Coraid Debuts SAN at $0.50/GB

Coraid, the inventor of the open ATA-over-Ethernet (AoE) storage protocol, announced the introduction of the EtherDrive SR2421 Storage Appliance. It offers RAID storage for 24 SATA disks in a 4U rack mount chassis. Users can install 1 TerraByte SATA disks into the SR2421’s chassis to build SAN storage systems for a total cost of less than $0.50 per GigaByte. A long-time leader in affordable SAN-based storage solutions, Coraid’s new appliance brings the cost down even further so that customers can access all the benefits of a proven SAN storage technology that is simple, reliable and massively scalable.

SR2421 EtherDrive Storage Appliance

The EtherDrive SR2421 is the newest member of Coraid’s popular and award-winning storage product line. Coraid’s EtherDrive uses ATA-over-Ethernet (AoE) for the most efficient Ethernet-based storage protocol, providing a simple and reliable alternative to more complex and expensive iSCSI and Fibre Channel SAN technologies. Coraid’s SR2421 is designed for demanding storage environments that require very high disk density at an amazingly affordable price. The appliance can hold up to 24 standard 3.5" SATA disks giving you more than 24 TerraBytes of storage in just 4U of rack space.

"We designed our latest appliances for storage users that require very high disk density in reliable and affordable configurations," said James Kemp, CEO of Coraid. "At just under fifty cents per GigaByte, our new EtherDrive storage appliances are the most efficient SANs available on the market today."

Coraid’s EtherDrive Storage products use standard Ethernet and the open AoE storage protocol to deliver the fastest, lowest cost and most scalable networked storage available. AoE eliminates the complexities and high cost typically associated with iSCSI or Fibre Channel systems by removing the need for expensive ToE (TCP/IP off-load Engine) cards or HBAs (Host Bus Adapters). Instead, AoE enables disks to be shared on a network to create highly scalable storage systems at the lowest possible price.

The EtherDrive SR2421 is available now and retails for US $4,995. The SR2421 provides storage access at >200 MegaBytes/sec and comes with dual 1Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, 24 hot swap SATA disk carriers, slide out rack mount rails, and redundant how swap power supplies.