Cost-effective, highly-available and high-speed hallmarks of the new FibreCAT SX88 and TX08

Fujitsu Siemens Computers today announces two new models in its FibreCAT family.

The competitively-priced devices are designed to meet the needs of small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) and based on state-of-the-art storage technology, combining high availability, excellent reliability and speed with simple set up and operation.

Thanks to its high-speed storage, the new FibreCAT SX88 model takes its place as the new premium model in the FibreCAT SX line of disk storage devices, while the FibreCAT TX08 tape system is an entry-level device enabling SMEs to move up to automatic tape storage using LTO technology. The FibreCAT SX88 is available from 1 October, while the FibreCAT TX08 is available from 1 November.

"All the products in our FibreCAT family are specially developed for mid-sized companies and are not merely 'light' versions of larger systems," says Gareth Hale, Product Manager Storage at Fujitsu Siemens Computers.

"By using the latest storage technology, we offer customers top-notch data backup and archiving, while also taking into account that there are only few employees dedicated to IT, and that budgets are tight. As a result, we deliver reasonably-priced, uncomplicated products, without compromising reliability or increasing security requirements. The new models we are announcing today provide our customers even more options to find the solutions that best fit their needs."

The new FibreCAT SX88 is ideal for users who place a particular emphasis on high speed, since it is up to 50% faster than the previous top-of-the-range FibreCAT SX80 model. Among other things, this increase in performance is thanks to optimised RAID controllers designed for the highest operational speeds. The FibreCAT SX88 also supports a 4Gbps fibre-channel connection throughout the system, meaning that it is optimised to operate at this speed.

All of the important components (RAID controllers, fans, power supply and hard disks) are redundant and hot-swappable, meaning they can be replaced without the need to power down the system.

Users can choose between SATA-II or SAS disks, or even a combination of the two in a single enclosure. In particular, the use of SATA disks for storage means that environmentally-conscious user can also save energy per GB.

The FibreCAT SX88 is scalable up to 42TB and is particularly well suited to such applications as databases, backup-to-disk and streaming media. The high throughput capabilities of the FibreCAT SX88 also make it ideal for e-mail, Web services and archiving.

Like all FibreCAT SX models, the FibreCAT SX88 features FibreCap technology, which protects the contents of the RAID controller cache from data loss in the event of a power failure. FibreCache also helps ensure the cache contents of the RAID controllers always remain in sync via a quick direct connection and that controller performance is exploited efficiently.

The new FibreCAT TX08 offers SMEs an affordable entry point into the world of automated tape storage using LTO technology, which couples high capacity and speed with low media costs.

The tape system has two magazines and four slots, and can be equipped with either an LTO-2 or LTO-3 drive. Just 1U in height, the compact device provides 6.4TB of storage capacity (compressed), and can be used as an automated daily data backup for eight days.

Automation eliminates the risk of human error where backup tapes are changed manually and also leads to considerable reductions in data backup times.

In addition, the FibreCAT TX08 offers many value-add extras at no additional cost, such as a built-in bar code reader facilitating media management, and a full version of the BrightStor ARCserve backup software.

All FibreCAT systems are not merely stripped-down versions of larger systems: they are developed with specific needs of SMEs in mind, building the latest storage technologies into high quality, high speed, reliable products that are also quick and simple to set up and easy to use.

For example, pre-installed management software and intuitive Web interfaces guarantee user-friendly operation. Last but certainly not least, the products are also positioned at prices that are attractive for SMEs.

The FibreCAT family includes solutions for tape automation (FibreCAT TX), products for deployment in SAN (storage area network) environments (FibreCAT SX) and for NAS (network-attached storage), also with iSCSI functionality (FibreCAT NX).

Pictures of the systems can be downloaded from the Fujitsu Siemens Computers' photo server.

FibreCAT SX88: http://www.fsc-mediaserver.com/ms/go.cfm?itemid=22405&jumpfactor=6
FibreCAT TX08: http://www.fsc-mediaserver.com/ms/go.cfm?itemid=22406&jumpfactor=6