Huge Systems Delivers SanStream

Agoura Hills, CA. based Huge Systems has announced the availability of SanStream, a family of shared fault-tolerant RAID disk arrays that supports traditional networking protocols including Appletalk, SMB and NFS as well as the new iSCSI protocol. The unit is purpose designed for the graphics/entertainment markets and has been tested with common graphics development platforms and applications.

SanStream is housed in a 2U rack mount unit and includes everything required for true shared storage, including a Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) switch, file sharing software and real-time fault-tolerant RAID storage. Initially, two versions of the product are available, both of which use five hot-swappable disk drives. For small SAN configurations, the SanStream 480-6 includes a six port GigE switch and 480GB of RAID storage. The larger SanStream 720-12 includes a twelve port GigE switch and 720GB of RAID storage. Both copper and optical versions of the GigE switches are available.

The SanStream unit allows companies to build a fully functional SAN system without any additional components. Since many Macs and PCs already ship with GigE networking capability, no additional hardware or software is required. For SANs with 12 clients or less, each workstation simply plugs into one of the GigE ports on SanStream, providing a high bandwidth connection directly to the content on the device and eliminating networking bottlenecks. Larger systems can be configured by using external GigE switches.

SanStream has been tested with all three major platforms used for digital media content – WinTel, Apple and SGI. Software testing has been done with Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere and DVExpress.

“SanStream has everything content creators have been asking for: multi-platform support, true file sharing, and outstanding performance,” explains Mike Anderson, Chief Designer of the product. “It is a simple and elegant solution for shared media environments.”

Pricing for the SanStream starts at under $10K.