Dot Hill's 2000 and 5000 series of disk arrays for OEMs currently includes the original 2730 offering, the 2730 Turbo version with enhanced performance (via a faster processor), the 2330, the 2530, the 5730 (currently the only entry in the 5000 series), and the newest entries, the 2522 and the 2722. The 2730s, 2722, and 5730 feature 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel host interfaces, while the 2330 boasts dual 1 Gig Ethernet ports for iSCSI communications and the 2530 and 2522 ship with 3 Gb/sec SAS interfaces. Internally, each enclosure can be loaded with either SAS or SATA II drives (3 Gb/sec each) or a mix of both; with the new 2522 and 2722 boxes additionally supporting (SATA compatible) SSD drives.

The older 2000 series chassis (2730, 2330, 2530) is 2U and supports the loading of up to 12 disks. Up to four expansion units--which attach via a SAS interface--can be added to the base RAID unit, increasing the total disk capacity of the platform to 56 disks. The 5730 (also 2U) extends this capacity to a possible total of 108 disks.

The newer entries (2522, 2722), however, support the loading of 2.5 inch disks (Seagate's Savvio line, specifically) to the tune of up to 24 disks per 2U enclosure. Like the other entries, these new boxes can be expanded via separate JBOD enclosures for the creation of systems of up to 96 drives, total (via the attachment of up to three 2U, 24-bay 2.5 inch SAS drive enclosures, or the attachment of up to six 2U, 12-bay, 3.5 inch SAS or SATA enclosures). Drive choices for the 2522/2722 include 10 and 15K SAS, or 5,400 RPM SATA, and the enclosures ship with AC or DC power options.

Both RAID and JBOD deployments are possible with the arrays, with supported RAID levels including 0, 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, and 50. (RAID 6 is offered on older 2730s via a firmware upgrade.) Multiple redundant and hot-swappable components are offered; including controllers (automatic failover), disks, fans, and power.

Each of the RAID controllers support up to 1 GB of cache memory. Up to 32 virtual disks per system are supported, with 128 partitions per virtual disk and 256 volumes per system. Management is via the vendor's WBI (Web-Based Interface) GUI or CLI (RS-232).

Features of the enclosures include:

- SimulCache: data caching technology for redundant controller deployments in which the cache memory controller automatically broadcasts write data from the primary to the other controller's cache without requiring software intervention on host channels. The vendor states that the technology requires no additional memory bandwidth on the primary controller and results in performance approaching that of dual independent cache mode deployments.

- AssuredSnap: Point-in-time capture and restore technology for disk volumes that the vendor states supports instant restoration of data. Features include both delta-based (only changed data is copied) data processing, and writable snap shots via Original/Write Data Preservation technology.

- AssuredCopy: Volume copy technology, allowing for the creation of clone volumes for use with offline (i.e., development, business analytics, etc.) applications.

- EcoStor: Technology that allows for cache backup without using batteries. With EcoStor, when a power interruption occurs Super Capacitors are used to power the data cache while it (the cache data) is transferred to flash storage.

- RoHS-5 (RoHS-6 in the newer enclosures) and WEEE compliance

All of the above features are available for each of the enclosures, with some included standard and some optional per model (contact the vendor for details).

The 5000 series are targeted to midrange deployments and provide an upgrade path for 2000 series customers (a 2000 series enclosure can be upgraded to a 5000 series model via data-in-place controller upgrades). The 5730 boasts performance of 2-3x that of the 2000 series, with quad 4 Gb/sec host ports per controller (with single or dual controller options available). It supports SAN, switchless-SAN or DAS host connect configurations.

All but the new entries are available now. The 2722 is expected to be available in January, 2009; while the 2522 is expected to debut in April, 2009. Pricing for these new enclosures will start under $16,000 for a 3.5 TB SAS system.

Contact Dot Hill for further information.

product submission by EITPlanet Staff

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