AMI Delivers Eight Drive NAS and JBOD Storage

American Megatrends is now shipping the first validation units of its StorTrends 1108 Network Attached Storage (NAS) and JBOD (just a bunch of disks-love that acronym) line. The units are available in versions called 1108-J (JBOD), 1108-N (with AMI's NAS controller) and 1108-P (with NAS controller and AMI's NAS software). Full availability of the StorTrends 1108 in J, N and P versions will be August 1, 2001, with MSRP ranges from $4,069 to $6,029, depending on whether the unit is a JBOD or has the optional Indium and StorTrends NAS software. The StorTrends 1108-J is an 1U eight drive dual channel Ultra160 SCSI NAS system that includes three hot swappable dual unit fans and two hot swappable load sharing power supplies. It also includes AMI's eZswap hard drive replacement mechanism, in case a drive gets hosed. Using the eZswap, new drives are installed by inserting them straight out of the box without screws, rails or carrier assemblies, then latched in place with no mounting accessories or assembly. Removal is the reverse of installation. The 1108 chassis features AMI backplanes (series 904 and 905) with four Ultra160 (Ultra320 ready) slots, single channel, horizontal (in-line) mounted drives for 1U rack chassis implementation and support for Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) v0.9 and v1.0. IPMI gives IT managers access to platform management information and control features, so they can try to predict hardware failures, diagnose hardware problems, and figure out how much overtime they'll put in trying to set things straight. The StorTrends 1108-N and 1108-P include the same features as the 1108-J offers, but can be bolstered with optional features like AMI's Indium and StorTrends NAS software.