Midrange storage array specifications
Product snapshots highlighting key specifications for a cross section of midrange storage array products.
Smaller storage enterprises typically emphasise low cost along with ease of deployment and management, so midrange storage arrays are often evaluated based on a different set of purchase criteria. The key for many smaller organizations is to meet their storage needs without adding personnel or increasing the workload on IT professionals that are already overworked. Scalability and data protection are certainly important, and data migration between storage platforms remains essential. The product snapshots in this chapter highlight key specifications for a cross section of popular midrange storage array products. The following products were selected based on input from industry analysts and SearchStorage.com editors, and specifications are current as of February 2007.
The following specifications have been provided by vendors and are periodically updated. Vendors are welcome to submit their updates and new product specifications to [email protected].
Go to the first product snapshot or select the desired product below:
Product Snapshot #1
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Product: 3PARdata Inc.; InServ E200 Storage Server
Raw Storage Capacity: 63.1 TB
Usable Storage Capacity: 56 to 8,000 TB (depending on mix of traditional vs. thin provisioned base volumes)
Total Number of Disks: 128 disks
Disk Types Supported: 147 GB Fibre Channel, 300 GB Fibre Channel, and 500 GB Nearline drives
Data Throughput: Refer to performance data at http://www.3pardata.com/products/performance.html
RAID Support: Yes; RAID 0, 10, 50
Onboard Cache: 4 GB control cache; 4 GB or 8 GB data cache
File Systems Supported: Native file system support is not applicable since InServ E200 is a block-level storage array. InServ E200 does support file systems deployed on supported Host Operating Systems including Microsoft Windows, Sun Solaris, HP HP-UX, IBM AIX, Red Hat Linux, SuSE Linux, VMware, Egenera, and ONStor.
Network Protocols Supported: Fibre Channel, iSCSI, Gigabit Ethernet (for remote mirroring)
Connectivity: 0, 4, 8 or 12 Fibre Channel Host Ports; 0 or 4 iSCSI Host Ports. Fibre Channel and iSCSI host ports are mixable on same InServ E200.
Form Factor: 4U controller node chassis; 3U drive chassis. All components can be installed in a 3PAR 1-meter cabinet, 3PAR 2-meter cabinet, or in an EIA standard 19-inch rack.
Vendor Comment: 3PAR Utility Storage is a simple, efficient and scalable tiered-storage array for utility computing, ideal for open-systems storage consolidation, integrated data lifecycle management and performance intensive applications. Chosen by leading organizations such as Verizon, Priceline.com, Merrill Lynch, MySpace.com, U.S. Census Bureau, Symantec and the WPP Group, 3PAR Utility Storage allows customers to improve responsiveness by 10X and cut total cost of data by 50%.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Pricing for InServ E200 Storage Server begins at $75,000
Detailed Specs: http://www.3par.com/products/inservmodels.html
Vendor URL: www.3par.com
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Product Snapshot #2
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Product: EMC Corp.; Centera CAS for Midsize Enterprises (4-Node)
Raw Storage Capacity: Not provided
Usable Storage Capacity: 3.6 TB
Total Number of Disks: 16 drives in the 4 Node base unit, expandable in 4 Node increments
Disk Types Supported: SATA disks
Data Throughput: Not provided
RAID Support: Yes; mirroring
Onboard Cache: Not applicable for CAS
File Systems Supported: Not applicable for CAS
Network Protocols Supported: TCP/IP
Connectivity: Not applicable for CAS
Form Factor: 7U for the 4 Node base unit; 4U for the 4 Node expansion unit
Vendor Comment: Centera is the world's most simple, affordable and secure repository for information archiving.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Pricing begins around $70K USD
Detailed Specs: http://www.emc.com/products/systems/centera/centera_ms/index.jsp
Vendor URL: www.emc.com
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Product Snapshot #3
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Product: EMC Corp.; CLARiiON CX3-40 (FC) and dual protocol CX3-40 iSCSI/FC
Raw Storage Capacity: 117 TB
