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DataDirect Networks announced that they have begun production of a plug and play appliance designed to create affordable and scalable SANs for workgroup and departmental use. According to the company, the S2A 3000 Silicon Storage Appliance is a ‘simple to deploy, easy to manage and affordable storage network appliance that allows companies to achieve application performance gains, cost-effective scalability and simplified management with an appliance-enabled SAN.’
Based on DataDirect Networks’ Silicon Storage Appliance technology, S2A 3000 Silicon Storage Appliances supply an aggregate bandwidth up to 800 megabytes per second to workgroups typically consisting of one to twenty-four Linux, Unix, Windows NT/2000, Sun, AIX, Macintosh and SGI compute nodes. The S2A 3000 can manage storage network environments ranging in capacity from 500 GB to 14 Terabytes.
Deploying a workgroup SAN using the S2A 3000 is virtually plug and play, with users easily connecting servers and workstations into one side of the 1U high appliance and commodity-priced JBOD disks into the other side. System configuration and network virtualization is done in a quick, three-step process. Scaling of the storage network and activation of additional software modules (included in the S2A 3000) can be quickly and non-disruptively activated with a software key. In addition, S2A 3000 appliances can also be deployed in a “couplet” fashion to bring highly available, redundant solutions to businesses.
Announced for orders in April, and with a starting price tag of under $40,000, the S2A 3000 has generated interest among decision makers in vertical markets that include rich media content creation and delivery, high performance computing deployments in broadcasting, production and post production facilities, government agencies, life sciences, oil and gas, and imaging. Organizations already using DataDirect systems include E! Networks, Time Warner Cable, RTL Television, British Broadcasting Company (BBC), CineGroupe, Star TV, Loudeye and NASA.
“Companies want the benefits that SANs can bring, but have been held back by complexity and management costs associated with building first generation SANs — until now,” Brad Winett, vice president, business development, DataDirect Networks, said. “The S2A 3000 Silicon Storage Appliance has been created to give business a way to quickly deploy a scalable, easy to manage SAN that brings increased workflow efficiencies and productivity while lowering total costs of ownership, giving companies a new and affordable way to implement a storage area network.”
