The EonStor A12E-G2121 provides cost-effective storage by combining Infortrend's sophisticated RAID technology with iSCSI protocol that encapsulates SCSI data blocks and carries them over standard Ethernet infrastructures. Access to its storage volumes is made with connectivity of two 1Gbit/sec Ethernet (GbE) ports via familiar Gigabit Ethernet using standard copper cabling or point-to-point to application hosts.

The A12E storage array is ideal for building a shared storage pool for disk-to-disk volume distribution, backup, storage consolidation, and replication of data among networked servers. The storage array operates with the advantages of iSCSI protocol in terms of its block-based performance, lower training and maintenance costs without the complexity of other networking technologies such as Fibre Channel.

The EonStor A12E-G2121 is built around Infortrend's next-generation, custom-built ASIC266 XOR engine.

High Performance

Featuring a 64-bit 133MHz data bus, the subsystem's high data throughput is more than sufficient for small-to-medium sized servers or workstations. Robust functionality and adaptive algorithms facilitate chip-level operation that is already fast and flexible. For example, a timeout can be configured for individual drive response time. If a specific disk drive fails to respond in time, the firmware accumulates data from the adjacent stripes of the array to satisfy applications that require fast return of data.

These adaptive designs assure sufficient throughput for a wide range of applications running on Windows 2000/2003/XP, Linux, or Unix-based servers. Ideal applications include Disk-to-Disk backup, small business network, storage consolidation and others.

Enclosure Management

The EonStor A12E-G2121 subsystem incorporates massive storage capacity in a safe environment where a variety of hardware and firmware mechanisms ensure the highest level of data availability. In addition to RAID protection for the disk drives, the PSUs and cooling modules come implemented as redundant/hot-swappable modules. Even the battery module can be replaced online.

The rotation speed of the enclosure's dual-speed fans is controlled by the firmware. In critical conditions, e.g., PSU or fan failure, the fan rotation speed is raised to a higher level. Control over caching behaviors is a user-configurable option. In the event of component failures, such as UPS failure or low battery charge, the firmware stops caching write requests in cache memory.

Task scheduler

Media Scan is now armed with a unique function that helps repair media errors on drives. By combining the Task Scheduler with Media Scan, the scanning operation can be scheduled to begin at a specified start time and repeated at configured intervals. This hands-free operation allows each such schedule to be defined to operate on individual hard drives, all drives of a certain class, all member drives of a specified logical drive, or all member drives of all logical drives.