Inrange Technologies has released a 256-port fibre channel director, ideally suited to managing large-scale storage/server connectivity.
The newest model of Inrange's IN-VSN FC/9000 range provides users with a fully redundant, non-blocked switching core on which to expand storage networks to the largest enterprise levels.
Corni Naude, product manager at Shoden Data Systems, explains that the FC/9000-256 has four times the capacity of any director or switch product currently shipping and scales without a reduction in switching performance, or in the number of ports available to the user to create larger configurations.
"By providing a single platform with 100% of the ports local and available, Inrange has eliminated management issues such as interswitch links, capacity planning, and load balancing, and in so doing has further controlled costs," he says.
"Customers can deploy, manage and expand storage networks easily on a stable, high-availability architecture designed from the ground up to support large numbers of devices. For high-growth enterprise networks, this translates to faster ROI on storage investments, and unmatched investment protection," he says.
Because it supports standards-based E_Port interoperability, the FC/9000 can be used in a storage fabric with switching equipment from other vendors. Users can re-deploy smaller fabric switches at the network edge to concentrate traffic, and rely on the scalability of the FC/9000 to create a 'dense switching core' in which storage can be consolidated and server growth accommodated seamlessly.
Naude adds: "As data centres expand their SAN implementations, large, scalable, director-class switches are vital. While enabling new levels of shared storage assets, users can also reduce administrative costs and assure new levels of data availability."
Existing users of Inrange's 64-port and 128-port FC/9000 models can migrate to the new platform through field upgrades, thus protecting original investments.
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Inrange Technologies Corporation, a subsidiary of SPX Corporation, provides large-scale, mission critical storage networking products, software and services - the IN-VSN offering - which support "end-to-end, any distance - anywhere" solutions.
These solutions include a unique family of switches, HBAs, directors, storage over WAN and optical networking products that allow storage networks to extend beyond traditional geographic boundaries. Through the combination of the IN-VSN family of products with the INRANGE Global Consulting offerings of consulting and professional services, INRANGE creates solutions for customers' complex business problems and storage networking applications. INRANGE has a 33-year history of providing mission-critical networking technologies, servicing over 2 200 customers in 90 countries. See www.inrange.com
Shoden Data Systems
With offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Shoden Data Systems (Pty) Ltd is the sole distributor for Hitachi Data Systems in SA. In addition, Shoden Data Systems is the sole distributor of INRANGE Technologies Corporation, the world's leading manufacturer of channel extenders, fibre switches and ESCON directors. Shoden Data Systems is also a Veritas Premier Partner and provides integrated, managed, best-of-breed Storage Area Network solutions to the marketplace.
Based on more than 200 collective years of experience in the service, support and marketing of Hitachi products, Shoden Data Systems uses its intellectual capital and industry-leading products to provide customers with total solutions in the storage, enterprise servers and connectivity arenas. The following offerings are available:
1. Storage - the HDS Freedom storage range, including Lightning 9900 and 9200.
2. Connectivity - the Inrange FC/9000 Fibre Channel Director, ESCON directors and channel extenders.
Hitachi Data Systems
Committed to helping customers exploit the value of information technology for success in the Internet economy, Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd (NYSE:HIT), is a leading provider of business solutions for the world's most information-intensive corporations. For further information on Hitachi Data Systems, access www.hds.com.
Hitachi Ltd
Hitachi, Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 2000 (ended 31 March 2001) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen ($67.9 billion*) The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd, please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://global.hitachi.com.
* At an exchange rate of 124 yen to the dollar.
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