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Mid-line FAS 3000 from NetApp

FAS 3160 is the third man

NetApp is introducing a FAS 3160 in the middle of its mid-range FAS 3000 storage array line.

As rumoured back in September the FAS 3160 fits between the entry-level FAS 3140 and high-end 3170 products. The previous 3020 entry-level machine is being 'end-of-lifed', leaving just the two 3100 products. Competing Clariion and AMS product lines from EMC and HDS both have 3-model lineups.

Speeds and feeds

The FAS 3160 supports 8Gbit/s Fibre Channel access via a target card which can also be added to other NetApp FAS and V-series products. The product can have up to 672 SATA or Fibre Channel drives with a maximum 672TB capacity. There are one or two controllers in the 6U chassis, up to 40 Fibre Channel ports and up to 36 Ethernet ports.

Like the other FAS models the 3160 runs NetApp's ONTAP software and provides both block-level and file-access thin provisioning, ASIS deduplication and various data protection features such as RAID 6. A companion V3160 product acts as a virtualising NetApp controller front-end to third-party arrrays from suppliers like EMC and HP.

Flash-ready FAS

NetApp says the FAS and V3160s are ready to use flash solid-state storage (SSD) as are its other FAS and V-series products. NetApp will add flash memory to its storage architecture to better meet performance needs. It will use flash for read caching in the controller, as we already know, but will also use it for persistent storage.

The FAS/V3160 system is available immediately. No pricing information was supplied. The add-on 8Gbit/s Fibre Channel adapter for NetApp FAS and V-Series will be available in February 2009. The first flash plug-ins will be available in the second quarter of 2009.

NetApp is also introducing an integrated eSupport toolset combining NetApp's AutoSupport, Premium AutoSupport, and a Remote Support Diagnostics Tool. It is available now. ®

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