New products this week include INLINE's 51 TB SAN monolith and the tiniest GigE/Fiber transceivers ever made. Meanwhile, the U.S. Government conscripts Microsoft, Unisys, Synergistics, and Compaq into terabit storage services for Uncle Sam.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Associate Editor [August 21, 2001]

MTI debuted its V-Cache shared file-caching technology that works like a RAM disk—storing files in memory instead of on a hard disk. The difference between MTI's V-Cache system and a random access memory (RAM) disk is that V-Cache seeks out and stores frequently used files. MTI says that any file-intensive Storage Area Network (SAN) application could benefit from adopting its V-Cache technology, including databases, e-mail, enterprise resource planning (ERP), authentication servers, and nearly any computer-aided design (CAD) system.

MTI's V-Cache technology is available in a variety of configurations, starting with 4 GB capacity. The V-Cache is compatible with popular operating systems like UNIX and Windows NT/2000. Pricing varies with requirements.

INLINE Corp. brought its top-of-the-line SAN Foundation (SF) 1200 to market this week (left). The SF 1200 is available in 52 port or 116 port models, both of which can have over 51 Terabytes of Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) storage. The company claims that the SF 1200 can sustain throughput in excess of 1GB per second and that the unit readily outperforms rival solutions from other major storage manufacturers. A SF 1200 base unit with 52 ports and 6.5 TB of storage lists at about $605,000.

Meanwhile, IBM said it plans to combine the force of the new Intel Xeon microprocessor with its high-end Summit chipset to produce an upcoming lineup of Intel-based computer servers dubbed the eServer xSeries. No debut date is available at this time. We'll just have to wait and see whether IBM will make a break through in eServer xSystems or if this is just another chipset off the old block of IBM units.

Sizable gains
Digi-Data lays claim to making the fastest disk transfer on record. In benchmark testing, Digi-Data said its Fibre Sabre 2300 RAID system managed to sustain disk transfers faster than 160 MB/second with just five disks by using high-speed disks operating at 10,000 to 15,000 rotations per minute in union with a 64-bit chips from Q-Logic.

Stratos Lightwave brought to light tiny RJ-45 adapters with transceivers for Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel connections. These miniaturized transceivers are ideal for next generation MAN, SAN, and LAN equipment applications. The Florida-based firm claims that these are the smallest IEEE 802.3 and ANSI X3.297 compliant optical transceivers available on the market to date. Units are made in one-port and four-port versions (right). Pricing for Stratos Lightwave's Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel RJ Format transceivers depends upon the requirements of the specific application and is a function of variables such as packaging, data rate, optical wavelength, quantity ordered, etc. Delivery is typically in 8 to 10 weeks.

What a deal
Synergistics Incorporated, working with Unisys, Microsoft, and Compaq, won a large government contract. It will store about 1.5 TB of geographic data on soil quality for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a database using SQL Server 2000 and Windows Advanced Server 2000 on a Compaq platform. The project also uses Microsoft's extraordinary multi-terabyte Terraserver collection of aerial photos and topographical maps. Just for fun, we demonstrate the power of Microsoft's Terraserver by taking in a view of Microsoft's Redmond, Washington campus (left).

Scale Eight Inc. nabbed $23 million in third round funding, bringing the total invested in the company to date to nearly $60 million. San Francisco-based Scale Eight is a storage solution provider currently operating storage facilities in the U.S., Japan, and the United Kingdom.

InfiniSwitch Corp. picked up $26 million of Series B financing this week. InfiniSwitch has raised total capital of $30 million since its founding in Fall 2000. InfiniSwitch will use the money for research, and to hire more marketing staff.

Isilon Systems found $8.4 million in Series A funding. Isilon Systems is a developer of high-performance distributed storage systems designed to manage storage needs for rich-media content delivery and hosting markets. IBased in Seattle, Isilon is a privately held, early stage, venture-backed company.

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