ADIC CentraVision Brings Failover to SANs; High Data Availability to Help Move Technology to Enterprise, Web Applications.Business Editors, High-Tech Writers REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2000 Advanced Digital Information Corporation(R)(Nasdaq:ADIC) today announced a new release of its CentraVision(TM) SAN file sharing Copying files from one computer to another. See peer-to-peer network, file sharing protocol and file and printer sharing. system (CVFS), one designed to provide high data availability Refers to the degree to which data can be instantly accessed. The term is mostly associated with service levels that are set up either by the internal IT organization or that may be guaranteed by a third party datacenter or storage provider. through use of automated server failover technology. By providing continuous availability of shared, centralized files to network workstations and servers, CentraVision 1.4 will help extend the use of SANs to enterprise and web-hosting applications that demand 7x24 data access. "Adding enhanced resiliency and automated failover to SANs is an important step in the evolution of Fibre Channel networks," explained Bill Britts, ADIC executive vice president of sales and marketing. "Today, SAN file sharing is used most often in post-production and graphics environments, ones that boost productivity by sharing very large files among multiple users. The ability of SANs to let multiple clients with different operating systems Operating systems can be categorized by technology, ownership, licensing, working state, usage, and by many other characteristics. In practice, many of these groupings may overlap. share data down to the file level offers huge potential benefits for enterprise data sharing The ability to share the same data resource with multiple applications or users. It implies that the data are stored in one or more servers in the network and that there is some software locking mechanism that prevents the same set of data from being changed by two people at the same time. , e-commerce, and web hosting Making a Web site available on the Internet. Many ISPs host a few personal Web pages for an individual at no additional cost above the monthly service fee, but the address is subordinate to the ISP; for example, www.friendlyisp.com/pat_smith. , but these applications demand the kind of system resiliency that can guarantee continuous access to data. With its new automated failover option, CentraVision takes a major step toward making SAN file sharing a central and highly leveraged element in those applications." The CVFS file sharing system allows UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). , Windows, and Linux hosts to transparently share centralized Fibre Channel disk resources over a high bandwidth SAN. By letting different users share storage volumes and even individual files, it enables collaborative workflow and dramatically reduces the need for IT departments to duplicate, move, store and manage files. In the new CVFS 1.4 release, the indexing data required to allow hosts to access the centralized files can be automatically replicated and distributed among different SAN servers. In the event that any server becomes disabled or is powered down, the central indexing function is automatically transferred to another server and all the remaining hosts retain uninterrupted access to the centralized files. "Current SAN implementation are only the beginning," Britts continued. "Today, users are rolling out SANs to centralize backup, get block data transfers off the network, and share large files. The next stage -- one that high availability Also called "RAS" (reliability, availability, serviceability) or "fault resilient," it refers to a multiprocessing system that can quickly recover from a failure. There may be a minute or two of downtime while one system switches over to another, but processing will continue. file sharing will help make possible -- will centralize live, mission-critical data and enable single-point management strategies for file sets that need to be simultaneously available to large banks of servers. With this release we are helping to make an information-centric network topology See topology. a practical reality." CentraVision has been recognized by the industry for its leadership in bringing innovative, high performance SAN file sharing to the market. Independent lab tests on a CVFS SAN reported consistent file read performance of 94MB/second, and a mixed UNIX-Windows NT SAN solution based on CVFS was selected as a finalist for Network Computing's Well-Connected award in the SAN category. "Since the maximum per-channel SAN bandwidth is 100MB/second, consistent 94MB/second performance is extremely high -- for people familiar with backup performance, it's equivalent to the combined maximum native throughput of more than 15 DLT (Digital Linear Tape) A magnetic tape technology originally developed by Digital for its VAX line. The technology was later sold to Quantum, which makes it available to other manufacturers. DLT uses half-inch, single-hub cartridges similar to IBM's 3480/3490/3590 line. 8000 tape drives," commented Dave Uvelli, ADIC executive director of marketing for software. ADIC's CentraVision 1.4 is available now for UNIX, Windows, and Linux systems. Suggested list price begins at $5,000 per server. About ADIC With an installed base of more than 60,000 automated libraries, innovative storage management software, Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions, and Network Attach Storage (NAS (1) See network access server. (2) (Network Attached Storage) A specialized file server that connects to the network. A NAS device contains a slimmed-down operating system and a file system and processes only I/O requests by supporting the popular ) appliances, ADIC is a leading device-independent storage solutions provider to the open systems marketplace. The Company offers a broad range of products designed to enhance organizations' ability to store, protect, manage and use their rapidly growing network data. ADIC's automated storage products are available through a worldwide sales force and a global network of resellers and OEMs, including Dell, Fujitsu Siemens (Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Inc. (USA), Milpitas, CA, www.fujitsu-siemens.com) Fujitsu Siemens Computers USA is a wholly owned research and development subsidiary of Fujitsu Siemens Computers. and IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) . Further information is available at http://www.adic.com. ADIC and CentraVision are trademarks of Advanced Digital Information Corporation. All other trade and/or service marks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. |
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