Jan, 2002 : Auspex Releases NS3000 Fibre-Based Network Server Series

📅 January 21, 2002 - Auspex Systems, Inc. (auspex.com), a provider of enterprisestorage solutions, has announced the expansion of its NS3000 family ofNetwork Attached Storage servers with the release of a new fibre-based modelcalled the NS3000XR that enhances the data protection capabilities of theentry-level NS3010.

The XR model adds new features to provide additional fault tolerance forenterprises that use network servers for more efficient storage andretrieval of enterprise information, including databases, e-mail, richmedia, medical images, biotechnology research and seismic files.
The server achieves this additional protection by providing two independentdata paths to every disk array through redundant RAID controllers and dualfibre-channel host bus adapters. If one path is blocked, the systemautomatically redirects a service request to the open path, ensuring thatall data on all disks remains available to end users.
The XR also offers an upgrade path for customers requiring a completelyredundant solution. A second XR server can be deployed at any time andconnected to the first with Auspex's ServerGuardV software, scheduled forrelease this month. The resulting system will supply a "heartbeat" betweenservers and automatic failover in the event of a server failure.
"The new XR model of our NS3000 series gives enterprises and organizations acost-effective high availability option that supports the goal of businesscontinuity without taking the extreme step of deploying a second system tocompletely eliminate single points of failure," said Jim Garvey, vicepresident of Engineering for Auspex Systems. "By adding extra componentredundancy, our XR models help minimize both planned and unplanned downtimeand thereby maximize end user productivity."
The new redundancy features of the NS3000XR complement the fault tolerancecapabilities built into the NS3010 network server introduced by Auspex lastyear, including dual redundant power for all components, support for anycombination of RAID 0, 1 and 5 with hot spares, online RAID array expansion,and virtual partitioning capabilities.
Optional software upgrades offer additional fault tolerance throughautomatic failover between network server connections, outbound network loadbalancing, high-speed LAN-free and parallel NDMP-based data backup,point-in-time snapshots that expedite backup and restore operations, andremote data replication that reduces the time required to recover computingoperations following a disaster.
With the addition of a third fibre-channel host bus adapter, the NS3000XRalso has the ability to perform fibre-based LAN-free tape backup. Users canuse the key advantages of Storage Area Networks - eliminating theperformance degradation that can occur when backups are performed over theLAN - while reaping the data sharing benefits of the NAS architecture.
The system's fibre-channel connectivity also marks an important step inconverging NAS and SAN capabilities on the same device and thereby movingtoward a storage virtualization architecture that will permit universalaccess to all enterprise data assets.