Galileo Galileo.... Ahem.. So Apple and Intel have announced the new standard in I/O connectivity "Thunderbolt". As understated as always Apple have coupled the release of the I/O connectivity with the release of their new Mac Book Pro and I imagine that it won't be too long before the new standard is found on the Mac Pro (but not the Xserve, obviously). Thunderbolt is based on PCIe technology; this basically means that you connect, more or less, straight onto the PCIe bus itself. This, as readers may already know, means you can harness the sheer speed of the PCIe bus, up to 250MBs for each X1 connection. UD have been no stranger to PCIe technology, our HyperStar 9116/24 systems have been using similar connectivity for a couple of years now (at X4 with X8 - 6Gbs SAS available imminently) and we are delighted that an external PCIe standard has now been set. Going one better than USB 3.0 (10Gbs as opposed to 5Gbs) Thunderbolt is now the obvious choice for professional that require super high speed connectivity. The only issue with it at the moment is that there is only one computer that has it and two storage systems to choose from!! So that, at least, will give us and other storage manufacturers time to fully embrace the new standard. I imagine it won't be long...

Greetings RAID lovers! Well it's been a couple of weeks or so since my last blog and I have news of the imminent release this week of the new generation of HyperStar RAID systems. The HyperStar has now gone 8Gbs! Some might say "Big deal 8Gbs has been around for months" that is true; we have had the capability to go 8Gbs for months also but saw little point in introducing a new model to our customers back then. Why? because we believe that introducing 8Gbs 8 months ago would have been pointless as the connectivity advantages didn't match up with the price increase our customers would have endure, both on a RAID system and HBA level. Now, 8Gbs has be come the new industry standard in FC connectivity and so this has become the connectivity of choice for our HyperStar 6116RM and 6124RM systems. "What could be better than that?" Well, in fact the new 8Gbs HyperStars are priced lower than the old HyperStars!! So there is no reason not to future proof your server solutions with a faster FC Host connection offered by the new HyperStar. Don't be put off by 8Gbs FC, the HyperStar 8Gbs connection is completely backward compatible down to 4Gbs and even 2Gbs if need be. Also, for full redundancy the HyperStars are available with a dual controller configuration. More news to follow in a couple of weeks.....or so....

 

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You catch us gearing up for the launch of our mini-RAID – the first to be specially designed for home and small business users. RAID technology provides the ultimate safety net for people who rely on their digital files, but until now it has been predominantly aimed at the enterprise market.

 

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