Sun Introduces the Industry's First Intelligent Storage Server

Business Wire, Jan 28, 1998

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 28, 1998--

The Sun(TM) StorEdge(TM) A7000 With StorEdge(TM) DataShare Software Offer Customers Seamless Information Sharing Among Mainframe, UNIX and NT Systems

Continuing to redefine enterprise storage solutions for the network age, Sun Microsystems, Inc., today announced the Sun(TM) StorEdge(TM) A7000 Intelligent Storage Server(TM) system, the industry's first data center-class storage device with the built-in intelligence to run applications traditionally supported on the compute server. In keeping with Sun's commitment to open systems, the A7000 is supported on heterogeneous platforms including the Solaris(TM) operating environment, S/390 mainframes, and UNIX and NT servers. Also announced today is Sun StorEdge DataShare software, the only software in the industry that allows for direct sharing of mainframe, UNIX and NT data without file transfers. The A7000 and DataShare are cornerstones in the implementation of Sun's Intelligent Storage Network(TM) architecture.

"The mainframe connectivity and the DataShare capabilities in Sun's StorEdge A7000 are two key enablers of Sun's enterprise storage strategy. They are clear examples of what today's customers view as real value in a storage architecture," said David Vellante, senior vice president with International Data Corporation.

"We wanted a storage system that would enable us to quickly respond to changes in technology and to our future needs," stated Evica Intellitech. "The StorEdge A7000 was the only system that could provide this flexibility and peace of mind. It is open systems architecture at its finest."

Only Intelligent Storage Server System With True Information Sharing

Unlike competing products that rely on traditional fixed-function controllers, the Sun StorEdge A7000 Intelligent Storage Server system houses two quad-processor UNIX computers, which enable customers to implement storage applications-such as information sharing, remote data copy, and backup-at the storage level, thus minimizing the load on the host computer. This built-in intelligence also provides users with a high level of mission-critical reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) through a mix of RAID levels 1, 0 1, and 5, and phone home and remote diagnostics. Unlike the EMC Symmetrix, the Sun StorEdge A7000 offers mirrored NVRAM cache, which ensures customers will always have access to cached data, even in the event that one copy is lost or corrupted.

"As Sun evolves the A7000 technology across the entire SPARC(TM) family, one of the things that Oracle and Sun are looking at together is how we start to potentially move some of the functionality right down into the storage subsystem," said Richard French, vice president, Enterprise Platforms Division, Oracle Corporation.

The Sun StorEdge A7000 product also provides open mainframe backup and restore capabilities. This feature enables users with any existing mainframe-based backup/restore utilities and tape subsystems to perform volume-level backups on open systems, leveraging robust mainframe-class backup infrastructures throughout their enterprise. The A7000 currently supports up to 32 SCSI, Block Mux and/or ESCON host connections, with Fibre Channel connectivity slated for future versions. The system has a 2.9 terabyte capacity with up to four gigabytes mirrored, non-volatile cache, and provides exceptional mainframe-class reliability and availability.

Extending the functionality of the A7000, Sun's new Sun StorEdge DataShare software enables true information sharing among mainframes, Solaris, other UNIX servers and NT systems simultaneously-unlike traditional methods which first require data to be copied and transferred-saving data center managers time and money. In addition, direct information sharing reduces processing cycles, easing the load on both mainframes and open systems, simplifying infrastructure management, and reducing operational costs.

"The A7000's data sharing capability was the deciding factor in why Transamerica Intellitech chose Sun," added Benrubi. "The DataShare software enables us to share information across machine boundaries-without the risks and extra time associated with data movement and duplication. No other vendor could deliver that."

World-Class Data Availability Services

Sun offers mission-critical services tailored specifically for the Sun StorEdge A7000 system. To help customers effectively manage their system, Sun offers remote diagnostics and phone home capabilities with a 15-minute response time for component failures. On-site support is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, with four hour maximum response time. Sun's A7000 installation and configuration service ensures that customers are able to bring the Sun StorEdge A7000 system online quickly and effectively.

Since access to information is critical, Sun delivers architecture and implementation services for Sun StorEdge DataShare to allow direct, simultaneous access of data from mainframes, UNIX, and NT systems. Sun also offers a new course on storage management that includes hands-on experience working with DataShare and case studies to help students recognize potential applications in their own environments.