Pittsburgh-based Avere has updated its hybrid cloud storage product line with a new entry-level NAS filer that promises a major bump in on-site storage capacity.
Avere specializes in hybrid file storage systems that employ solid-state drives (SSDs) or traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), along with generous amounts of DRAM and non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM) to provide to provide automated storage tiering services. DRAM and SSDs provide quick access to frequently-accessed files while aging data is moved to the systems’ comparatively slower HDDs.
In 2013, the company announced Avere Cloud NAS, enabling the company’s customers to access Amazon’s vast and economical cloud storage capacity, courtesy of FlashCloud software with their FXT series filers. Now, Avere is offering businesses — particularly those in the financial services, life sciences and media industries — a new entry-level model to help enterprises stretch their NAS services into the cloud. Joining the FXT 5400 and 5600 announced back in January is a new model, the FXT 5200.
Compared to its predecessor, the FXT 3200, the new FXT 5200 offers twice the storage in half the space, according to the company.
The 1U system houses 7.2 terabytes (TB) of SAS-based HDD storage. By comparison, the midrange FXT 5400 and high-end FXT 5600 ship with 4.8 TB and 9.6 TB of SSD storage, respectively. Also included in the FXT 5200 are 128 gigabytes (GB) of DRAM and 4 GB of NVRAM. Four gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and another four 10 GbE ports provide network connectivity. Prices start at $75,500.
In keeping with Avere’s cloud-friendly approach to enterprise storage, the FXT extends file services to both private and public object storage environments. Wide-area network (WAN) caching functionality allows businesses to offer their centralized access to users in remote offices.
According to Jeff Tabor, senior director of Product Management and Marketing at Avere, the new hardware can act as a stepping stone to hybrid cloud storage deployments.
“Organizations are eager to move to the cloud to reap its economic and technical advantages, and the FXT 5200 model empowers them to do that by delivering object storage and allowing them to access it in traditional ways,” said Tabor in a statement. “This entry-level model is crucial to many customers looking to achieve the same functionality as Avere’s existing 5000 series products at a lower cost for lower performance applications.”