Genesis V RAID Rackmount Subsystem Revealed by MicroNet

MicroNet Technology introduced its Genesis V RAID rackmount subsystem product suite to deliver high-density storage with enterprise performance and features at the most compelling price points in the industry. MicroNet’s Genesis V RAID rackmount storage line for SMBs brings greater computing horsepower to the segment, addressing storage challenges for data intensive applications including email, video, collaborative computing, databases, e-business, CRM and disaster recovery.

Leading the MicroNet Genesis V portfolio is the 3U-16TB SAS-SAS/SATA RAID subsystem, which provides powerful data availability along with exceptional manageability. An easy-to-use Web browser-based RAID manager enables local or remote configuration, management and monitoring of all system events and provides email notifications indicating system health based on user-defined policies. This rackmount device comes equipped with high-capacity SATA II drives for low cost storage of reference data, or on some units, SAS drives for more throughput-intensive applications.

“Small and medium size businesses that struggle with managing their data storage environment sometimes find themselves relying on older technologies or implementing solutions that lack desired features because of cost restraints,” said Scott Zahl, vice president of vendor management, Ingram Micro U.S. “The advances in storage technology and the affordability and performance of products such as MicroNet’s new Genesis V are changing the game for SMBs and bringing to market the right technology at the right price.”

The 16 TB Genesis V combines simplicity with one of the most feature-dense storage systems available to the small and medium business. With Genesis V, MicroNet delivers performance and capabilities usually found only in enterprise environments, including a 64-bit Intel IOP341 RAID processor, dual 4X mini SAS (3Gb/s) host bus interface, and either a SAS or 3 Gb/s SATA II drive bus interface for up to 400 MB/s per channel data throughput.

Additional features include:

• Support of S.M.A.R.T. NCQ and OOB Staggered Spin-up capable drives
• RAID levels 0, 1, 0+1, 3, 5, 6, 30, 50, 60 and JBOD
• Online array roaming
• Online RAID level/stripe size migration
• Online capacity expansion and RAID level migration simultaneously
• Online Volume Set Expansion
• Scalable within the enclosure
• Support of up to 128 LUNs per RAID set
• Instant availability and background initialization
• Local audible event notification alarm
• Secure login access
• Always-on UPS connectivity
• Serial port interface for remote event notification

Genesis V Suite to Provide Range of Capacity, Performance and Connectivity Options
In addition to the fully loaded 16 bay SAS model, MicroNet is releasing two Genesis V products as part of the new 2U and 3U rack-mounted disk storage suite. These include an Ultra 320 SATA II 8/16 bay system and a 12 or 16 bay Fibre Channel SATA II/SAS device. All Genesis V models include transparent data protection for all popular operating systems, hot spare support, automatic hot rebuild and online capacity expansion. Features to ensure business continuity include two hot swappable power supplies, bad block auto-remapping, online consistency check and redundant flash image for high availability.

“Storage vendors targeting SMBs through the channel face stiff competition, increasing pressure on pricing and demands for faster, higher capacity storage solutions,” said Deni Connor, founding analyst for Storage Strategies NOW. “Genesis V is well positioned for this environment, providing enterprise features, functionality and expandability in a package that is priced right for these sub-enterprise environments. Businesses requiring a higher level of performance and information availability for their critical data should consider subsystems with these qualifications in their review.”

“With limited IT staff, SMBs often do not have the resources to deal with the complexities of more robust network storage systems which are necessary for today’s demanding applications. Adding to this challenge, constrained IT budgets have tightened the screws on new IT purchases which is forcing companies to do more with less”, said Gary Goodman, Director of Business Development for MicroNet. “Genesis V shields SMB users from these headaches, making deployment and use of powerful storage solutions simple and cost-effective in support of application requirements.”

Pricing and Availability
The Genesis V rackmount product suite starts at $3,529 and scales based on capacity and configuration. Product is distributed through Ingram Micro and available through the Ingram partner channel.