Dot Hill Launches First 2U 2.5-inch-based SAS RAID Arrays
Users can now take advantage of the increasing number of external SAS host connections being integrated into next-generation servers and workstations.
Carlsbad, Calif.-based Dot Hill Systems Corp., a provider of entry-level and midrange storage solutions for OEMs and system integrators, announced general availability of the Dot Hill 2522, a two-rack-unit (2U), 24-drive high-performance, high-density, external RAID storage system that leverages small form factor (2.5-inch) hard disk drives with SAS host connectivity.
These high performance direct-attached storage systems, which support SAS, SATA, and solid state disks (SSD), are suitable for OEMs and storage integrators implementing blade server systems in IT or telco environments in which high-speed and high-density local storage is required. With a host interface speed of 12Gbps and short chassis depth, the Dot Hill 2522 SAS disk arrays might be considered as an upgrade for older parallel SCSI deployments.
“The Dot Hill 2522 combines the benefits of 2.5-inch drives and Serial-attached SCSI (SAS) host computer connectivity to deliver a powerful solution that can meet the needs of a wide variety of customer applications,” says Andy Mills, vice president of marketing and business development, Dot Hill Systems. “Users can now take advantage of the increasing number of external SAS host connections being integrated into next-generation servers and workstations to provide a highly effective storage expansion solution.”
The 2722 Fibre Channel (4Gb FC) and 2522 Serial Attached SCSI (3Gb SAS) arrays feature intelligent, fully redundant enterprise-class controllers, with optional support for Dot Hill’s AssuredSnap snapshot and AssuredCopy volume copy data protection software modules. In addition, a 2U, 24-bay 2122 SAS JBOD unit is available to facilitate expansion of the 2722 or 2522 arrays.
Featuring a variety of 2.5-inch drive options, these systems will support a maximum of 96 SAS drives for a total capacity of 28.8 terabytes based on the newest 300GB SAS drives. An existing Dot Hill 2U, 12-drive 3.5-inch SAS expansion chassis with SAS, SATA, or SSD drives can also be intermixed with the 2722 and 2522 arrays to accommodate both the performance and capacity requirements of demanding applications within the same storage pool or in tiered storage deployments, supporting configurations of up to 79.2 terabytes.
Using SAS drives, both products have measured performance of up to 230,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS), a 130 percent performance increase compared with prior generation 2U, 3.5-inch equivalent capacities. With the use of 80 percent-plus efficient power supplies, the new arrays represent as much as a 34 percent power savings over 2U, 12-drive arrays of equivalent 3.5-inch spindle counts, greatly enhancing the green aspects of the design.
Available for purchase now, the 2522 populated with 146 gigabyte 10,000 RPM drives has an expected street price starting at $16,000.
