Storage Systems For Huge Data FilesStorage Systems For Huge Data Files

When most companies talk about high performance, they're concerned with Web sites that get thousands of hits per minute or databases that get thousands of queries per hour. Other companies, however, have to deal with handling files that contains large quantities of data.

Digi-Data Corp. this month will unveil a storage system designed for businesses that need to store large quantities of rich content. The Storm Xtreme storage system will support low-cost multiport ATA disk drives for the first time. Fibre Channel drives and ATA drives can co-exist in the same frame, with up to 120 terabytes of Fibre Channel capacity and 200 terabytes of ATA storage.

The Storm F8 Turbo RAID Controller, used to manage the system, comes with 2 Gbytes of cache, which can boost performance by 50%, the company says. It also can be configured with a dual controller and up to 16 Fibre Channel pathways. Pricing wasn't disclosed.

The system can provide excellent connectivity and capacity for industries that have special storage needs, such as entertainment, oil, and gas companies, says Stephanie Balaouras, an analyst at Yankee Group. "But to penetrate markets better, it needs to partner with archiving and backup and recovery vendors," she says.