Cutting Edge Debuts Power Saving Cloud Archive

Cutting Edge Networked Storage, the manufacturing partner for Esri’s Windows and Linux based turnkey servers to the geospatial information systems (GIS) community, debuted its new green storage technology for the cloud in Booth 1216 at the Esri International User Conference, July 11 – 15, 2011 in San Diego, CA.

The Power Saving Cloud Archive (PSCA) is a cost-effective, flexible high-density multi-tiered storage solution that boasts performance and scalability, low acquisition cost, up to 90% power savings and a new low in TCO for organizations that are struggling to address the relentless flood of unstructured data, and longer retention times – all the while trying to keep capital and operating expenses low. Moreover, PSCA is the solution for today’s power hungry storage environments where the cost to provide power and cooling for storage systems now actually exceeds the cost to acquire the equipment being powered and cooled.

According to industry analysts such as IDC and Gartner, as much as 75-80% of data now being generated consists of unstructured file formats. Contributing to this trend are applications such as video surveillance, GIS systems, video-on-demand, medical imaging, and scientific computing & analysis, as well as the relentless worldwide explosion of user-generated information.

The Power Saving Cloud Archive architecture directly addresses this trend, seamlessly integrating fifth-generation EdgeWare unified storage software and multi-tiered archiving in combination with power-saving hardware to deliver high-density, scalable storage to multiple Petabytes that reduces power consumption for file-based long-tailed data (such as video, images, medical images, etc.) by up to 90%.

The Power Saving Cloud Archive leverages an open-systems approach (based on Linux Open Source Software) that optimizes the EdgeWare software for unified storage related functions. EdgeWare has been designed from its inception to provide performance, adaptability and scalability. This built-in flexibility enables EdgeWare-based systems to be tuned for specific requirements, including support for both file and block level protocols, a choice of different file systems, IP-based communications and user-level management through intuitive Configuration Wizards. PSCA integrates with existing legacy systems and SANs to provide a cost-effective migration path while minimizing costs. Designed for integration in existing rack-based data center infrastructures, the low-profile PSCA units optimize airflow and cooling, uses less energy, generates less noise and conforms to standard rack-depths and corridor widths.

PSCA’s high-density, module-based, building-block approach allows scalability to a Petabyte of data within a single rack, which is equivalent to 2,000 hours of uncompressed high-definition video footage. Storage can be infinitely extended simply by adding new nodes and racks, offering and incremental growth path that further improves PSCA’s TCO advantage.

"Our new Power Saving Cloud Archive sets a new paradigm toward the deployment of advanced unified multi-tiered storage solutions that provide access at both block level and file level, thereby giving users greater flexibility to handle the full range of data types within the same storage systems," said Michael Ehman, president of Cutting Edge Networked Storage. "The bottom line is that the Power Saving Cloud Archive architecture is poised to revolutionize the industry by taking unified storage to the next level – into the ‘Green Cloud’ – which will result in unprecedented levels of performance, scalability, reduced carbon emissions and cost savings."