Snap Server from Overland Storage

Sunstar Company has sold the Snap Server line of storage solutions for years. Overland Storage recently purchased this line of storage from Adaptec and we will continue to promote the solutions offered.

Now we recognize that the Snap line, even though it is quote comprehensive is not for all. There are software suites offered for a fee that add terrific value to theses NAS devices.

At present we at Sunstar promote the following models"

• Snap Server 650 High-performance block and file storage for enterprise data management1U 1.2TB - 85.2TB
• Snap Server 520 Great storage performance with flexible capacity management1U 1TB – 88TB
• Snap Server 410 High-performance rackmount storage with advanced data protection640GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB
• Snap Server 210 High-performance, high-capacity desktop storage with advanced data protection500GB, 1TB, 1.5TB
• Snap Server 110 Compact, high-performance desktop storage160GB, 250GB, 500GB, 750GB
• SANBloc S50 JBOD Expansion for Snap Server 650 and Snap Server 520 with a choice of 12 SAS or SATA drives

Guardian OS - Operating system for Snap Server storage systems for the distributed enterprise

Snap EDR - Data protection, disaster recovery, and data management for distributed enterprises

In excess of 20,000 units in the field.

If the Snap Server line is of interest to you, please do contact us so that we can share our experiences with you.

info@sunstarco,com 800.663.5523

Many Thanks

Gavin

www.sunstarco.com

iQstor 2880 Fibre to Fibre RAID

Offered by Sunstar Company, Inc. the iQstor iQ2880 is a full-featured 4Gb storage system, providing maximum flexibility, scalability and reliability for business, large and small. With all key internal components being hot-swappable and redundant, the iQ2880 ensures dependable data protection and delivery to help keep business-critical applications running smoothly. Supporting RAID level (0, 1, 1+0, 3, 5, 6) provides data protection and helps keep business critical applications running.

The iQstor 2880 Fibre to Fibre Storage uses high-performance RAID controllers and offers fast I/O response for searching and retrieving small fixed content files. It is well suited for applications like web and Intranet fixed content delivery, databases for storing and retrieving PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) content, document management, and business reports.

Each iQ2880 supports up to fifteen Fibre Channel Drives providing 6TB of storage capacity using 400GB (optional 10,000 or 15,000 RPM) disk drives or 15TB with 1TB SATA (7,200 RPM) disk drives. This capacity can be easily and dynamically scaled to 240TB by attaching optional J2880 disk enclosure with FC or SATA disk drives to the iQ2880 storage system, creating a tiered-storage environment, with Fibre Channel drives for primary storage and SATA drives for secondary storage.

The iQ2880 combines enterprise-level features such as storage virtualization, snapshot, mirroring, remote replication, storage provisioning and automated capacity growth with fully redundant components, to deliver storage scalability, data protection, storage automation and management simplicity

If this RAID solution is of interest to you contact us at Sunstar Company.
(800) 663.5523 info@sunstarco.com www.sunstarco.com
Many Thanks
Gavin
Sunstar Company.

NEXSAN SASBoy

Available through Sunstar Company, Inc. the NexSAN SASBoy is designed to enable high performance fixed content applications with energy efficiency.

SASBoy is completely OS-independent and provides both iSCSI and Fibre Channel connectivity. Presently the SASBoy supports 14 x 300GB SAS drives (15000 RPM) in 3U for 4.2 TB of storage. Great for applications that require high transaction performance, the SASBoy supports 50,000 IOPS from cache and 2,500 IOPS from disk, and can sustain data rates up to 875 Mbps.

The SASBoy uses high-performance RAID controllers and offers fast I/O response for searching and retrieving small fixed content files. It is well suited for applications like web and Intranet fixed content delivery, databases for storing and retrieving PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems) content, document management, and business reports.

• Speeds: High performance random access for fixed content. Up to 50,000 random IOPS from cache
• Green storage: Multiple levels of energy efficiency, user configurable to control energy use. No compromise on application performance. Comes standard with the SASBoy
• Features both Fibre Channel and iSCSI connectivity to enable cost-effective, high performance access to large amounts of information
• High availability architecture features full redundancy across all active components
• Centralized management and monitoring platform that enables remote management and configuration of multiple arrays from a single GUI through NexScan software
• Priced for the SME market (small to mid-size enterprises)
• Easily integrates with SATA products for tiered storage
• Three-year warranty includes advance exchange, 24-7 technical support.

