NEWS BRIEFS
Tustin, CALIF. — Storage Concepts announced that it has teamed with Trimm Technologies, a pioneer of RAID storage technology since 1984, to provide a massive capacity, high speed Fibre Channel storage solution for large volume Internet and Video content users – the FibreBlock Extreme. Using customized FibreBlock controllers for optimized throughput and fault tolerant performance in an enclosure by Trimm Technologies, the FibreBlock Extreme is part of the F.A.S.T. Technologies, StrongBox series of storage products.
The FibreBlock, announced earlier this fall by Storage Concepts, is a full-featured RAID 3 storage system the size of a shoebox. The Block features a storage capacity of up to 320 GB and a combined transfer rate of 80-85 MB/s from its five redundant drives. Its proprietary MST (Multi Streaming Technology) will also be featured in FibreBlock Extreme for maximum streaming performance. MST permits multiple simultaneous streams to be handled for continuous data applications such as video, music files and large images.
“Just like the FibreBlock is changing the way people thought of adding storage to their systems, the FibreBlock Extreme will change the way large volume businesses think of high performance, cost-efficient storage products,” said Martin Bock, President of Storage Concepts. “This product has taken the very best of high-end RAID storage technology and placed it in affordable reach, with plug-and-play simplicity.”
Hosting a storage capacity of 3.2 Terabytes, the FibreBlock Extreme will sell for a fraction of the cost of current Fibre Channel storage solutions. Supporting RAID 3, the FibreBlock Extreme hosts up to 50 FC drives and provides a transfer rate of up to 200 MB/s with sustained rate of 160MB/s.
“The systems architecture through the advanced use of RAID 3 technology allows for three types of broadcasting capabilities,” continues Bock. “Broadcast, multicast and unicast. In addition, it allows for the potential media asset streaming.”
The paired FibreBlock controllers allow for 6 FC ports per rack unit, and the unit will feature Hot Swap drives, background reconstruct and redundant power. The new RAID collaboration will be available in first quarter of 2001.
“Companies will now have the option to integrate this product into their server systems, offering end-users affordability of best of class technology,” said Ray Imblum, Product Manager of F.A.S.T. Technologies. “At this price point, we have afforded everyday businesses the highest form of storage technology – the very same businesses that can no longer afford to bypass revenues due to inefficient, overly expensive technology.”
F.A.S.T. Technologies is a brand of Trimm Technologies, one of the world’s leading suppliers of data storage subsystems and custom designed enclosures. The company provides storage products for RAID, NAS, SAN and JBOD and serves customers from locations in Las Vegas, U.S. and Nottingham, U.K. with state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies and ISO9001 certification. Its customers address many market segments including Pre-Press, Video Editing, Research, Telecommunications and Government institutions.
Storage Concepts, earned its ISO 9001 certification in January 1999, and has been a leader in real-time high-performance storage systems for the commercial, video, government and medical markets since 1984. The company recently added the FibreBlock and FibreRAID 2000 to its extensive line of high performance RAID server products, which also includes the SentryRAID, a ruggedized removable RAID system, and the Fibre Space 2000. The company also markets its Video-On-Demand servers to the hospitality, medical, and commercial markets. To learn more about Storage Concepts, please visit the company’s web site at www.storageconcepts.com .
============================================================