OnStor goes NAS
Releases new systems for mid-size companies.
By Deni Connor, Network World | Network World US | Published: 11:49, 29 August 2006
ONStor has released a new family of NAS systems for mid-sized companies.
The ONStor Pantera Clustered NAS system is modular, consisting of shelves of either Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives for performance, or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) drives for archiving and long-term retention. The SAS module, which contains 15,000rpm drives, has a capacity of 1.7TB; the Serial ATA module, which contains 7,200rpm drives, has a capacity of 6TB. Previously, the company had only the Bobcat NAS gateway, which connected to arrays from Compellant, Hitachi, IBM, Nexsan, 3Par and Xiotech for storage capacity.
"ONStor is now giving customers the choice of either using a clusterable NAS gateway with their existing SAN storage or purchasing from ONStor an integrated NAS solution that includes storage," says Greg Schulz, senior analyst for StorageIO.
Several Pantera modules can be clustered and intermixed within the same rack for scalability. They are managed as a single file server using ONStor's GUI. As a customer's installation grows and requires more storage, additional Pantera modules can be clustered into the array.
Pantera supports Microsoft's Common Internet File System and the Unix/Linux Network File System, as well as built-in snapshot backup capability. The ONStor Pantera Clustered NAS system will compete with arrays from EMC and Network Appliance. "The Pantera moves ONStor from just being a NAS gateway vendor to being a full-fledged NAS solutions provider with turnkey, scalable solutions for their customers," Schulz says.
Pantera NAS systems are available in four models: the 2220, the 2240, the 260 and the 2280, each with different performance and number of Gigabit Ethernet ports. A Pantera system starts at $40,000 for a 6TB appliance.
