sunflash-Distributed to mailing list sun/NC/north-carolina sunflash-Send requests, problems to owner-sunflash@suntri.east.sun.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash SPARCstorage Array Model 100 Series Introduced SunFLASH Vol 63 #69 March 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 63.69 SPARCstorage Array Model 100 Series Introduced Sun introduced the SPARCstorage(TM) Array Model 100 Series, a new subsystem utilizing RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) technology that can store 31.5 gigabytes of data Featuring a unique modular design, the SPARCstorage Array can easily be serviced by the user, who can replace disk drives, controllers or cooling systems, and power supplies efficiently and inexpensively. Includes Fibre Channel Interface. (170 lines) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Product inquiries to Mark Davis, senior product marketing manager, at 415-336-3973, and all inquiries from the press to Deeanna Franklin, SMCC public relations, at 415-336-7226. SUN UNVEILS NEW HIGHLY INTEGRATED RAID MASS STORAGE SUBSYSTEM Includes Fibre Channel Interface MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- March 22, 1994 -- Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC) today introduced the SPARCstorage(TM) Array Model 100 Series, a new subsystem utilizing RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) technology that can store 31.5 gigabytes of data -- the equivalent of approximately 16 million printed pages. Featuring a unique modular design, the SPARCstorage Array can easily be serviced by the user, who can replace disk drives, controllers or cooling systems, and power supplies efficiently and inexpensively. The SPARCstorage Array Model 100 Series complements the industry's most popular line of UNIX servers: the SPARCcenter(TM) 2000, SPARCserver(TM) 1000, and the SPARCserver(TM) 10 systems, combining high availability, scalability, manageability and flexibility with a very aggressive price. Among several important advances with this product are the industry's first full duplex, 25-megabytes/second, ANSI-standard mass storage Fibre Channel interface. The system has the tightly integrated SPARCstorage Volume Manager, on-line data administration and configuration software, featuring a graphical user interface that allows customers to easily manage any storage configuration, from 6.3 gigabytes to hundreds of gigabytes. The SPARCstorage Array's innovative design increases reliability, lowers cost and lowers overall cost of ownership. All internal cables have been eliminated and all active components are pluggable. The disks themselves incorporate the SCSI single-connector design that Sun co-developed with drive manufacturers. Advanced Features Lead to Extraordinary Power and Capacity Networked enterprises will now have the ability to go from megabytes to terabytes in storage capacity with the new SPARCstorage Array. The heart of the system is controlled by a microSPARC(TM) CPU and six new intelligent RISC-based SCSI processors. The controller also features 4 megabytes of non-volatile RAM for fast write response and caching. SMCC engineers designed the system to meet the most important user needs in the areas of availability, scalability, manageability, flexibility and affordability. Availability -- High reliability and data availability are provided with several levels of RAID -- 1 (mirroring), 0+1 (mirroring optimized stripes) and 5 (striping with parity) -- providing over 99.99 percent uptime per array. Units can be configured with a Hot Spare Pool for automatic data reconstruction at the user's convenience. Warm plug capability allows for disk replacement without the need to power-down or re-boot the system. The new Fibre Channel interface allows arrays to be placed up to 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) apart, enabling better disaster-resilient configurations. The subsystem also allows for multiple host connections. Scalability -- The array controller at the heart of this product's performance scalability is designed by Sun. The array can operate at more than 2,000 IOPS (I/O Operations Per Second) for data-intensive random access applications such as database, file service and OLTP, and over 15 megabyte/second sustained data rate per array for sequential access applications such as imaging, multimedia and video. The Fibre Channel interface is already faster and more powerful than parallel SCSI, and will soon be upgradeable from the current 25/50 megabyte/second to 50/100 megabyte/second. Manageability -- The easy-to-use graphical interface on the SPARCstorage Volume Manager software allows for more efficient and effective on-line administration and performance monitoring. This powerful new software provides both physical and logical (virtual) views of the data organization and enables remote storage management. Simple point-and-click/drag-and-drop GUI administration makes it easy for data to be reorganized on-line while the system is still in use, with no impact to users or data. Flexibility -- The SPARCstorage Array offers several RAID levels (0, 1, 0+1, 5) and has the scalability to provide maximum performance from a few gigabytes to hundreds of gigabytes, or even terabytes. It can be used as a table top unit, in a tower configuration, stacked in an office stacking unit, or mounted in SMCC's 56-inch expansion rack. Affordability -- The SPARCstorage Array is very aggressively priced to favorably change the economics of RAID. It offers the industry's lowest dollar per megabyte ($1.62/megabyte) and is the lowest-cost RAID-capable system from a major system manufacturer. Pricing and Availability The SPARCstorage Array Series 100 is compatible with the Solaris(R) 2.3 operating environment and will be available in May 1994. RAID level 5 functionality will be available in the third calendar quarter of 1994, and all customers will be completely upgraded at no charge with no hardware upgrades required. Pricing for the SPARCstorage Array starts at $24,900 (U.S. List) for the 6.3-gigabyte configuration, going up to $50,900 (U.S. list) for the fully loaded 31.5-gigabyte configuration. SunService will provide system and network support, education and value-added services worldwide to end-users of all Sun products. As part of the total enterprise solution, support will be provided through its SunSpectrum program. SunSpectrum provides comprehensive support services for network computing users for maximum system availability, including 99% guaranteed uptime and around the clock support. Sun Microsystems Computer Corporation (SMCC), the world's top supplier of open network computing solutions, is an operating company of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Built on Sun's legacy of "The Network is the Computer(TM)," SMCC's SPARC(R)/Solaris(R) workstation and server family leads the UNIX(R) market. The company has its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. # # # Sun, the Sun logo, Sun Microsystems, the Fibre Channel icon and "The Network is the Computer," are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. All SPARC trademarks, including the SCD Compliant logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. SPARCstorage, SPARCcenter, SPARCserver, SPARCcluster, and microSPARC are licensed exclusively to Sun Microsystems, Inc. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based on an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. NIX is a registered trademark of UNIX Systems Laboratories, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Novell, Inc. All other product or service names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners. ********************************************************************** For information about SunFlash send mail to info-sunflash@Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@Sun.COM. Archives are on draco.nova.edu, ftp.uu.net, sunsite.unc.edu, src.doc.ic.ac.uk and ftp.adelaide.edu.au For last month's digest, send email to flashadm@sun.com with a Subject line of 62.00 For Gopher and WAIS access: sunsite.unc.edu. (Login as 'gopher' for a simple gopher client, 'swais' for a simple WAIS client (over 500 databases). All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. Send brief articles (e.g. third party announcements) and include contact information (non-800#, fax #, email, etc) to: John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@Sun.COM. +1 305 351 4909