Storage Technology is to launch a new class of ATA-based disk
arrays for fast disk-to-disk backups that will offer high-capacity
secondary storage at a comparatively low cost.
The BladeStore B150 server is the first in StorageTek's B-Series
disk array family. The product line, which will be rolled out
during the next year, uses Advanced Technology-Attached (ATA) disks
with a Fibre Channel controller to achieve gigabit speeds.
The box can be used as temporary storage before archiving to tape,
or as so-called near-line storage for faster access to data
online.
Tom Major, vice-president and general manager of StorageTek's Disk
Business Unit, said that by using ATA, his company was able to drop
the price per megabyte of storage from a range of 3 to 10 cents to
1 to 2 cents. Major said prices vary depending on configuration but
a 4Tbyte BladeStore server carries a list price of about $85,000
(£55,108). BladeStore, which will be generally available by the
middle of next month, will scale to 160Tbyte behind a single
controller. The starting price includes a system with controller
and management software.
In comparison, EMC's Centera array starts at $101,500 (£65,805) for
a 5Tbyte system, plus $103,200 for companion storage management
software. While boxes from both EMC and StorageTek target the
fixed-data market, which includes X-ray images, checks and
documentation, Centera sports a 27-character metadata tag that
makes it impossible to copy over or change a file that was
previously created.
Jamie Gruener, a storage networking analyst at The Yankee Group
said the disk-to-disk backup and fixed-content storage markets are
"becoming rather crowded fairly quickly".
"The differentiation will come in how software is used to manage
the system and manage the duplication of the data - making sure
there's efficient duplication as opposed to multiple copies or
blanks sitting on the storage array," Gruener said.
Last week, start-up Avamar Technologies launched an ATA-based disk
array that's more analogous to EMC's Centera in that it uses
metadata to create unique documents that can't be changed. It costs
about $175,000 (£113,457) for 7Tbyte of capacity.