ONStor Offers High-Performance Storage FilerONStor Offers High-Performance Storage Filer

As prices of storage devices fall, vendors need to offer premium performance to charge a premium price. That's the approach ONStor Inc. is taking with the SF4400 Series storage-area-network filer that it will introduce next week.

The filer, which stores and retrieves files on a SAN and is priced at $85,000, can connect IP data networks with Fibre Channel storage networks and help businesses consolidate widely dispersed files. By linking several SF4400 filers, ONStor says the devices can process as many as 140,000 transactions per second. Dedicated processors in the SF4400 handle disk-to-disk replication and disk-to-tape backup without slowing the storage and retrieval of live files. Software inside the device includes support for native Common Internet File System and Network File System client-access protocols, data-snapshot capabilities, and automated volume management.

The ONStor filer looks and acts like a high-performance server, says Anne MacFarland, an analyst at the Clipper Group. One key feature is its ability to move files quickly, without the use of disk drives, she says. "The 4400 is very light and purpose-built, a simple high-performance system that third parties can easily build on top of."