Usable Storage Capacity: 94 TB (RAID-5, 1+4)
Total Number of Disks: 240 disks
Disk Types Supported: SATA II and Fibre Channel disks
Data Throughput: Close to 4 Gb/s per FC port
RAID Support: Yes; RAID: 0, 1, 1/0, 3, 5 (adjustable stripe depths for all). Supports Global Hot Spare
Onboard Cache: 8 GB
File Systems Supported: NTFS, FAT, BFS, AFS, etc. (supported with Celera and Centera platfroms)
Network Protocols Supported: Fibre Channel, iSCSI, NFS v2/v3/v4, CIFS (NFS and CIFS supported with Celerra and Centera platforms)
Connectivity: Fibre Channel and iSCSI ports
Form Factor: 1U for controller; 3U for each 15 drive DAE
Vendor Comment: End-to-end 4 Gb/s architecture, multi-connectivity with Fibre Channel and iSCSI in the same array.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Pricing begins at $52K USD
Detailed Specs: http://www.emc.com/products/systems/clariion_cx3-40.jsp
Vendor URL: www.emc.com
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Product Snapshot #4
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Product: EqualLogic Inc.; PS3800XV
Raw Storage Capacity: 2.3 TB
Usable Storage Capacity: 1.77 TB
Total Number of Disks: 16 disks
Disk Types Supported: 15,000 RPM 146 GB Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives
Data Throughput: 300 MB/s per array; each additional array in a SAN adds 300 MB/s
RAID Support: Yes; RAID-5, RAID-10 and RAID-50
Onboard Cache: 2 GB
File Systems Supported: Virtually all, because the array provides block level storage
Network Protocols Supported: iSCSI, TCP/IP, Ethernet, SNMP for management
Connectivity: (3) Gigabit Ethernet network interfaces per array; each additional array in a SAN adds (3) GigE interfaces
Form Factor: 3U modular chassis, 19-inch rack
Vendor Comment: The PS3800XV delivers high performance suitable for intensive database applications, providing a dollar-per-IOPS-optimized storage tier within an easy-to-manage and easy-to-grow EqualLogic SAN. Because of EqualLogic's modular, virtualized architecture, the PS3800XV can be seamlessly combined with other PS Series arrays and can automatically load balance workloads across all available spindles, network links and cache in a SAN.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Pricing begins at $65,000 USD
Detailed Specs: http://www.equallogic.com/products/view.aspx?id=1989
Vendor URL: www.equallogic.com
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Product Snapshot #5
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Product: EqualLogic Inc.; PS400E
Raw Storage Capacity: 10.5 TB
Usable Storage Capacity: 7.8 TB
Total Number of Disks: 14 disks
Disk Types Supported: SATA II disks
Data Throughput: 300 MB/s per array; each additional array in a SAN adds 300 MB/s
RAID Support: Tes; RAID-5, RAID-10 and RAID-50
Onboard Cache: 2 GB
File Systems Supported: Virtually all, because the array provides block level storage
Network Protocols Supported: iSCSI/IP
Connectivity: (3) Gigabit Ethernet network interfaces per array; each additional array in a SAN adds (3) GigE interfaces
Form Factor: 3U modular chassis, 19-inch rack
Vendor Comment: The PS400E delivers maximum storage density and solid performance for the majority of applications including archiving- providing a storage tier optimized for cost-effective capacity within an easy-to-manage and easy-to-grow EqualLogic SAN. EqualLogic's renowned ease-of-use and all-inclusive software features provide compelling economics for companies to consolidate storage, reducing operational expenses, and to implement robust data protection and disaster recovery for business continuity.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Pricing begins at $66,000 USD
Detailed Specs: http://www.equallogic.com/products/view.aspx?id=1791
Vendor URL: www.equallogic.com
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Product Snapshot #6
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Product: Hewlett-Packard Co.; StorageWorks 4000 Enterprise Virtual Array
Raw Storage Capacity: Not provided
Usable Storage Capacity: 28 TB
Total Number of Disks: 56 disks
Disk Types Supported: Dual Ported Fibre Channel and Dual Ported Fibre Attached Technology dapted (FATA)
Data Throughput: 335 MB/s
RAID Support: Yes; VRAID 0, 0+1d 5 and CrossVRAID
Onboard Cache: 4 GB per controller pair
File Systems Supported: Not provided
Network Protocols Supported: FC and iSCSI
