs in the middle of a write operation. WriteGuard logs all transactions to nonvolatile memory until the write is completed and verified by the system. When the power returns, the 6700 automatically restores HardCache data and incomplete writes are then committed to disk.
The Gladiator 6700 also incorporates MTI's DataAssure technology that uses 528-byte sectors on disk instead of the traditional 512-byte sectors. The system stores additional error recovery information with each sector to provide better data protection and ensure that error-free information is transferred between the array and the attached servers.
''The Gladiator 6700 enables customers to create large, centralized storage pools,'' said Kevin J. Liebl, MTI vice president of marketing. ''Through the Gladiator 6700's native volume-mapping capability, enterprise users are able to install application servers by simply and easily connecting them to the SAN. With volume mapping and a SAN architecture, storage becomes a far more fluid resource in an enterprise information systems environment.''
Open Systems Support
The Gladiator 6700 will support a wide array of open systems operating environments including Hewlett-Packard HP-UX, Microsoft Windows NT, Novell NetWare, Silicon Graphics IRIX and Sun Solaris. The Gladiator 6700 features up to 256MB of processor cache, up to 512MB of mirrored write-back cache plus built-in systems to monitor, configure and provide alert status via a standard Ethernet network connection. The Gladiator 6700 supports multiple simultaneous RAID levels, including
Levels 0, 1, 0+1 and 5.
The Gladiator 6700 also includes MTI's Gladiator Storage Manager (GSM) software that offers storage management for multiple Gladiator 6700 arrays. Authorized users can monitor array performance, data integrity and fault conditions via a graphical user interface.
Gladiator 6700 SAN storage subsystem can be scaled from 218GB to more than 1 terabyte of useable storage capacity in a single cabinet. Entry-level system pricing starts at $149,000 and ranges to $459,400 for a fully configured 1-terabyte system with two RAID Elements. The new product is now available for shipment 30 days after receipt of order.
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