Quad Channel iSCSI RAID From Sans Digital

Sans Digital announced a new iSCSI storage solution in a 3U 16 bay rackmount format.

Based on the EliteRAID iSCSI platform, the new EliteRAID ER316I+B employs a faster RAID engine and provides up to 400 MB/sec of total iSCSI throughput (4 x 1Gbps Ethernet iSCSI), doubling the total maximum bandwidth of the data transfer speed in comparison to the previous models.

The ER316I+B is designed with improved read /write speeds allowing utilization of maximum Gigabit Ethernet bandwidth. A dedicated RAID engine provides offloading of complex RAID calculations from the host computer’s CPU utilization. The ER316I+B offers cross platform support for Windows, MAC, and Linux allowing a mixed computer networking environment. ER316I+B also supports VMware ESX server, Microsoft Hyper-V and Citrix Xen Server for storage virtualization. VMware ESX Server and VMware Virtual Infrastructure features such as vMotion and VMHA are also supported.

The ER316I+B easily integrate into any SANs with fast block level data transfer via conventional Ethernet cables. And since the iSCSI transfers data via network cables, it provides flexibility when physical location constraints become an issue.

Enterprise feature such as online RAID migration and expansion, Microsoft MPIO, MC/S, Trunking, LACP, SCSI-3 persistent reservation are also supported. To ensure a 24×7 continuous operation, redundant power supplies and hot swappable fans all come standard designed for mission critical applications.

Using available Ethernet infrastructure via affordable Ethernet switches and Category5/6 cables, iSCSI has become a popular platform due to its low deployment cost and high data transfer speed.

"The newly designed iSCSI models are equipped with all necessary components to launch a basic SAN solution," said Stanley Chan, Director of Business Development, Sans Digital. "Users are now able to enjoy the benefits of SAN at a fraction of the cost when compared to the Fibre Channel solutions."