New RAID Controller From Xyratex for OEM: the F6412E

Xyratex Ltd. unveiled two major
enhancements to its RAID product portfolio: the F6412E RAID controller
and Advanced Power Management (APM) software for the industry’s highest
density RAID system. The Xyratex F6412E sets a new standard for
performance and efficiency, delivering up to twice the performance
(IOPS) of the previous generation controller while minimizing
electronic waste through optimal battery design. In addition, the
company’s new Advanced Power Management software can save up to 40
percent in power dissipation by automatically spinning down disk
drives.

"Increasing cost-efficiency while retaining high performance is the
name of the game in the storage business, and it’s good to see that
Xyratex’s latest RAID enhancements continue to deliver against these
needs,” says analyst Mark Peters, Enterprise Strategy Group. “An
additional priority for a growing number of organizations today is the
need to be as energy efficient and as environmentally responsible as
possible. Xyratex’s introduction of a spin-down capability to reduce
power consumption when possible, as well as a battery that offers both
a longer life and a less environmentally-damaging chemical composition,
can only be viewed as goodness. Overall, this announcement combines a
performance-oriented solution with better economics and environmental
considerations, creating a package that OEMs and solutions integrators
can take into a wide variety of markets."    

F6412E RAID Controller Doubles the Data Transfer Rate of Previous Generation Products
The
Xyratex F6412E is an evolution of the company’s highly successful 5000
RAID controllers that have been adopted by a large number of server and
storage OEMs.  Recognizing the need for vendors to shorten job
completion in order to improve staff and business productivity, the
F6412E RAID controller sets a new standard for Xyratex RAID storage
with up to double the data transfer rate of previous generation
products. This increase in transfer rate delivers maximum throughput
(MB/s) for high-bandwidth applications ranging from video editing to
high speed data protection to database-intensive online transaction
processing.

In addition, Xyratex has developed a new battery technology for the
F6412E that offers a service life up to 10 years rather than the
standard two-to-three years of typical batteries. The extended battery
life not only reduces electronic waste, but also minimizes downtime due
to component replacement.

Advanced Power Management Software Reduces Energy Consumption in High-Density RAID System
The
APM software provides a new level of power efficiency for the
industry’s highest density, high-availability nearline RAID system
(Xyratex F5404E) and increases the eco-efficiency of the entire Xyratex
RAID family. The software reduces energy consumption by enabling
administrators to create policies that identify disk drives that have
not been accessed in order to intelligently spin them down. It
identifies groups of physical drives that are accessed in parallel and
spins down and spins up drive groups to satisfy requests from
applications running on attached servers. A schedulable patrol function
regularly evaluates drives that have been spun down to ensure they will
spin up on demand without affecting applications’ performance,
availability or reliability.  With these new features, Xyratex OEMs can
deliver high-performance storage solutions that appeal to a diverse set
of markets, including video editing and high-performance computing at
an extremely competitive price.

“Drawing from our expertise in high-efficiency power, reliability,
and eco-efficiency, Xyratex continues to enhance customer investment in
our products by delivering a new high-performance RAID system and
Advanced Power Management software that sets us apart from others in
the marketplace,” said Lisa Hart, vice president of marketing,
Networked Storage Solutions, Xyratex. “Customer commitment is the key
to our success.  Delivering affordable, adaptable and proven storage
solutions is how we will continue to meet our customers’ demands.”

Product Availability
The Xyratex F6412E RAID
controller is available today.  The Advanced Power Management software
will initially be implemented on the 4U 48-drive F5404E RAID system and
incorporated throughout the remaining Xyratex RAID family by mid-2008.

Xyratex Ltd.