Stratus offers green backup option

Fault-tolerant server supplier, Stratus Technologies, has announced green fault-tolerant storage for its servers. The ftScalable Storage product does away with battery backup for its continuous availability feature. It is designed to offer fully-redundant, fault-tolerant storage to organisations that want the same level of reliability across both their storage and servers and have a green agenda.

The ftScalable array uses new EnviroStor super capacitor technology for full data protection during power failures. It has a long and maintenance-free operational life, which avoids the costs and pre-maintenance performance degradation associated with conventional batteries. Super capacitors are devices that can deliver short bursts of stored power very rapidly and can be recharged fast and repeatedly. Ordinary capacitors have enormous power but only store small amounts of energy. Batteries also store energy but deliver power at low rates and have a long recharge cycle.

Stratus' EnviroStor technology has the ability to quickly charge and restore data results in a near-instantaneous return to full performance on cache reads and writes. If there is a power failure cache contents are transferred to compact flash using the replacement power from the capacitors. Stratus OEM's the array, and its super capacitor technology, from Dot Hill, where it is termed the 2730. Dot Hill brands the super capacitor technology as EcoStor.

Dot Hill claims EcoStor has a 10-year life span and eliminates service calls for battery replacement, new battery inventory management, battery disposal issues plus periodic replacement downtime associated with batteries. Lengthy battery charging time is eliminated. It is operational within minutes of installation which contrasts with the hours needed for new batteries to charge up.

The array can hold up to 10.8TB of data and also features hot-swappable RAID arrays, power supplies and fans, as well as extensive environmental monitoring, rolling firmware upgrades, and online RAID expansion. Hardware RAID levels supported include 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, and 50. Point-in-time snapshot technology eliminates lengthy back up windows and provides instant restore for backup data.

The ftScalable storage subsystem's 2U chassis accepts up to twelve 3.5-inch SAS drives, and up to three chassis enclosures for as many as 36 drives (300GB 15K rpm drive x 36 = 10.8TB). The system's DupliCache technology safeguards cache data and increases cache performance. Write data received from the host to the first RAID controller is instantaneously and simultaneously mirrored to the second controller in an active-active pair with no additional demands placed upon the processor in either controller.

The product is intended for entry-level and mid-range market segments, and is not a high-end Stratus array.

The ftScalable storage product is also RoHS- and WEEE-compliant. Stratus itself supports ISO 14001, a global standard for environmental management systems, and will contract with only those manufacturers that have secured ISO 14001 compliance certification or are committed to and actively pursuing ISO 14001 compliance certification.