January 6, 2009

ATTO Technology Introduces 8Gb Fibre Channel to SAS/SATA RAID Storage Controller

Amherst, N.Y. - ­ ATTO Technology Inc., maker of storage connectivity and infrastructure solutions for data-intensivecomputing environments, expanded its FastStream 8500 line of high-performance RAID storage controllers with the industry's first 8GbFibre Channel-to-SAS/SATA RAID storage controller.
The latest addition to the ATTO FastStream RAID Storage Controller line, FastStream SC 8500 is an independent external RAID storage controller that provides 8Gb FibreChannel host connectivity to multiple tiers of low-cost, off-the-shelf SAS/SATA disk storage enclosures.

The FastStream SC 8500, well-suited for midrange storage solutions, delivers up to 1400MB/sec access to data while providing parity RAID protection to multiple tiers of disk enclosures. FastStream RAID Storage Controllers are designed to sit between workstations or a SAN and low-cost JBOD disk storage providing users the ability to scale their performance and storage capacity without purchasing a RAID controller every time expansion is needed.

The FastStream is well-suited for applications in DVA and IT infrastructures, including digital film production, high-definition video postproduction, imaging, digital prepress, disk-to-disk backup, audio production, and transaction-based environments.

The progressive engineering technology built into the FastStream RAID storage controller product line provides a collection of advanced features, including 4KB sector size support to address over 2TB partitions, Media Error Handling to minimize workflow interruptions caused by imperfect media, SES Management and Monitoring, Non-Block device pass-through that allows users to connect devices, such as tape and optical drives alongside disk storage. Additionally, FastStream lifetime firmware updates are free.

A simple firmware upgrade will add features, such as multipathing support, enclosure aware RAID group creation, and several other advanced features that are planned for release next month. The FastStream SC 8500 is also available as an embeddable microATX form factor for OEMs and system integrators. The embeddable board provides the same features as the desktop version, including RAID Levels 0, 1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 40, 50, 60 and DVRAID (an ATTO technology specifically designed to engage the optimal performance features tuned for digital video applications). The embeddable form factor will support up to 32 storage devices internally.