NAS vendors offer more choice

UK firms have gained new storage options following the launch of a European operation by clustered network-attached storage (NAS) vendor Isilon Systems and a range of low-end NAS systems from disk giant Seagate.

US-based Isilon makes high-end NAS kit that can easily be scaled up to deliver a range of storage capacities and performance characteristics. Clusters can be upgraded so that capacity from a new disk cabinet is available to users in around two minutes, according to founder and chief executive Sujal Patel.

Patel said a new node can be brought online simply by connecting it to the LAN. “The new node comes online in 60 seconds, its new capacity is available in two minutes, and the data is rebalanced across the array in about 12 hours or so,” he added. The cluster presents itself to client systems as a single network disk drive, and clients do not need to reconnect to the cluster to use new capacity.

Patel said an array of 88 nodes would provide up to 528TB of storage and up to 7GB/s of throughput. Each node contains 12 hot-swappable disk drives. An Isilon array typically costs at least $75,000 (£40,700).

The company launched its first products in the US in 2002, and the current product range was launched last April. The company’s European launch sees it opening new offices in London, Munich and Paris.

In a separate move, disk giant Seagate has launched a new range of low-end NAS systems designed for easy deployment in branch offices or workgroups. The Maxtor Shared Storage II systems are available with one or two disk drives, providing capacities up to 1TB.

Twin-drive systems can use disk mirroring to provide fault tolerance, and the devices have two USB ports to connect the devices directly to external disk drives for backing up data or to link to printers.

The retail price is around £260 for 300GB, £350 for 500GB, and £720 for the terabyte dual-drive system. The Maxtor Shared Storage II family products comply with the new Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations.