Special Section: SNW, Fall 2004 - More News From SNW:

Sun Drives Data Services Downstream; Reveals StorEdge 6130

Sun Microsystems Inc announced the launch of the Sun StorEdge 6130 array. This newest member of the Sun StorEdge 6000 family of products provides a lower entry point for users seeking to reap value from the more advanced features included in Sun's midrange product family. Maintaining its course to deliver data services to the full spectrum of midrange storage customers, the new Sun StorEdge 6130 array is ideal for both medium-sized businesses needing a complete storage solution and larger businesses looking to support divisional requirements. The Sun StorEdge 6130 array allows these customers to leverage benefits found in the higher-end Sun StorEdge 6920 system, including advanced data protection combined with application-oriented management and highavailability. In addition, this highly flexible array enables the deployment of multiple storage classes, including low-cost Serial ATA and highperformance Fibre Channel.

The new midrange storage array offers many innovative and advanced storage features that were previously only available at the higher-end of the market. The Sun StorEdge 6130 array provides advanced data protection through integrated data services including Sun StorEdge Data Snapshot and Sun StorEdge Volume Copy software. Additionally, the new array eases management through a comprehensive, application-oriented utility that enables storage pooling, a selection of pre-set storage profiles tailored to different application workloads, and performance tracking and automated diagnostics.

The Sun StorEdge 6130 array provides midrange storage customers with enterprise-class business continuity, along with the flexibility to be used as both primary and secondary storage. For example, the Sun StorEdge 6130 array enables disk-to-disk back-up solutions that can provide up to 400 percent faster data restore times and up to 300 percent faster back-up times than tape-only solutions. Customers can also increase return on investment by utilizing the Sun StorEdge 6130 array's ability to mix storage classes with traditional tape back-up for a "disk-in-the-middle" solution. In this solution, the Sun StorEdge 6130 array acts as a cache between the primary storage and tape subsystems, eliminating the lengthy back-up windows needed to stream to tape.

"With integrated data services such as snapshot and data volume copies, the Sun StorEdge 6130 array provides the opportunity for our budget-conscious customers to get the advanced data protection they need in an affordable midrange system," said Stacy Schwarz-Gardner, vice president of engineering for Integrated Archive Systems. "The Sun StorEdge 6130 array also brings good performance and scalability to this space, and IAS is pleased to offer it as an extension of our total Sun solutions."

Extending Sun's Innovation in Midrange Storage

Sun introduced the Sun StorEdge 6000 family of midrange storage systems to help customers meet their information management challenges in a more simplified and cost-effective manner, while retaining the availability and scalability required by today's data hungry, business critical applications. Last month, Sun added the Sun StorEdge 6920 system, which brought to market a revolutionary new level of scalability and price/performance, delivered through the use of centralized data services. And now with the addition of the new Sun StorEdge 6130 array, Sun continues to drive enterprise class functionality, including N-way scalability, application-oriented management and centralized data services, down market.

"Information is the life blood of today's economy, but all of our customers remain budget-conscious as they face mounting pressure to store, protect and access this vital corporate asset. We are delivering datacenter features in the midrange so that these customers can more easily and cost-effectively address complex IT problems, while leveraging their data to run their business," said Mark Canepa, executive vice president of Sun Network Storage. "Only Sun can offer customers complete, end-to-end IT and storage solutions to meet their needs, large or small."