New 8-Gbit Fibre-Channel Storage Solution from Rorke Data
The Galaxy Aurora LS direct-attached RAID and SAN appliance uses Nehalem-based software RAID for high performance.
Rorke Data Inc., a data storage solutions provider and wholly owned subsidiary of Bell Microproducts based in Las Vegas, Nev., announced the general availability of its new Galaxy Aurora LS (LiteSpeed) direct-attached RAID and SAN appliance. Designed with four 8-Gbit Fibre-Channel host connections, the Galaxy Aurora LS features sustained transfer rates of more than 1,000 MB/s and rebuild times up to 6X faster than hardware-based RAID solutions, according to Rorke. It supports multiple uncompressed HD streams or 2K film, making it a solid choice for the film or video post production industries.
With an MSRP starting at less than $.70 per gigabyte, the Galaxy Aurora LS gives smaller post production workgroups access to high-performance storage that had previously been cost prohibitive.
“Rorke Data has a long and successful history in the media market,” says Robert Herzan, Rorke Data’s vice president of sales. “We are excited that the Galaxy Aurora LS is now the highest-performing product at this price point in the market today. We designed it around our customers’ needs and made it universally supportive of any operating systems and audio/video applications.”
EOS, Aurora’s patent-pending software RAID engine, is powered by a Nehalem-based CPU driving a multi-core software RAID algorithm. Unlike hardware RAID ASICs, EOS can be reprogrammed to take advantage of next-generation CPUs and more efficient network protocols as they become available in the market.
The 12-bay Galaxy Aurora LS features 1, 2, or 4 ports of 8-Gbit Fibre-Channel connectivity, can be configured as a direct-attached or SAN appliance, and offers 10 to 15 TB of usable storage capacity with RAID 6 protection. An embedded, Web-based GUI enables users to monitor status and troubleshoot problems. Able to support multiple workstations in a SAN without expensive switches, the Galaxy Aurora LS is compatible with SAN software including XSAN, CommandSoft, StorNext, and MetaSAN, and is application tested with AJA, Blackmagic, Matrox, Bluefish, Final Cut Pro, AVID, Adobe, DaVinci, Autodesk, IRIDAS, Assimilate, and Digital Vision, with more to follow.
The Galaxy Aurora LS is supported by Rorke Data’s Professional Services Division and comes with pre- and post-sales support, onsite installation, 24×7 onsite, and custom services.
