Nashua, New Hampshire-based disk subsystem specialist Storage Computer Corp claims its new RAID 7 storage system is the best on the market, providing virtual solid state performance and data fault tolerance for commodity disk prices. The company modestly declares its open systems standards-based RAID 7 storage computer, a quantum leap forward in disk input-output performance technology, enabling an existing computer to do the work of two, three, or even four similar computers. It reckons RAID 7 overcomes the host input-output barriers that prevent large percentage of host MIPS from being used. RAID 7 incorporates patented asynchronous hardware that moves drive heads independently of each other, and a real-time embedded operating system that controls access to the disk drives and data flow to the host interfaces. As a result, it says, RAID 7 systems exceed single-spindle performance for all four basic disk metrics of small reads and writes, and large reads and writes, in any combination. RAID 7 systems are available in desktop, integrated rack-mount and modular (console) configurations, and provide 1Gb to 141Gb of protected storage capacity on network file servers; on the major Unix workstations; and supermini and mid-range systems including the VAX, AS/400, Wang Laboratories Inc VS, and Data General Corp MV and AViiON 6225. Benchmark tests show that RAID 7 can help these systems run applications two to four times faster and still provide full data fault-tolerance, the company claims. Two RAID 7s can be configured with a single set of drives to create a fully fault-tolerant subsystem for mission- and money-critical installations. Prices vary according to packaging and configuration. Desktop units start at $15,900 and can be expanded to support 12 disks and two host interfaces. Integrated rack-mounted units start at $19,500 and are upgradable to 18 drives and four host interfaces. The console systems are separate modular rack-mountable units that can be stacked to support 48 drives and up to 12 host interfaces, the firm says.
