Teeny Tiny RAID - Storage Concepts FibreBlock - Product Announcement

Computer Technology Review, Jan, 2001 by Christine Chudnow

Fitting 240 GB into the palm of your hand

Storage Concepts has come up with the FibreBlock, a really small RAID device with a storage capacity starting at 240GB. At 5x10x9 inches, the new device is almost small enough to fit in the palm of your hand.

"Forget refrigerator RAIDs," says Flip Begich, senior vice president of marketing and sales. "What we are introducing will change the way storage is viewed by everyone who needs to add storage to their systems--at an extremely low price point."

Equipped with MSTTM (Multi-Streaming Technology), the FibreBlock can handle multiple streams of data running simultaneously through a single port at a combined transfer rate of 8085MB/sec. The FibreBlock is compatible with all host bus adapters, making it a good candidate for integration within a diversity of application from high end desktop computing and CAD/CAE to the latest in SAN enterprise storage. The unit offers fourth generation real-time RAID design, 66 MIPS RISC processor architecture, and full 1Gb Fibre Channel interface.

Begich continues, "People should think of this product as an intelligent LEGO set. The client can start with one unit, and as the business grows, the FibreBlock configuration can grow to accommodate the specific growth needs." Each small, self-contained unit can be used as a storage module to the system. Looking like one disk drive, it can be daisy chained to form large and small loops, and is compatible with all popular Fibre Channel switches and hubs. The FibreBlock does not require special software, is configurable as a standard SCSI disk drive, and is compatible with all popular host bus adapters.

The FibreBlock is particularly well suited for applications requiring cost effective storage in the government, medical, ISP, SSP, ASP, and video storage markets.