Okapi Software, a newly formed IP SAN/iSCSI implementation company, has introduced its iStorageController (iSC) family of IP SAN products for early adopters of iSCSI network storage.
Offered in two models, the iSC110 with 110GB capacity and iSC220 with 220GB capacity, are available now — and are priced at $4,995 and $7,995, respectively. The iSC110’s $4,995 price is the first to break the $5,000 barrier for fully functional, self-contained IP SAN enabling products, and will, according to Okapi’s founder and CEO/President John Matze, “go a long way to silence the skeptics that have tried to relegate iSCSI to the back rooms of the storage industry.”
According to Okapi, the iSC’s most unique feature is its ipKEY that puts the iSCSI software on a key the size of a thumb. Called ipKEY, users plug the ipKEY into the ipKEYport on an iSC110 or iSC220 and follow the simple instructions supplied on the installation CD. Using a web browser, the user then sets configuration and operation parameters. Total installation time takes less than 30 minutes — a goal set by Matze early in the product development cycle.
Okapi’s iStorageControllers create a native iSCSI SAN using Gateway(R) 1U server technology, an Intel(R) PRO/1000 XT IP Storage Adapter and Seagate(R) Ultra 160 disk drives. Okapi iSCs feature 110GB or 220GB storage capacity, simple plug-and-play installation, and a 3-year parts and labor warranty — all in a space-saving 1U rack mount or freestanding design.
“The ipKEY will be the common element in a family of IP SAN products Okapi will be introducing through this year and into 2003,” Matze said. “Manufacturers developing IP SAN products as well as companies considering integrating iSCSI storage into their current networks will see our iStorageControllers as a fast, plug-and-play way to test — and prove — iSCSI technology.”
Okapi was founded in February 2002. The company’s founder and President/CEO, John Matze, is one of the original architects of the IETF’s iSCSI standard.
