Hitachi Data Systems has launched what it is calling a "completely new" mid-range system, to replace its current offering.
The HDS Adaptable Modular Storage (AMS) 2000 series, unveiled on Monday, comes in three versions with features that "you find in high-end systems but do not usually find in mid-range systems," according to Bob Plumridge, the HDS software product management director for Europe.
Features include "spin down, spin up", which is a power-saving function that makes the hard disk spin down to a stop when not in use, and only spin up to speed when needed for accessing data. It is a relatively common feature on high-end disk drives, but HDS claims it is still little-used on mid-range drives.
The AMS 2000 series also comes with the option of a 3Gbps serial attached SCSI (SAS) backplane, which the company claims is also a first in a mid-range storage platform. With support for up to 32 high-performance, 3Gbps point-to-point links, the company claims that bandwidth is as high as 9,600Mbps.
Another new feature on the system is the addition of a dynamic load balancing controller on the SAS backplane. The company said in a statement that this would address some of the main issues of virtualisation, such as performance imbalances, provisioning difficulties and overall quality-of-service issues.
"Most mid-range disk-drive controllers are active/passive," Plumridge said. "The big change is that ours is active/active. For example, customers don't have to worry about doing the load balancing. If you need to do maintenance, you can take one line off and the other will stay running."
Other changes include a big increase in the logical drives that can be supported. "It used to be 2TB," said Plumridge. "Now it is 60TB."
The AMS series costs $31,500 (£18,100) for the AMS 2100; $47,500 for the 2300; and $81,500 for the 2500. The price differences reflect differences in the amount of storage available with the systems. The essential capabilities are the same on each, with the difference in price being a factor of the amount of storage included.
The 2100 and the 2300 are available immediately, and the 2500 will be available from November, the company said.
