Iomega StorCenter px12-450r NAS …

Iomega Corporation, an EMC company, announced the StorCenter px12-450r Network Storage Array, multi-protocol networked data storage for SMBs, remote office/branch office installations and distributed enterprises.

The px12-450r features the new Intel Xeon Processor E3-1200 v2 Product Family, 8GB RAM, improved user supportability and is ready for 4TB HDD and 10GbE networks. Additionally, the it utilizes the latest version the EMC LifeLine software, an operating system that makes EMC’s enterprise class expertise and cloud capabilities available to a range of users.

The px12-450r is designed for functions including dedupe, VDI, database and storage-based applications. Examples of emerging applications include video management systems for surveillance and McAfee VirusScan Enterprise running natively on the storage .

"With the introduction of the new StorCenter px12-450r, Iomega continues to expand its high performance PX series NAS product line to meet the storage solution needs of our SMB customers," said Mike Nikzad, COO, Iomega. "Designed with the latest Intel processing architecture at its core, Iomega is first to market with the highest performance at the best value available in its class. Built with scalable server class storage, the StorCenter px12-450r is also designed to support today’s cloud and virtualization storage demands while having enough available headroom to meet the future storage and application growth opportunities."

"The new Iomega StorCenter px12-450r is one of the industry’s first network storage arrays to include the recently announced next generation Intel Xeon Processor E3-1200 v2 Product Family," said David Tuhy, GM of Intel Corp.‘s Storage Group. "The new Intel Xeon Processor E3-1200 v2 Product Family is the first to feature Intel’s tri-gate transistor architecture, a 3D structure that is designed to help boost the chip’s performance while driving down power consumption. The new Intel Xeon Processor puts products like the Iomega px12-450r in a position to support today’s demanding workloads like database management, de-duplication and virtualization, and the capability for even more demanding I/O tasks like 10 gigabit Ethernet. In addition, utilizing the new Xeon Processor E3-1200 v2 Product Family in the px12-450r is ideal for supporting customers’ needs to process more information directly on the storage device."

Anatomy of the px12-450r
The heart is the new low-power Intel Xeon Processor E3-1200 v2, coupled with 8GB memory. The multicore processor excels at multi-threaded storage workloads like multi-LUN iSCSI and multi-client VDI. The 8GB memory assists those workloads and supports memory-intensive tasks like the Avamar source-based deduplicating agent, included with all StorCenter PX series storage products.

It is a ground-up redesign of previous model, the px12-350r. The px12-450r is available in diskless and partially populated configurations, enabling users to start small in terms of storage capacity, or provide their own HDDs and grow as workloads and storage capacity dictate. It is qualified with a range of 1TB, 2TB and 3TB consumer and server HDDs, as well as upcoming 4TB HDDs. All product configurations and expansion drives for the px12-450r include server ATA drives for reliability.

The px12-450r also supports SSDs for large amounts of small block random I/O workloads such as virtualization and database. It expands on the px12-350r’s user serviceability with a new mechanical design that makes the processor complex itself user replaceable by removing just two thumbscrews. All product configurations include disk drive trays for capacity expansion.

One of the advantages of adopting technology like the new Intel Xeon Processor is that the px12-450r can handle workloads to increase the lifespan of the network storage array for end users. The multicore processor and 8GB memory are ready for the next generation of storage-based applications. The px12-450r includes 2 PCIe slots to further expand the px12-450r’s capabilities, particularly by adding I/O connectivity, like 10GbE when it becomes mainstream. Finally, the px12-450r is ready to support 4TB HDDs, expected by the end of this year.

Software Enhancements
The px12-450r features two software enhancements that are matched to its hardware complex. It is the industry’s only sub $10K (IDC price bands 1&2) storage array to run the McAfee VirusScan Enterprise product natively on the storage. Also tit can run Linux applications created with Iomega’s LifeLine SDK.

McAfee VirusScan Enterprise is a security product which runs natively on the px12-450r, no external server required. Enterprise-class threat scanning means 1) threat identification and remediation through McAfee’s global network and reach and 2) consistent features (e.g., scanning options) and behavior (e.g., management and reporting) with the rest of McAfee’s VirusScan family. McAfee VirusScan will be included on all Iomega PX series network storage products when it becomes available, expected in the second half of this year.

StorCenter PX Series Network Storage Products
Designed with EMC enterprise storage technology, newest generation of StorCenter PX Server Class Series desktop and rackmount array products incorporates a new version of EMC LifeLine software with advanced computing features as well as utilizing 1TB, 2TB, 3TB and soon-to-be available 4TB server SATA drives for reliability and continuous operation in critical business functions, such as ‘always on’ video surveillance applications. Storage capacities in the StorCenter PX series range from diskless models up to 48TB.

Availability and price
The StorCenter px12-450r Network Storage Array is expected to be available worldwide beginning in the third quarter of 2012. The product will be available in configurations from a diskless HDD model up to a 48TB configuration (when 4TB disk drives become available). All product configurations include server SATA HDDs (except for the diskless model.)  Pricing starts at $5,499.99.