AC&NC JetStor 712U Suite of ZFS-Based Unified Storage Systems

Advanced Computer & Network Corporation, a provider of open storage solutions, introduced the JetStor 712U suite of ZFS-based unified storage systems to meet the growing demands by SMBs for dependable, function-rich, high-speed storage.

The platforms can simultaneously serve as both NAS and iSCSI SANs, providing unsurpassed flexibility in a 2U chassis. They merge the blazing R/W speeds of solid-state caches with up to 48TB of storage using economical SAS or SATA drives, thus meeting needs from long-term archiving to fast application delivery.

The 12-bay JetStor platforms optimize capacity and reduce storage costs with real-time data compression, thin provisioning to improve storage utilization, and efficient, inline, block-level data deduplication, which occurs in the cache for greater performance. They serve both clients and servers in VMware, Windows, UNIX, Apple Macintosh, Novell or mixed environments, and further consolidate storage by supporting multiple protocols (Windows CIFS, NFS, AFP, FTP, WebDAV, iSCSI), avoiding the need for separate servers for each deployed protocol.

ZFS, a public-domain file system developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc., simplifies storage by storing data in unified virtual storage pools called zpools, eliminating the need for volumes. With ZFS, the JetStor 712U solutions can use solid-state caching to speed read and write operations. Data can be quickly read from the cache using L2ARC (Level 2 Adaptive Replacement Cache) or stored in the cache using ZIL (ZFS intent log) and written later to the slower HDDs. The file system will automatically move frequently accessed data from the HDDs to the SSD disks for faster response times.

ZFS also ensures data integrity with such functionality as snapshots, multiple copies, end-to-end data checksums, and a self-healing architecture that corrects silent data corruption. Moreover, it supports RAIDZ, which preserves data should a HDD fail even when writing the parity stripe, and RAIDZ2, which protects against two such disk failures.

"With JetStor 712U systems, even small enterprises have fast, secure, and always available open storage options," said Gene Leyzarovich, president of AC&NC. "These high-value solutions simplify both NAS and SAN deployments and target critical business applications like database, email, and video servers, and archiving, replication, and cloud backup."

Enterprise Storage for SMBs
The 712U platforms are designed to make storage more affordable and manageable. Their power management enhances energy efficiency and reduces ownership costs by aligning power output to parameters like internal temperatures and fan speed and by spinning down disks that are not in use. To simplify administration, their browser-based RAID Manager management and monitoring software enables staff to configure and control all JetStor systems and receive automated notifications via email or SNMP of any events or issues.

The JetStor solutions feature a modular, cableless architecture and offer such data protection as cloning and remote replication. Their support for Unified Authentication technology permits users to simply but securely access the platforms, even with mobile devices, and administrators to easily manage user accounts. To further safeguard data, the systems come with a 3-year license for McAfee anti-virus protection.

Three models are available. The JetStor SAS 712U chassis offers six 1Gb Ethernet ports and the JetStor SAS 712U 10G features two 10Gb and two 1GbE ports. Both use Intel Core i3 processors and the JetStor SAS 712U ships with 8GB of default cache memory while the JetStor SAS 712U 10G comes with 16GB of cache memory. The JetStor SAS 712U 10G+ also has two 10Gb and two 1GbE ports, but it features Intel Xeon E3 processors and 32GB of cache memory for extremely fast storage and application delivery.

The JetStor SAS 712U solutions ship with three-year warranties and are available.