January 4, 2005
(Macworld)
Apple Computer Inc. today announced that it is shipping its Xsan storage-area network (SAN) file system. Now available for $999 per client and per server, Xsan is a 64-bit cluster file system that enables Mac OS X Server users to share files and volumes up to 16TB in size on a Fibre Channel network.
Apple also announced an upgrade to its rack-mountable Xserve G5 file server, upping the top-end and "cluster node" configuration's processor speed to 2.3 GHz and its system bus speed to 1.15 GHz.
Fibre Channel-based SAN systems like Xsan are high-speed networking storage systems designed for use in fields like video and film editing, broadcast, visual effects and motion graphics creation. Xsan's applications extend beyond video and film, however; Apple sees a market for Xsan in business, government, education and high-performance computing -- all environments that can benefit from storage consolidation where features like metadata controller failover, Fibre Channel multipathing, file-level locking and more sophisticated volume management can be used effectively.
Eric Zelenka, Apple's senior product line manager for server and storage software, said the vendor is also offering a new support program for Xsan customers. Priced at $799 per system, the Xsan support plan offers users 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week access to Apple's support staff for an unlimited number of incidents. The support plan covers Xsan setup and configuration, but users can also use the service to get answers to questions about setting up RAID, Fibre Channel cards, switches, Mac OS X Server and application software that will be used with the Xsan system.
Zelenka said that Xsan's pricing enables users to configure each Xsan-equipped system either as a metadata controller -- a file server system, essentially -- or as a client. He said the $999-per-node price has already garnered attention from a community accustomed to paying more for such capability. Apple has tested Xsan configurations with up to 64 users accessing video streams from a single storage volume.
Apple offers license discounts for more than 10 nodes per network; it also offers an optional maintenance program that enables companies to buy three years of upgrades for the cost of a single upgrade.
Xsan is interoperable with Advanced Digital Information Corp.'s StorNext File System, which means it can be used in mixed-platform environments that include the Windows, Unix and Linux operating systems, according to Apple. Xsan is also supported by ADIC's StorNext Management Suite data management software. Xsan has been vetted for use on Xserve G4, Xserve G5, Power Mac G4, Power Mac G5, Xserve RAID and Apple Fibre Channel PCI-X cards.
Xsan requires Mac OS X Version 10.3 or Mac OS X Server Version 10.3 and supports qualified Fibre Channel switches made by Brocade Communications Systems Inc., QLogic Corp. and Emulex Corp.
Xserve Speed Bump
Apple also has upgraded the Xserve G5, its 1U rack-mountable file server system (1U is 1.75 in. high). The new Xserve G5 now operates with dual processors clocked at up to 2.3 GHz -- compared with 2 GHz for its previous top-end system -- and a front-side system bus architecture clocked at 1.15 GHz per processor, up from 1 GHz per processor in the previous high-end system.
Despite the speed increase, the Xserve G5's price remains unchanged: The server starts at $2,999 for a 2-GHz single-processor system, while the 2.3-GHz dual-processor model, which replaces a 2-GHZ dual-processor model, costs $3,999. The cluster node Xserve G5 model has also been upgraded to 2.3 GHz and retains its $2,999 price tag.
"We've added 400GB Serial ATA hard drives for up to 1.2TB of internal storage," said Alex Grossman, Apple's director of server and storage hardware. "We're also offering Combo drives or SuperDrive in place of the CD-ROM that was previously installed."
The Combo optical drive -- capable of reading DVD-ROMs -- is more useful for software that's increasingly distributed on DVD rather than over several CDs, Grossman said. And SuperDrives -- capable of burning DVD-R media -- offer a convenient archival alternative for administrators who want to burn content to disc quickly.
Other specifications on the Xserve G5 remain unchanged: It can be outfitted with up to 8GB of 400-MHz DDR RAM and three onboard internal Serial-ATA-based hard drives; it can also be outfitted with a PCI-based hardware RAID card to achieve 800GB of RAID 5 protected internal storage. The Xserve G5 also features two full-length 64-bit PCI-X slots clocked at 133 MHz.