Coraid Rolls Out Low-Cost Linux-Based NAS Gateway

The new CLN20-FT Redundant Linux NAS Gateway could be a good fit for environments that need high availability without a single point of failure.

Coraid, a San Clemente, Calif., company that bills itself as an alternative to higher-cost iSCSI and Fibre Channel, has bolstered its Linux NAS Gateway products with failover capability that helps protect data and ensure business continuity.

The new CLN20-FT Redundant Linux NAS (network-attached storage) Gateway, which combines two CLN20s with a 1U rack-mountable unit power switchover control unit, could be a good fit for environments that need high availability without a single point of failure.

Built on the open AoE (ATA-over-Ethernet) protocol, the CLN-20 FT offers fault tolerance, essentially providing redundancy with hot failover.

This configuration provides physical insurance that if the server is compromised in any way, the data within the storage device will continue to be accessible.

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"Generally what happens in a NAS device is that the server part that allows you to access the data in the storage device is married in the chassis with the disk in a way where the disks and the server are in one box," said Coraid CEO Jim Kemp.

"We now have a switchover for the server, so it looks like a storage box, but its really a configuration that has protection to it, so you can still access the disks even if the server fails."

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In addition, the AoE connections allow organizations to attach an unlimited number of disks to a shared group of servers, offering a simple way of switching to another server while still enabling access to the same disks, Kemp said.

The product was built entirely with open-source components, providing a simple, lower-cost way of providing high availability "without buying into high-end products that cost ten times what this costs," Kemp said.

The CLN20-FT lists for $5,985 and is currently available.

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