Data Storage: Xyratex Reinforces Leadership Position With Launch Of Industry's Highest Density Nearline Storage System

Xyratex Ltd., one of the leading provider of enterprise class data storage subsystems and storage process technology, recently announced the latest edition to its ultra-high density nearline data storage family. The F5404E 4Gb FC-SAS/SATA RAID system will be demonstrated at the Storage Networking World (SNW) spring exhibition and conference in San Diego from April 16–19 in booth G-13.

Aimed at applications requiring large-capacity and low-cost disk storage, the Xyratex F5404E product delivers enterprise class features that are increasingly crucial for mid-range storage users. The Xyratex F5404E system provides affordable and highly available access to very large magnitudes of stored data, which is critical for meeting regulatory and legal compliance requirements and for supporting virtual tape libraries (VTL) and digital media, messaging and scientific applications. The Xyratex F5404E RAID system is highly customizable and brand-able by OEM partners, making it possible for them to create unique solutions focused on specific market needs.

"Data-rich and data-intensive applications require highly reliable, fast access storage systems that are capable of expanding to meet the increasing demands of digital archiving," said Tony Asaro, senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "Nearline storage solutions, such as the Xyratex F5404E, that are cost effectively upgradeable and power efficient, are well positioned to meet these growing demands."

The Xyratex F5404E system features:

• High Availability and Performance: The highly fault-tolerant architecture of the F5404E has no single point of failure with two RAID controllers per chassis and host-based dynamic multi-pathing that maintains continuous access to application data. Additional performance features include four 4Gb/s Fibre Channel host connections, 3G SAS drive connectivity and an advanced feature set that includes RAID 6 and Snapshot.
• Power Savings and Cooling: The F5404E has the lowest power consumption (50 percent more TB/KW) and highest density (33 percent more TB/Sq. ft.) of any nearline storage RAID system on the market. The innovative cooling technology maintains drives at their ambient temperature at all times, thus ensuring a long storage life.
• Ultra-Cost-Effective Storage: There is minimal disruption and downtime for upgrades as the F5404E supports flexible configurations and will accommodate a variety of drives as they increase in capacity. Components are hot-swappable and backwards-compatible, reducing the need for major migrations and forklift upgrades. SATA II drives provide the best price for performance.
• Expandability: The F5404E delivers an industry leading 36 TB of storage in less than seven inches of rack space (4U). Xyratex delivers more capacity in one enclosure than many fully expanded storage systems that are available today.
• Reliability: Xyratex fourth generation RAID technology has proven highly successful in the 4Gb Fibre Channel 2U format (F5402E FC-SAS/SATA) and the SAS 2U format (E5402E SAS-SAS/SATA).

"Xyratex has a long history of delivering high-quality, high-performance storage technology to the storage industry in a timely manner," said Michael Kerman, vice president and chief strategy officer, Overland Storage. "Overland currently integrates the Xyratex F5402E storage solution in its ULTAMIS RAID 1200 product and we are confident that Xyratex's latest nearline product, the F5404E, will provide similar value."

"Xyratex's unique position in the storage industry provides exceptional insight into the long-term needs of the OEM market, enabling us to bring mature, high-performance storage technologies to the market as early as possible," said Lisa Hart, vice president of marketing, Networked Storage Solutions division, Xyratex. "The launch of the Xyratex F5404E is strong proof of our commitment to leadership in the nearline storage manufacturing market, addressing the needs of our partners and their customers."

Xyratex will display the F5404E at Spring SNW 2007 in booth G-13. The demonstrations will also feature Xyratex's unique StorView(TM) system configuration and management software.

About Xyratex

Xyratex is a leading provider of enterprise class data storage subsystems and storage process technology. The company designs and manufactures enabling technology that provides OEM and disk drive manufacturers with data storage products to support high-performance storage and data communication networks. Xyratex has over 20 years of experience in research and development relating to disk drives, storage systems and high-speed communication protocols.

Founded in 1994 in a management buy-out from IBM, and with its headquarters in the UK, Xyratex has an established global base with R&D and operational facilities in Europe, the United States and South East Asia. For more information, visit www.xyratex.com.

SOURCE: Xyratex Ltd