Sun unveils new open storage lineup

gallery

Sun Microsystems has launched a new range of storage products that make use of industry standards and open source software to aid management and reduce costs.

The new Unified Storage kit will consume just a quarter of the power gulped down by competitive systems, according to Sun. In addition, the computing giant is boasting cost savings of up to 75 per cent and five-minute, hassle-free installation.

The Sun Storage 7000 family – code named Amber Road – consists of three systems: the 7110, 7210 and 7410. Sun has promised more of the same in the future.

“We see open storage as a new category of storage. We don’t see it with a Sun trademark at the end. The industry as a whole will benefit, much as the industry as a whole benefited from the x86 revolution,” said Gavin McLaughlin, Sun’s solutions development manager.

“It’s freedom from lock-in. People are fed up and frustrated when they buy something and are locked into buying software from that particular vendor. It’s history repeating itself, as we’ve seen the same thing in the server industry.”

The family features the fruits of the FISHworks (fully integrated software and hardware) engineering project.

The 7110 (ultra compact with 2TB) and the 7210 (mid-range with up to 48TB with support for write-optimised SSDs) are both available now, costing $10,000 (£6,400) and $34,995 respectively. The beefier 7410 should be available by the end of the month with a price tag of $57,490 for a single node 12TB version and $89,490 for a clustered 12TB configuration.

The latter is capable of storing up to half a petabyte (PB) of data and is configurable with several read and write optimised SSDs and large processor and memory/cache capacities. Enterprises can also opt to purchase this type of system as clustered configurations.

“We use solid state disks (SSDs) to good effect,” added McLaughlin. “A lot of vendors have talked about how they’re going to use SSDs in the future but we’re actually doing it right now.”

McLaughlin was also keen to stress that all product features are turned on from day one meaning an end to the headache of additional software licence fees IT managers often find themselves grappling with.

Sun does have customers in the UK currently beta testing the new lineup, but it wasn’t able to go into specifics or hit at the sectors involved.

The company also launched a new open storage partner programme and unveiled a set of professional services in parallel with the launch of the new product set.

Email to a friend

Print this page