Tuesday, October 19, 2004, 09:00 am

Apple updates Xserve RAID storage system

By AppleInsider Staff

Apple's new network storage system offers up to 5.6TB of storage at a price of just over $2 per GB.

Apple Computer on Tuesday updated its Xserve RAID storage system, a 3U high-availability, rack storage system to deliver a massive 5.6 terabytes (TB) of storage capacity at an aggressive price for storage of just over $2 per GB. The company has also expanded support for heterogeneous environments with certification from Cisco and SUSE Linux and optimized the system to work with its Xsan Storage Area Network file system.

"Xserve RAID features a breakthrough, high-performance storage architecture that is the perfect complement to any Xserve G5 system," said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "We’re now offering more capacity at an even lower price per gigabyte in a system that has been optimized and certified to run with leading enterprise applications and systems."

The Xserve raid features Fourteen independent 400GB Ultra ATA drive channels provide up to 5.6TB of storage capacity with pricing as low as $2.32 per gigabyte while the dual independent RAID controllers with 512MB cache per controller offer sustained throughput of over 380MBps—high enough to support two streams of uncompressed 10-bit HD video editing using protected RAID level 5.

Xserve RAID connects easily to any Xserve server or Power Mac desktop system using the dual-channel 2GB Apple Fibre Channel PCI-X card sold separately for $499. This high-speed, industry-standard storage interface offers dedicated bandwidth with a throughput of up to 400MBps. Apple’s PCI-X card comes with two high-speed 2.9-meter copper fibre channel SFP-to-SFP cables and accepts SFP optical transceivers for use with fiber-optic cables over a long distance.

Apple offers a choice of services and support programs for Xserve RAID including 4-hour on-site response, 24x7 technical support, AppleCare Service Parts Kits and the AppleCare Professional SupportLine and Tools program.

Pricing & Availability

The new Xserve RAID is available today through the company's online store and through Apple Authorized Resellers. The new offerings come in three standard configurations, or can be fully customized to meet specific customer requirements. Build-to-order options can include additional Apple Drive Modules and cache battery modules.

Xserve RAID with a suggested retail price of $5,999 (US) includes:

1TB RAID 0 total available storage;

dual independent RAID controllers with 512MB cache per controller;

dual 2GB Fibre Channel SFP ports with 200MBps throughput per channel;

four 250GB ATA/100 Apple Drive Modules; and

8MB on-drive cache.

Xserve RAID with a suggested retail price of $8,499 (US) includes:

2.8TB RAID 0 total available storage;

dual independent RAID controllers with 512MB cache per controller;

dual 2GB Fibre Channel SFP ports with 200MBps throughput per channel;

seven 400GB ATA/100 Apple Drive Modules; and

8MB on-drive cache.

Xserve RAID with a suggested retail price of $12,999 (US) includes:

5.6TB RAID 0 total available storage;

dual independent RAID controllers with 512MB cache per controller;

dual 2GB Fibre Channel SFP ports with 200MBps throughput per channel;

fourteen 400GB ATA/100 Apple Drive Modules; and

8MB on-drive cache.