Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Encore Computer Corp has launched its Infinity SP30 storage processor in the UK. It is compatible with IBM Corp’s 3990 mainframe disk controller, and is billed as a universal storage processor that has the flexibility to support a dynamic mix of IBM 3380 and 3390 disk drives in a single box. It can be partitioned for Unix and networked systems as well as the mainframe environment and data can be shared across those different environments. It also offers the user the flexibility to decide which RAID level, if any, to use, to apply to different sections of data within the same box. It features the Encore patented Memory Channel technology, which is the internal bus that runs at 144Mbs. Its function is to automatically write to the second cache for protection of data. The Infinity SP30 has a footprint of 11 square feet and a capacity of up to 450Gb per cabinet. It has a fault tolerant design with hot swappable disk drives and power supplies. At the launch the company demonstrated it simultaneously connected to an IBM 9221-130 via a BMC interface and an Encore Unix system via SCSI. Infinity tools include the DASD Manager to provide the ability to look at the current allocation of devices in the processor and the DASD Health Performance facility, which determines the workload of different sectors and target redistribution of that load. Cap-RS Ltd, the Walton-on-Thames, Surrey-based disaster recovery firm, has just become the first UK company to take the product on a trial basis with a view to purchase. In the US, 65 units have been sold so far. The list price for the system goes from ú250,000 to more than ú1m.
