American Megatrends Introduces New StorTrends® 2401i IP-SAN / NAS Storage Appliance

Thursday: October 21, 2010

Editorial Summary:

• American Megatrends (AMI) introduces its new StorTrends® 2401i IP-SAN / NAS data storage appliance
• The StorTrends 2401i merges Ethernet-based Storage Area Networks (IP-SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) on a single storage platform for incredible value and flexibility
• It supports both SATA and SAS hard drives for users to balance capacity and performance needs
• NAS functionality makes it simple to centralize file data storage for Windows®, Linux, and Mac® clients across an existing Ethernet network
• The StorTrends 2401i adds a number of hardware and software improvements over the existing 2U StorTrends 2400i IP-SAN, including a LSI MegaRAID® 9280 RAID controller, two additional NIC ports and a SAS expander for expansion to downstream JBODs
• The StorTrends 2401i comes preinstalled with the full-featured version of StorTrends iTX network storage software, featuring the ManageTrends™ web GUI for "single pane of glass" storage management
• Expandability is a key attribute of the StorTrends 2401i, with expansion via JBOD up to 256 TB of storage capacity
• The StorTrends 2401i offers a host of advanced features such as OS-agnostic High Availability, Volume Replication, Wide Area Data Services (Data Deduplication, Compression, Encryption and WAN Optimization), Advanced Snapshots, Thin / Auto Provisioning, Information Lifecycle Management (ILM), and much more

ATLANTA, GEORGIA - American Megatrends Inc. (AMI), a leader in storage and computing innovations, is pleased to introduce its new StorTrends 2401i IP-SAN / NAS storage appliance. Extending the successful StorTrends IP-SAN / NAS series from AMI, this new solution adds the advanced features of StorTrends iTX network storage software in a robust 2U, 12-bay form factor. With support for both SATA and SAS hard drives to balance capacity and performance needs, the StorTrends 2401i can provide up to 256 TB of raw storage capacity through JBOD expansion.

The StorTrends 2401i storage appliance merges Ethernet-based Storage Area Networks (IP-SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) on a single storage platform with the storage capacity and features to support the entire storage management needs of small to medium sized business (SMB) users. Ideal for either primary or secondary storage, it provides versatility, excellent performance and superior manageability at an attractive price.

In addition to its IP-SAN capabilities, the StorTrends 2401i is also a complete NAS storage appliance with the flexibility and performance to be an ideal alternative to traditional Direct Attached Storage (DAS) environments. The NAS capability of the StorTrends 2401i makes it simple to centralize file data storage for Windows®, Linux, and Mac® clients across an existing Ethernet network. Easy to install, the StorTrends 2401i goes from "carton to configured" in under 15 minutes and enables an administrator to coordinate all functions related to storage discovery, management, tracking and planning for future storage growth.

This new 2U IP-SAN / NAS storage appliance adds a number of improvements over the existing StorTrends 2400i, including a LSI MegaRAID® 9280 RAID controller, two additional NIC ports and SAS expander for JBOD expansion capacity, as well as the full-featured version of StorTrends iTX Network Storage Software. It features the ManageTrends™ GUI for "single pane of glass" storage management and a host of advanced features that until now only existed in systems costing many times more, such as OS-agnostic High Availability, Volume Replication with Wide Area Data Services (Data Deduplication, Compression, Encryption and WAN Optimization), Advanced Snapshots, Thin / Auto Provisioning, Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) and much more.

American Megatrends President and CEO S. Shankar notes that "because the StorTrends 2401i is a 'dual dialect' storage appliance that allows simultaneous IP-SAN and NAS functions on the same drives, it conserves hardware and integration costs and precious rack space. From data backup and recovery, remote or local storage, to replication and multiple site backups, the StorTrends 2401i does it all."

Expandability is a key attribute of the StorTrends 2401i. Along with its new SAS expander for JBOD expansion, the option to add two additional NIC ports or 10 Gigabit Ethernet means blazing fast network performance. With the ability to expand up to 256 TB via StorTrends 3201j JBODs, the StorTrends 2401i enables organizations to solve all of their data storage pain points with a single StorTrends appliance. Its sophisticated Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) module analyzes data for its value, and stores it accordingly - in the fastest, top-tier storage for the most popular data, automatically migrating to less expensive storage as it loses value. For IT departments struggling to contain the cost of adding new storage and exploding volumes of data, ILM can manage data growth and accessibility, reduce cost, improve recovery, and remove risk and exposure to data loss.

OS agnostic High Availability and Synchronous Replication makes this new IP-SAN a solid candidate for mission-critical data that requires "always on" availability and reliability. When two StorTrends 2401i appliances are configured in a High Availability pair, the auto failover capability ensures that any disaster or interruption is handled smoothly and automatically.

The Volume Replication capability of the StorTrends 2401i IP-SAN appliance allows data to be stored on multiple StorTrends units at multiple sites, and takes advantage of powerful Wide Area Data Services (WDS) to dramatically reduce data transfer times to remote sites and reduce bandwidth usage. WDS incorporates Data Deduplication, Compression, Encryption and WAN Optimization to accelerate replication between sites and lower bandwidth costs, making the StorTrends 2401i ideally suited for DR applications requiring a secondary appliance in an offsite location.

The patented, lighting-fast Redirect on Write (ROW) snapshot technology featured in the StorTrends 2401i means that snapshots are written to disk in a matter of milliseconds – with no performance loss no matter how many snapshots are taken. Auto Provisioning for NAS volumes takes Thin Provisioning a step further by allowing administrators to automatically "grow as you go", by simply setting the Provisioning Wizard in StorTrends iTX to the volume size needed and letting it take care of the rest. Finally, the StorTrends 2401i offers solid “green” credentials, using proven hardware for efficient power consumption and low heat generation, and variable speed fans for excellent heat dissipation and maximum efficiency.

Paresh Chatterjee, Chief Technology Officer of AMI, points out the economy of using the 2401i appliance in a Disaster Recovery (DR) solution. "The DR model with the StorTrends 2401i offers two physically redundant systems at a price below most standalone dual-controller systems, along with increased storage capacity plus superior reliability and uptime compared to the competition. Thus, the user can implement a true DR solution for less than he or she would normally invest on a single site array," he says.

To learn more about the new StorTrends 2401i dual dialect IP-SAN data storage appliance and the full line of StorTrends data storage products from American Megatrends, please visit www.stortrends.com or contact a StorTrends Sales Associate at 1-800-U-BUY-AMI.

About AMI : Founded in 1985 and known worldwide for AMIBIOS®, American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) supplies state-of-the-art hardware, software, and utilities to top-tier manufacturers of desktop, server, mobile and embedded systems. AMI’s industry leading Aptio® V UEFI BIOS firmware, innovative StorTrends® Network Storage hardware and software products and MegaRAC® remote server management solutions continue to garner industry acclaim and awards around the world. In line with the diversity of its technology and product line, AMI is a member of a number of industry associations and standards groups, such as the Unified EFI Forum (UEFI), the Intel® Intelligent Systems Alliance and the Trusted Computing Group (TCG). Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia, AMI has locations in the U.S., China, Germany, India, Japan, Korea and Taiwan to better serve its customers.

For more information on AMI, its products or services, call 1-800-U-BUY-AMI or visit www.ami.com.

Statement of Liability: © 2013 American Megatrends Inc. Product specifications are subject to change without notice. Products mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. All rights reserved. No warranties are made, either express or implied, with regard to the contents of this work, its merchantability or fitness for a particular use. This publication contains proprietary information, which is protected by copyright. American Megatrends reserves the right to update, change and/or modify this product at anytime.

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