Connectivity: 4 host ports and 4 device ports
Form Factor: 4U/controller pair
Vendor Comment: The EVA4000, EVA4000 Starter Kit, and EVA4000 SAN Starter is a SAN made easy! The EVA4000 offereings provide affordable, fast and easy small SAN deployment with support for the full range of EVA offerings: EVA Command View EVA, EVA iSCSI Connectivity Option, Business Copy EVA, Continuous Access EVA and solution integration.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: EVA4000 Starter Kit (EVA4000 2C1D, Command View 4TB LTU, 8 146GB 10K HDD) starts at $25,880 USD
Detailed Specs: http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/eva/index.html
Vendor URL: www.hp.com
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Product Snapshot #7
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Product: Hewlett-Packard Co.; StorageWorks 6000 Enterprise Virtual Array
Raw Storage Capacity: Not provided
Usable Storage Capacity: 56 TB
Total Number of Disks: 112 disks
Disk Types Supported: Dual Ported Fibre Channel and Dual Ported Fibre Attached Technology dapted (FATA)
Data Throughput: 750 MB/s
RAID Support: VRAID 0, 0+1d 5 and CrossVRAID
Onboard Cache: 4 GB per controller pair
File Systems Supported: Not provided
Network Protocols Supported:
Connectivity: FC and iSCSI
Form Factor: 4U, plus 1U for the FC loop switch
Vendor Comment: The EVA6000 is designed for customers in the business critical, enterprise marketplace offering a high performance, high availability "virtual" array storage solution. The EVA6000 offereings provide affordable, fast and easy SAN deployment and management with support for the full range of EVA offerings: EVA Command View EVA, EVA iSCSI Connectivity Option, Business Copy EVA, Continuous Access EVA and solution integration.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: EVA6000 2C4D pricing starts at $58,050 USD
Detailed Specs: http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/eva/index.html
Vendor URL: www.hp.com
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Product Snapshot #8
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Product: Hewlett-Packard Co.; StorageWorks 8000 Enterprise Virtual Array
Raw Storage Capacity: Not provided
Usable Storage Capacity: 120 TB
Total Number of Disks: 240 disks
Disk Types Supported: Dual Ported Fibre Channel and Dual Ported Fibre Attached Technology dapted (FATA)
Data Throughput: 1420 MB/s
RAID Support: Yes; VRAID 0, 0+1d 5 and CrossVRAID
Onboard Cache: 8 GB per controller pair
File Systems Supported: Not provided
Network Protocols Supported: FC and iSCSI
Connectivity: 8 host ports and 8 device ports
Form Factor: 4U, plus 2 U for the FC loop switches
Vendor Comment: The EVA8000 is designed for customers in the business critical, enterprise marketplace offering a high performance, high availability "virtual" array storage solution. The EVA8000 offereings provide affordable, fast and easy SAN deployment and management with support for the full range of EVA offerings: EVA Command View EVA, EVA iSCSI Connectivity Option, Business Copy EVA, Continuous Access EVA and solution integration.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: EVA8000 2C6D pricing starts at $118,100 USD
Detailed Specs: http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/eva/index.html
Vendor URL: www.hp.com
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Product Snapshot #9
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Product: Hitachi Data Systems Inc.; Adaptable Modular Storage AMS200
Raw Storage Capacity: 1 TB to over 49 TB SATA and Fibre Channel Intermix
Usable Storage Capacity: Not provided
Total Number of Disks: Up to 105 HDDs maximum; 4 FC minimum; 0 to 90 SATA disks
Disk Types Supported: SATA and FC (10K and 15K RPM)
Data Throughput: Supports 4Gbit/sec host Fibre Channel connections (standard on AMS500 and AMS1000, optional on AMS200)
RAID Support: Yes; RAID-6 dual parity for highest reliability; RAID-5, RAID-1 and RAID-1+ are additionally supported; RAID 0 is supported on FC HDDs
Onboard Cache: Up to 4GB of cache in AMS200
File Systems Supported: All major file systems are supported
Network Protocols Supported: Fibre Channel, iSCSI, and NAS
Connectivity: Allows up to 512 virtual ports with host storage domains and 2,048 LUNs for concurrent support of large heterogeneous open systems environments.
