SAN Solutions Introduces ArtiSAN 9400 and 5400 2

SAN Solutions Inc. announced the launch of two new product lines in its ArtiSAN Storage Platform family.

The ArtiSAN 9400 series is designed for high-performance film and video applications, and the ArtiSAN 5400 series is for compressed HD media production, audio post, and near-line, high-capacity media storage. Both products are making their international debut this week at the 2011 NAB Show in the SAN Solutions’ booth, SU3725.

"Today’s evolving file-based workflow environment presents a unique challenge for IT professionals in broadcast and media enterprises. With the ArtiSAN platform, we’re addressing application requirements for performance, scalability, and ease of management that are unique to the rich media space," said Harry Aine, SAN Solutions president. "Both the ArtiSAN 9400 and the ArtiSAN 5400 storage arrays introduce a powerful combination of entry-level pricing and new levels of performance and availability, designed to provide our customers with maximum value and return on their investment."

The ArtiSAN 9400 series is an enterprise-class, highly available storage system that meets broadcast and post-production performance requirements. The ArtiSAN 9400 supports multiple streams of 2K/4K media as well as all HD video streams including 3G and 3D applications. The ArtiSAN 9400 is offered in both a 2-RU, 24-bay, 2.5-inch drive enclosure form factor and a 2- RU, 12-bay 3.5-inch drive enclosure form factor. The platform includes SAN Solutions’ dual active high-performance RAID controllers, featuring the high performing hard disk and solid- state drives.

A single ArtiSAN 9400 array with four 6-Gb SAS host connections performing 1MB sequential read transfers – typical in media applications – yields performance in excess of 5 GB/sec across the dual active RAID controllers. "An ArtiSAN 9400 unit with a single 6-Gb SAS 4-lane connection to one host client reports bandwidth in excess of 2 GB/sec, which until now, was a level of performance that was inconceivable at the entry- level price being offered," adds Aine.

The ArtiSAN 5400 series storage platform is a replacement for the now end-of-life Apple Xserve RAID and similar arrays found throughout broadcast and post-production environments. The ArtiSAN 5400 meets the requirements of compressed HD production, multiplatform content delivery, as well as the requirements of high-capacity near-line storage that are all critical components of today’s media companies.

The ArtiSAN 5400 platform is also offered in a 2-RU, 24-bay, 2.5-inch drive enclosure form factor and a 2-RU, 12-bay 3.5-inch drive enclosure form factor. It comes available in both a single controller and a dual active controller configuration. 8-Gb Fibre Channel, 6-Gb SAS, and 1-Gb iSCSI controller types are available. Point-in-time volume images, remote volume mirroring, and remote replication services are optional features in this product series, enabling an effective disaster recovery storage implementation.