Please do contact us if you would like to learn more about this solution. Best to reach us by: Calling us at (800) 663.5523, email info@sunstarco.com or visiting us at http://www.sunstarco.com/

Many Thanks
Gavin
Sunstar Company, Inc.

Fibre Attached Storage

Fibre attached SANs at this point in time are certainly the SAN of choice when the client has a need for fast storage. Sure we can consider iSCSI SANs, however if a database is involved and the client is look for the highest IOPS then we tend to point to a Fibre Attached SAN with fast drives.

Generally speaking databases are not that large so we tend to recommend utilizing either Fibre or SAS drives drives within the SAN.

Two manufacturers come to mind: NexSAN and iQstor. Two very different solutions; one supporting SAS and the other Fibre drives.

NexSAN SASBoy.

• High Performance SAS Storage (15K SAS)
• High transaction performance
• NexSAN's revolutionary AutoMAID™ energy saving technology greatly reduces power consumption and operating costs.
• High capacity – up to 4.2 TB in only 3U
• Dual function Fibre Channel and iSCSI connectivity
• Transaction speeds up to 50,000 IOPS from cache and 2,500 IOPS

iQstor iQ2880 :

• High Performance Fibre Storage (choice of 10K or 15K Fibre)
• Single or Dual RAID Controllers
• Full 4GB Fibre
• Capacity: Up to 240 drives, using expansion chassis
• Software solution sets - SnapShots, Replication, Volume Copy, Volume Manager Virtualization etc.

I will discuss each one of these RAID solutions in more detail in the following blogs.

Please contact at Sunstar Company, Inc if we can be of assistance.

info@sunstarco.com (800) 663-5523

www.sunstarco.com

Is tape dead?

I can't count the number of time I have heard the question - is tape dead? As we continue this debate it is clear that the days when tape drives or libraries were purchased on a regular basis is certainly over. Disk is certainly a player in the decision process and it is my belief that tape will soon be relegated to mere archive in the years to come.

There are many choices available from so many manufacturers that it seems that the end user is often confused as to what will be the right solution for their company.

I am an advocate that tape should still be part of the backup/archive strategy but not at the expense of fast reliable backup and more importantly ask the question - how fast can I retrieve my data?

Some of the options available:
Storage - DAS, SAN, NAS or iSCSI
VTL
Data Deduplication
Replication
Tape

Unfortunately "data loss" is only too real and we all have experienced some data loss at one point in time or another. The key here is to minimized this potential loss and with the appropriate planning we can alleviate the pain.

Please do contact Sunstar Company and let us help you design the appropriate backup strategy that works best for you.
info@sunstarco.com 800.663.5523
Thank You

Gavin

Tape drive repairs

Sunstar Company, Inc. repairs and service the following Tape Drives and Loaders.
3480, 3490, 3490e, 3590 3592 and TS1120
All LTO Drives
All 9840 and 9940 drives
Sony DTF, AIT, SAIT and DIR
A $125.00 fee applies to product shipped to our facility for evaluation.
The approval of any repair waives the $125.00 evaluation fee.
Standard turn around time is usually 3 to 5 business days on most repairs.
Expedited repairs can often be returned by the following business day with a priority shipping service.
All repairs carry a 90 day warranty.
For additional information - follow this link.
To request a RMA number and specific details

iSCSI Storage for the future?

Question - If Fibre Channel SANs are the present are iSCSI SAN's the future of storage area networks?

Facts:

• iSCSI is preferred over Fibre Channel and outperforms Fiber Channel SANs when using small and mid-range servers with limited data transfers
• Fiber Channel SANs are superior when compared to iSCSI SANs when large database transfers and input/output operations take place.
• Ethernet is the most simplistic part of iSCSI. It runs on Ethernet. The odds are good that you and your coworkers are familiar with Ethernet—positive and negative points. With iSCSI, you can rely on inexpensive, commodity hardware and can get your SAN running quickly and easily.
• In most iSCSI equipment, the snapshot feature is included in the base price of the product. Snapshots provide significant data protection in that they can protect your data between backups.
• Replication - optional
• Scalability - depends on the manufacturer

iSCSI SAN technologies are improving and will soon be available to handle the high Input/Output operations of database transfers that are better supported Fiber Channel SANs.

For additional information - visit our web site: www.sunstarco.com
info@sunstarco.com 800.663.5523
Many Thanks

Gavin
Sunstar Company, Inc.