Iomega, which EMC bought in 2008 to provide a top-line consumer brand to go with its enterprise business, is beginning to work its way back upstream into the business market with the help of its parent company.
Iomega on May 4 launched a new line of StorCenter network storage products — two for desktop deployments and one for rack-mounted data center use. All are designed for small and medium-size businesses or remote offices for larger companies.
The StorCenter PX Series consists of four-bay and six-bay desktop units that take up about a square foot of desk space and a four-bay rack-mount model. All run on EMC’s network storage software.
Users have the option to use NAND flash-based solid-state drives in place of spinning disk hard drives if so inclined, Mark Tanguay, Iomega’s worldwide manager of network solutions, told eWEEK. This is a first for San Diego-based Iomega.
The PX series also has advanced data protection features that include multiple RAID levels with hot-swappable drives, UPS support, user quotas, device-to-device replication and certification for most virtualization environments, Tanguay said.
Versatility Is a Key Attribute
These machines are versatile. For example, in NAS mode, StorCenters can operate simultaneously as an Apple Time Machine for Mac OS and as an iSCSI target for VMware vSphere.
StorCenter PXes range from diskless shells to up to 18TB of storage capacity (six 3TB HDDs), Tanguary said. The new devices also include Iomega’s Personal Cloud software, which enables users to store and share data from a browser-based IU, he said.
Advanced features, according to Tanguay, include:
- optional solid-state drives, a dual-core Intel processor, 2GB memory and dual GbE NICs;
- multiple RAID levels: 0, 1, 10, 5, 5+1 (hot spare) and 6, all with automatic RAID rebuild and hot-swap functionality;
- scalable configurations that include fully populated, partially populated and diskless options;
- 7,200-rpm SATA HDDs and SSD drives available from Iomega or from the approved vendor list;
- Active Directory Support and Web-based remote access;
- certified for VMware vSphere 4.0, Citrix XenServer and Windows Server 2003/2008/2008 R2.
PXes also feature cross-platform file sharing with Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems, and simultaneous iSCSI block access for efficient storage utilization, Tanguay said.
Pricing is as follows: The desktop StorCenter px4-300d devices start at $800 for the diskless model; the 4TB model with 2x2TB HDDs is $1,200; the 8TB model with 4x2TB HDDs is $2,300; and the fully populated 12TB (4x3TB HDDs) model is $3,000.
The desktop PX6-300d devices start at $1,200 for the diskless model and range up to $4,000 for the fully loaded 18TB model (6x3TB HDDs).
The rack-mount PX4-300r Network Storage Array units start at $2,300 for the diskless model; the fully utilized 8TB model (4x2TB HDDs) is $3,000; and the fully utilized 12TB model (4x3HDDs) is $3,800. There is no partially utilized PX4-300r rack-mount model.
All the new PX devices are available now, Tanguay said.