nStor Unveils SANStor Storage Area Network (SAN) Architecture and Product Strategy
LAKE MARY, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 1999--Reaffirming their long-term commitment to deliver complete storage solutions using Fibre Channel, nStor Corporation, Inc. today announced the immediate availability of SANStor(TM) 1000 and SANStor 5000, the first products in its new family of fibre-channel-based SANStor storage area network (SAN) solutions for the enterprise. The highly-scalable SANStor products incorporate nStor's existing CR8F and NexStor 18F technology, featuring a cable-less, passive dual Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) backplane engineered to boost performance and availability through a modular design that provides the maximum level of connectivity, reliability and performance.
Designed to satisfy the growing customer demand for pre-tested "plug-and-play" high-performance and high-availability SAN solutions, the fabric-aware, SES-compliant SANStor 5000 turnkey configuration includes a 36-inch high (23U) nTera(TM) enclosure with four NexStor 18F storage systems housing seventy-two 36GB Fibre Channel disk drives for a total of 2.6TB of storage, dual Fibre Channel RAID controllers with active/active and hot-swap capabilities, Q-Logic Fibre Channel host adapters, an 8-port Ancor Gigworks(TM) Fibre Channel switch, AdminiStor(R) Storage Management Software and SAN Software. The SANStor 1100 configuration is identical except for the storage enclosures, which are four CR8F's housing thirty-two 36GB Fibre Channel disk drives for a total storage capacity of 1.1TB.
"Having long understood the critical need for robust interoperability, the first step in our SANStor strategy was to partner with several key vendors to assure interoperability for the end-user," said Steve Hammond, vice president of marketing and business development for nStor Corporation. "We recognize that many partners within nStor's architecture are required, so in addition to offering pre-tested turnkey SANStor configurations, we're currently working with multiple switch, hub, router and software partners to assure interoperability with our enclosures. This will insure that customers desiring to build and implement their own SAN solutions will be able to do so with reliability and performance."
"The art to success in the SAN market is the quality of partners you keep," says Michael Peterson, president of Strategic Research Corp. "The customer wants performance, continuous access, and high availability. This is the promise of SANs. With the release of the SANStor products, nStor joins a small group of companies offering fully integrated and certified SAN storage solutions."
The second phase of nStor's SAN strategy is the development of several other Fibre Channel products targeted for release late in the second quarter of this year. These include the NexStor 8FF, an 8-bay enclosure with internal active/active Fibre-to-Fibre RAID controllers, and the NexStor 18FF, a new 18-bay enclosure incorporating internal active/active Fibre-to-Fibre RAID controllers and an operator control panel (OCP) to offer true operating system independence.
NexStor 18F - the highest-density storage solution in the industry
The key component of nStor's highly affordable SANStor 5000 solution, is the NexStor 18F which delivers both the high-speed bandwidth and the high-capacity storage requirements necessary in a minimal amount of space. The OEM-grade rack-based storage enclosure houses up to eighteen disk drives (up to 648GB of storage) in a single 4U footprint. Other system features include data transfer rates up to 200MB/second, support for up to 126 devices, superior cooling that supports both the 7,200 and high-speed 10,000 RPM disk drives, dual power cords, as well as redundant, hot-swappable disk drives, fans, power supplies and loop resiliency circuits (LRCs).
"The NexStor 18F is one of the best designed storage enclosures we've seen," commented Dimitri Chernyshov, Entertainment Marketing Manager for Mercury Computer Systems, Inc.'s Shared Storage Business Unit. "It has all the 'little features' that a disk array needs, but most manufacturer's leave off, such as Fibre Channel input and output connectors on EACH port, dual power with cable locks, and vertical mounting of the disks to accommodate higher capacity in a small form factor."
Pricing and Availability
Available for immediate delivery, the suggested list price for SANStor 1000 is $106,000 for 1.1TB ($.09/MB) of storage. Suggested list pricing for SANStor 5000 is $196,000 for 2.6TB (or $.07/MB) of protected data-storage. Comparing other recently announced SAN solutions listing at $105,000 for 400GB ($.26/MB), SANStor is clearly one of the most affordable SAN solutions on the market today.
About nStor
nStor Corporation is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of high availability, high-performance information storage solutions, including external RAID solutions, desktop storage systems, advanced storage management software and AdaptiveRAID(R) technology. nStor products are marketed through a worldwide network of OEMs and distributors. A wholly-owned subsidiary of nStor Technologies, Inc. (AMEX: NSO), nStor's home office is located in Lake Mary (near Orlando), Florida, with remote sales offices located throughout the U.S., Europe, the Pac-Rim and Latin America. nStor is a member of the Fibre Channel Community (FCC), the Storage Networking Industry Alliance (SNIA) and the RAID Advisory Board (RAB). Additional information about nStor and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at nstor.com
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CONTACT:
Diane Weinzierl
Public Relations Manager
Phone: (407) 829-3624
Fax: (407) 829-3638
Email: diane.weinzierl@nstor.com |
