SNW Europe: World's first external small format RAID subsystem launched

RAID storage specialist Infortrend has announced what it claims is the world's first external RAID small format subsystem, combining support for SAS and for fibre channel.

The new 2.5-inch drive arrays come in two flavours, the EonStor B12S-R/G1030 for SAS-to-SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) storage and the EonStor B12F-R/G1430 fibre channel-to-SAS storage.

The drives are 70 per cent smaller overall than conventional 3.5-inch drives and produce significantly better performance - the company claims as much as a 100 per cent improvement. The company is also talking up the green credentials of the new arrays, as the drives require 40 to 50 per cent less power than conventional drives, run cooler and have reduced airflow requirements as a result.

"The new arrays have all the advantages of larger 3.5-inch SAS systems, such as point-to-point architecture, higher performance and efficiency, simpler cabling and connectors, but all combined in a more compact and energy-efficient design," said Alex Young, technical director for Infortrend.

The small form factor arrays come just a week after the company announced two new full-size RAID arrays, also based on SAS. The two S16S arrays come with four SAS wide host ports that provide 12GB/sec bandwidth per port for high speed data transfer. The S16S can use both SAS and SATA drives within the same enclosure, cutting drive costs and allowing for staggered migration away from SATA.

The small form factor arrays are expected to begin shipping at the end of this year.

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