Avnet to Integrate Scale Computing Clustered Storage

Avnet Technology Solutions, the solutions distribution and an operating group of Avnet, Inc., and Scale Computing, a developer and manufacturer of ICS (Intelligent Clustered Storage) technology, announced that Avnet will assist with Scale Computing’s product development and assembly by integrating Scale Computing’s ICS technology onto the IBM System X server platform to create a complete storage appliance solution – the iSN1000.

Avnet also will help Scale Computing expand its customer base by making the iSN1000 available through Avnet’s IBM value-added reseller partners in the U.S and Canada.

“This is the first time that Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas, will assist in both development and distribution of the same storage appliance,” said Mark Martin, vice president of marketing and business development, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas, IBM Solutions group. “We strongly believe the IBM System X hardware with Scale’s ICS technology is a complete, end-to-end midmarket storage solution that is competitively priced. It will help our IBM-focused reseller partners enhance their storage solutions offerings by addressing key technology challenges facing their midmarket customers.”

In addition to running on IBM’s System X server line, Scale’s ICS technology uses IBM GPFS (General Parallel File System) as its core file system. GPFS is a sophisticated, symmetrical, parallel file system. ICS taps into many of its features and adds others of its own including the ability to run CIFS, NFS and iSCSI protocols simultaneously, creating a unified SAN/NAS environment.

“Scale’s ICS technology offers some of the most aggressive, advanced features for the price. IBM mid-market customers and resellers will benefit tremendously by having this storage solution available on an IBM platform,” said storage analyst Bill Mottram with the Veridictus Associates.

The iSN1000 is a 1 usable TB storage node. Customers must make an initial purchase of (3) iSN 1000s to create a 3 usable TB cluster, called the StarterSAN. Scale’s MSRP for the 3 usable TB StarterSAN is $18,300.

“As an IBM reseller, I am extremely excited about this product,” said Jorge Quintero President of QCM Technologies, Scottsdale, AZ. “This gives us a competitive, IBM branded, midmarket storage solution with enterprise class features.”

iSN 1000 with ICS Technology Features
While many other leading storage vendors use a monolithic architecture that requires control units with limited scalability and single points of failure, the iSN 1000 with ICS technology is a clustered storage system that can scale per TB to more than 2.2 PBs on a single file system.

Features include:

• Future Proof: The iSN 1000 with ICS will work together with future iSNs of greater density and drive size. Because ICS is a clustered system, the 1TB iSN 1000 will work in the same cluster with 2TB, 4TB and even 32TB iSNs (when they are released).
• Snapshot/Replication Included: The iSN 1000 with ICS includes advanced snapshot / replication features at no additional cost above the MSRP.
• Data Aware Drives: Many other storage systems sold in the SMB are asymmetrical, meaning they store metadata in a controller. Such designs not only create a single point of failure, but also make data recovery much more difficult. The iSN 1000 with ICS, however, is symmetrical. All drives are ‘data aware’ as information is mirrored and striped across the entire cluster.
• Linear, Low Cost Scaling: The iSN 1000 with ICS is designed to scale linearly, to more than 2.2 PBs, 1 usable TB at a time. While others require tiered scaling by more than 1TB and at a greater cost, iSN 1000 clusters are versatile and scale within the IT budget.
• Zero Service Disruption While Scaling: To grow capacity, IT managers add extra iSNs to the cluster without disrupting services. ICS technology quickly identifies the node and, adds its capacity to the existing cluster, and begins mirroring and striping data to the new node.

“Avnet’s embedded team has done a stellar job integrating our product, and we are very excited to now be working with their distribution experts. The ability to have both distribution, and product development and integration with one partner is a tremendous asset to our business,” said Alan Hahn, VP of Worldwide Sales, Scale Computing. “We’re confident this product will sell quickly to IBM resellers and customers.”