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IBM is refreshing its midrange storage line with the addition of a new 4G-bps Fibre Channel expansion unit for its DS4000 Series product, adding increased density and capacity for its disaster recovery-based box, and providing automated backup and restore capabilities for Microsoft Exchange Server.
Available for general release the week of March 6, the scalable IBM System Storage DS4000 EXP810 offers a 16-disk drive bay enclosure and features up to 4.8TB capacity per expansion unit on initial introduction.
That total doubles the capacity of IBMs existing EXP 710 Expansion Unit, which features a 14-disk drive bay enclosure.
Constructed to support 2G-bps Fibre Channel disk drives and the eventual arrival of 4G-bps disk drives—expected to be some time next quarter—a switch on the EXP810 enclosure allows users to shift speed connectivity between 2G bps and 4G bps, said Harold Pike, worldwide product marketing manager for Midrange Disk Systems for IBM, based in Armonk, N.Y.
Pike said IBM plans to expand EXP810 support to include its other legacy products, such as the IBM System Storage DS4300 (formerly FAStT600) and DS4500 (formerly FAStT700) boxes.
IBM has added new feature offerings to its disaster recovery and business continuity portfolio, buoyed by the introduction of IBM DS4000 IBD (Integrated Backup for Databases) for Microsoft Exchange 2003 deployments.
Set for release on March 17, the new IBD software, which has already been evaluated by Microsoft, simplifies Exchange e-mail and data backup operations through near-continuous data protection.
IBM has also added VolumeCopy and a combination of FlashCopy/VolumeCopy to its entry-level product focused on nearline storage consolidation, the IBM TotalStorage DS4100. VolumeCopy lets users build a full copy of a FlashCopy volume for data protection purposes, while FlashCopy crates an exact copy of disk volumes without interfering with operating system access to the volume.
Working to construct a Microsoft-oriented SAN (storage area network) for SMBs (small and midsize businesses), IBM has gained Microsoft Simple SAN designation for its DS4100 and DS4300 storage boxes. Pike said IBM would ideally like to offer customers a complete solution tying together everything from hardware to host bus adapters—currently being provided by QLogic—to switches and storage-management SAN Express software as part of the beginners kit.