Form Factor: 4U controller; 3U trays (up to 15 HDDs in controller and trays)
Vendor Comment: The Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage system, model AMS200 is a high-performance, high-availability system in the midrange category. Leveraging many high-end features, such as cache partitioning and RAID-6, the AMS200 is ideal for small to mid-sized businesses. AMS200 allows businesses to generate fast-growing amounts of data that need to meet application requirements for availability and performance in a midrange solution.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Prices start at under $20,000 USD for smaller configurations
Detailed Specs: http://www.hds.com/products_services/adaptable_modular_storage/
Vendor URL: www.hds.com
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Product Snapshot #10
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Product: Hitachi Data Systems Inc.; Adaptable Modular Storage AMS500
Raw Storage Capacity: 109.5 TB SATA intermix; 67.5 TB Fibre Channel
Usable Storage Capacity: Varies by RAID type selected
Total Number of Disks: 4 minimum (FC) up to 225 Fibre Channel; up to 210 SATA
Disk Types Supported: SATA; FC (10K and 15K RPM)
Data Throughput: Up to 6.8 Gbps cached bandwidth; 4FCAL to each tray (2 loops per controller)
RAID Support: RAID-0 (Fibre Channel only), RAID-1, RAID-1+0, RAID-5, RAID-6, RAID 0 supported on FC HDDs
Onboard Cache: 8 GB
File Systems Supported: All major file systems supported
Network Protocols Supported:
Connectivity: NFS v2/v3, CIFS, FTP, HTTP (management) for NAS. iSCSI and FC also supported (one protocol per system)
Form Factor: 4U controller; 3U shelves standard, 19" rack
Vendor Comment: The Adaptable Modular Storage system, model AMS500 provides the most powerful, scalable and flexible modular storage solution for stand-alone workloads, or, for tiered storage environments, by leveraging the embedded virtualization layer in the Hitachi Universal Storage Platform or Network Storage Controller, offering excellent stores for data with multiple performance and archive requirements.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Prices start at under $45,000 USD for minimum configurations
Detailed Specs: http://www.hds.com/products_services/adaptable_modular_storage/
Vendor URL: www.hds.com
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Product Snapshot #11
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Product: Hitachi Data Systems Inc.; Adaptable Modular Storage AMS1000
Raw Storage Capacity: 219.5 TB FC & SATA intermix; 135 TB Fibre Channel
Usable Storage Capacity: Varies by RAID type selected
Total Number of Disks: 4 minimum up to 450 Fibre Channel; 0 to 420 SATA
Disk Types Supported: SATA; Fibre Channel
Data Throughput: Over 13 Gbps in cached bandwidth (8FCAL, 4 loops per tray)
RAID Support: RAID-0 (Fibre Channel only), RAID-1, RAID-1+0, RAID-5, RAID-6
Onboard Cache: 4 GB to 16 GB
File Systems Supported: All major file systems are supported
Network Protocols Supported: Fibre Channel Direct, SAN, NAS, iSCSI
Connectivity: 8 ports FC or 8 ports iSCSI or 8 ports NAS, dual protocol support 4FC ports + 8 NAS or 8 iSCSI
Form Factor: 4U controller; 3U shelves
Vendor Comment: The Hitachi Adaptable Modular Storage model AMS1000 delivers the best price/performance, availability and best-in-class scalability in the modular storage market space. The AMS1000 offers many unique business-enabling capabilities such as 32 logical cache partitions, non-disruptive "on-the-fly" data movement across multiple tiers of storage, enterprise-class RAID-6 data protection, and a key industry-first: sophisticated multi-protocol support for iSCSI, NAS, and Fibre Channel SAN, embedded in a single system. The AMS1000 also offers 4 Gigabit per Second Fibre Channel SAN Connectivity, enhancing the performance of applications such as video-on-demand and medical imaging.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Prices start at under $75K USD for minimum configurations
Detailed Specs: http://www.hds.com/products_services/adaptable_modular_storage/
Vendor URL: www.hds.com
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Product Snapshot #12
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Product: IBM; DS4800 array
Raw Storage Capacity: 112 TB SATA; 67.2 TB Fibre Channel utilizing 14 expansion units
Usable Storage Capacity: Dependent on RAID Level chosen
Total Number of Disks: 224 utilizing expansion units
Disk Types Supported: SATA and FC in an expansion unit
Data Throughput: Over 1700 MB/sec sustained cache read
RAID Support: Yes; RAID 1, 1, 3, 5, 10
Onboard Cache: 4 GB (dual controller) max 16 GB depending on model
File Systems Supported: Function of the server
Network Protocols Supported: FC attached
Connectivity: Eight 4 Gb FC host ports
Form Factor: 4U
Vendor Comment: The IBM TotalStorage DS4800 disk system is designed to provide solutions to address the needs of midrange/departmental storage requirements and deliver high performance, advanced function, high availability, modular and scalable storage capacity
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: DS4800 starts at $43,000 USD and expansion unit is $6,000 USD
Detailed Specs: https://www-03.ibm.com/servers/storage/disk/ds4000/ds4800/index.html
Vendor URL: www.ibm.com
