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Rackable Systems Launches RapidScale(TM) Storage Appliance for Improved Clustered Storage Performance and Management.


Cluster File System Solution Delivers Industry Leading Scalability and Availability Needed for Large Linux Data Center Deployments

MILPITAS, Calif. -- Rackable Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:RACK), a leading provider of servers and storage products for large-scale data centers, today announced the immediate availability of its new RapidScale[TM] SA3100 cluster file system storage appliance, optimized for data-rich, Linux computing environments.

RapidScale appliances eliminate the performance bottlenecks inherent with legacy Network Attached 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
) products, delivering a single file system solution that scales nearly linearly in both capacity and performance. A perfect match for large-scale Linux deployments often found in Internet and High Performance Computing (HPC (Handheld PC) A palmtop computer that weighs less than one pound and runs specialized versions of popular applications. Microsoft coined the term for its Windows CE operating system, which is an abbreviated version of Windows. See Pocket PC. ) environments, RapidScale's global name space allows customers to realize improved manageability, storage utilization and availability over existing solutions in the market.

Surpassing competing technologies, RapidScale provides up to tens of Gigabytes per second of I/O (Input/Output) The transfer of data between the CPU and a peripheral device. Every transfer is an output from one device and an input to another. See PC input/output.

I/O - Input/Output
 throughput, ultimately reducing wait time and improving overall storage performance. Each RapidScale SA3100 appliance adds 8 TB of storage capacity and up to 200 MB/sec of performance. RapidScale systems leverage Rackable Systems' proven storage server hardware platform and cluster file system software from its recent acquisition of Terrascale Technologies.

In addition to providing industry-leading clustered storage performance and efficiency, the RapidScale HA software option enables a novel, more comprehensive approach to data protection by delivering two independent levels of RAID a battery-backed hardware RAID inside each appliance along with storage cluster level RAID across appliances. With RapidScale HA, redundancy is quickly restored a even in the unlikely case of an appliance failure. RapidScale's dual-level RAID capabilities provide IT administrators with the 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.  needed to protect mission-critical data.

"As data centers continue to scale their Rackable Systems Linux server deployments, RapidScale appliances provide an ideal storage complement," said Gautham Sastri, EVP EVP Executive Vice President
EVP EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) Valve Position Sensor
EVP Electronic Voice Phenomenon
EVP Europäische Volkspartei (Germany)
EVP Employee Value Proposition
 of Storage Solutions at Rackable Systems. "In addition to eliminating the performance bottleneck inherent with legacy storage solutions, RapidScale clusters are managed using standard tools already familiar to Linux system administrators, resulting in a solution that is as easy to manage as it is revolutionary in its performance."

"With our RapidScale deployment, we realized a storage solution that sustained over 1.4 Gigabytes per second to disk and unleashed the true potential of our Rackable Systems InfiniBand cluster," said Craig Prescott, Senior Scientist for the University of Florida's High-Performance Computing High-speed computing, which typically refers to supercomputers used in scientific research.  Center. "We are already in the process of expanding our RapidScale deployment to take advantage of the inherent scalability and satisfy our rapidly increasing demand for capacity and throughput."

Key Features and Benefits

* Scalability: The RapidScale file system is scalable to Petabytes of capacity. Unlike other file system architectures, RapidScale is unencumbered Unencumbered

Property that is not subject to any creditor claims or liens.

Notes:
For example, if a house is owned free and clear (meaning the owner owes no mortgage to anyone), it is unencumbered.
 by metadata bottlenecks, allowing near-linear performance scaling as the number of appliances is increased. As digital content needs continue to accelerate, RapidScale meets those needs without having to divide content into tens or hundreds of separate islands of storage.

* High throughput: The solution provides tens of Gigabytes of throughput, delivering near-linear scaling. Performance is only limited by the number of spindles deployed in the RapidScale storage cluster.

* High IOPs: RapidScale's patent pending architecture delivers equally impressive scaling of small file, random access performance, satisfying the requirements of a wider range of application needs.

* Centralized cen·tral·ize  
v. cen·tral·ized, cen·tral·iz·ing, cen·tral·iz·es

v.tr.
1. To draw into or toward a center; consolidate.

2.
 management: The solution allows administrators to centrally manage all clustered storage servers from one file system.

* Easy deployment: RapidScale deploys quickly with familiar Linux Familiar Linux is a Linux distribution for iPAQ machines and other personal digital assistants (PDAs), intended as a replacement for Windows CE on these machines. It can use OPIE or GPE Palmtop Environment as graphical user interface.  administration tools. With no kernel or application modifications needed on accessing clients, administrators leverage tried and true Linux utilities to create and manage the RapidScale file system.

* Compatibility: Replication and backup software See backup program.

(tool, software) backup software - Software for doing a backup, often included as part of the operating system.

Backup software should provide ways to specify what files get backed up and to where.
 compatible with the XFS XFS X Font Server (Sun)
XFS Extended File System
XFS X-Fleet Sentinels (gaming clan)
XFS Extensions for Financial Services (software interface specification) 
 file system are compatible with the RapidScale solution for total compatibility.

* High availability and dual-level RAID protection: Leveraging optional RapidScale HA technology, Rackable Systems' RapidScale clustered file system A clustered file system is a file system which is simultaneously mounted on multiple servers. There are several approaches to clustering, most of which do not employ a clustered file system.  solution delivers two independent levels of RAID protection a hardware RAID with optional hot spare inside each appliance and storage cluster level RAID across appliances. In case of failure of an entire appliance, the 8 TB of capacity is quickly restored to a hot spare appliance in the same length of time for a single drive RAID rebuild.

"We feel that clustered storage is going to completely change the landscape of storage. But just because you put the word 'clustered' in your documentation doesn't mean you have what I am referring to. So buyers beware," said Tony Asaro, senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "Rackable Systems actually has one of the most compelling clustered architectures and technologies in the industry. RapidScale has leading price/performance that uniquely provides extremely high performance in terms of throughput and IOPs. Additionally, Rackable Systems has focused on ease of use and scalability. We believe they can be a formidable player in the HPC storage arena."

Pricing and Availability

RapidScale is available immediately, with 8 TB Gigabit Ethernet An Ethernet standard that transmits at 1 Gbps. Used mostly to connect high-end workstations and servers as well as for network backbones, Gigabit Ethernet transmits full duplex from point to point using switches and half duplex in a shared environment (CSMA/CD) using a hub.  configurations of the SA3100 appliance at list prices starting at $38,750, providing a cost-effective solution for under $5/GB. InfiniBand and/or RapidScale HA configurations are also available to maximize performance and availability.

For further information, please contact Rackable Systems at 408-240-8300 or visit www.rackable.com.

About Rackable Systems

Rackable Systems, Inc. is a provider of servers and storage products for large-scale data center deployments. The company's products are designed to provide benefits in the areas of density, thermal efficiency In thermodynamics, the thermal efficiency () is a dimensionless performance measure of a thermal device such as an internal combustion engine, a boiler, or a furnace, for example. , serviceability, power distribution and remote management. Founded in 1999 and based in Milpitas, California Milpitas (IPA pronunciation: mɪlpitʌs; inhabitants are called 'Milpitans') is a city in Santa Clara County, California. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of Highway 237 and generally between Interstate freeways 680 and , Rackable Systems serves Internet, semiconductor design, enterprise software, federal government, entertainment, financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
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Date:Nov 14, 2006
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