Dot Hill Systems today introduced the AssuredSAN family of disk-to-disk data protection products which combines Dot Hill’s robust storage capability with enhanced data protection software features that address many of today’s disaster recovery, business continuance and regulatory compliance needs. The new storage area network (SAN)-based solutions include as standard the company’s AssuredSnap and AssuredCopy disaster recovery software, creating self contained backup and recovery appliances for today’s mission-critical applications that are fully independent of application or server operating system environments.

Dot Hill AssuredSAN products are offered in high-availability, dual controller 2U, 12-drive (SATA or SAS) configurations, supporting 4Gbps Fibre Channel or 1Gbps iSCSI host connection options, with expansion capability of up to 96 disk drives using Dot Hill’s 2130 JBOD arrays, yielding a total capacity of up to 192TB when fully populated.

Managed via Dot Hill’s wizard-driven RAIDar 2.0 web interface, AssuredSAN products are capable of supporting up to 256 point-in-time snapshots that can virtually eliminate backup windows, and function transparently and apart from the host computer or server. The built-in, “set-and-forget” automatic scheduler makes it easy for storage administrators to safeguard critical systems by establishing hourly, daily or weekly snapshots of data volumes. Users can easily recover lost data that has been corrupted or accidently deleted by effectively winding the clock back to an earlier copy of their data using the built-in web based management tools.
 
The AssuredSAN family supports high performance and high capacity requirements with the following models:

• AssuredSAN 2332ST, an iSCSI SAN system with SATA drives
• AssuredSAN 2732SA, a Fibre Channel SAN system with SAS drives
• AssuredSAN 2732ST, a Fibre Channel SAN system with SATA drives

The AssuredSAN family offers simplified pricing based on a single part number, making it significantly easier for resellers to configure and support the products, eliminating any further licensing steps or fees. In addition, support is provided for specific Microsoft applications via Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and Virtual Disk Service (VDS) software features.

“With end-user data storage needs continually growing, our partners have asked us for simpler, automated and secure data storage for their entry-level customers – we’ve delivered that in the new AssuredSAN family,” said Andy Mills, vice president of marketing and business development, Dot Hill. “Resellers are now able to offer their customers a cost-effective solution that rivals many higher cost mid-range data protection solutions.”

Other notable features of the new offerings include Dot Hill’s environmentally friendly EcoStor battery-free cache backup, and the streamlined RAIDar 2.0 user interface. In addition to built-in snapshot and recovery management tools, RAIDar 2.0 offers provisioning and configuration wizards that provide step-by-step, intuitive screens enabling users to quickly and easily bring arrays online. A number of unique views provide alerts to important storage events and warnings, and allow users to drill down to ascertain health status, manufacturing detail, or usage of each component – drive, power supply, controller or any field replaceable unit.

The new Dot Hill 2332ST, 2732SA, and 2732ST arrays are available now. List prices are expected to start at $25,600 for a 12 terabyte AssuredSAN iSCSI system.