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Product Snapshot #13
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Product: IBM; DS4700 Express array
Raw Storage Capacity: 8 TB of SATA or 4.8 TB inside the controller box or a total of FC56 TB of SATA; 33.6TB of FC with expansion boxes
Usable Storage Capacity: Dependent on RAID level chosen
Total Number of Disks: 16 drives in the array but can expand to a total of 112 drives using additional 6 expansion units
Disk Types Supported: SATA or Fibre Channel disks
Data Throughput: Over 1500 MB/sec sustained cache reads
RAID Support: Yes; RAID 1, 1, 3, 5, 10
Onboard Cache: 2 GB (dual controller) max 4 GB depending on model
File Systems Supported: Function of the server
Network Protocols Supported: FC attached
Connectivity: 4 or 8 host ports depending on model (all are 4 Gb/sec)
Form Factor: 3U
Vendor Comment: The IBM System Storage DS4700 Express models are members of the DS4000 series storage products that address the needs of midrange and departmental storage requirements. They are designed to deliver high performance with advanced function and high availability and employ sixth-generation architecture that delivers 4 Gbps FC connectivity directly to host servers, SAN fabric, and disk drive expansion enclosures.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Starting at $16,699 USD
Detailed Specs: https://www-03.ibm.com/servers/storage/disk/ds4000/ds4700/index.html
Vendor URL: www.ibm.com
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Product Snapshot #14
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Product: Network Appliance Inc.; FAS3000 array
Raw Storage Capacity: 252 TB
Usable Storage Capacity: 252 TB
Total Number of Disks: 504 disks
Disk Types Supported: SATA and Fibre Channel disks
Data Throughput: Not provided
RAID Support: Yes; All levels up to RAID-DP (high performance RAID 6)
Onboard Cache: 16 GB
File Systems Supported: NFS, CIFS, SAN deployments support all files systems on the following OS -- Windows, UNIX, VMWare, NetWare
Network Protocols Supported: FC SAN, IP SAN, NAS
Connectivity: Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel
Form Factor: See the details at http://www.netapp.com/products/filer/fas3000_tech_specs.html#8
Vendor Comment: FAS3000 series systems are NetApp's midrange products for Enterprise applications. FAS3000 systems deliver exceptional capabilities for both business and technical applications, across both SAN and NAS environments.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Starting price less than $35,000 USD
Detailed Specs: http://www.netapp.com/products/filer/fas3000_ds.html
Vendor URL: www.netapp.com
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Product Snapshot #15
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Product: Pillar Data Systems; Axiom 500
Raw Storage Capacity: 416 TB
Usable Storage Capacity: 320 TB
Total Number of Disks: 64 bricks -- 13 drives per brick with SATA; 12 drives per brick with FC
Disk Types Supported: SATA and Fibre Channel
Data Throughput: 400,000 IOPS
RAID Support: Yes; Axiom 500 supports RAID 5, 50, 51, 51+1
Onboard Cache: Max is 24 GB per slammer or 96 GB per system
File Systems Supported: NFS, CIFS
Network Protocols Supported: FC SAN, iSCSI SAN, NAS
Connectivity: 4 GB FC SAN; GigE NAS, and iSCSI
Form Factor: Not provided
Vendor Comment: Pillar provides an easy to manage storage system that allows customers to consolidate multiple applications easily onto one platform, thus reducing the total cost of ownership for their storage.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Not provided
Detailed Specs: http://www.pillardatasystems.com/products/axiom500/
Vendor URL: www.pillardatasystems.com
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Product Snapshot #16
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Product: Xiotech Corp.; Magnitude 750-2 iSCSI Storage
Raw Storage Capacity: Up to 12TB (requires 16 x 750GB drives)
Usable Storage Capacity: Up to 9.6TB usable for standard configurations; depends on RAID levels and number of hotspares configured.
Total Number of Disks: 16 disks
Disk Types Supported: SATA II disks
Data Throughput: There are 4 iSCSI interfaces in the system, each capable of transferring data at up to 100 MB/s.
RAID Support: Yes; 5/3, 5/5, 10
Onboard Cache: 512 MB
File Systems Supported: Server files systems are supported through iSCSI SAN protocols
Network Protocols Supported: iSCSI
Connectivity: (4) 1 Gb Ethernet ports for iSCSI data path operations; (2) 1 Gb Ethernet ports for management
Form Factor: 3U high, standard 19" rack mountable
Vendor Comment: The Magnitude 750, along with its new user interface, ICON Manager, provides organizations with an easy-to-manage, user-installable and maintainable iSCSI storage area network (SAN) system. Leveraging the virtualization architecture of Xiotech's proven Magnitude 3D 3000 series, the Magnitude 750 has a capacity up to 12 terabytes and dual and single controller configurations, delivering the advanced SAN performance and reliability many organizations need at an affordable price.
Availability: Currently available
Base Cost: Not provided
Detailed Specs: http://www.xiotech.com/XioApp/Products/Magnitude+750/
Vendor URL: www.xiotech.com
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