INDUSTRY

Apple introduced Xsan, a high-performance, enterprise-class Storage Area Network (SAN) file system priced at the industry's most aggressive price point of $999 per system. Xsan software combines breakthrough performance with Apple's legendary ease-of-use for customers who require scalable, high-speed access to centralized shared data for video workflow and storage consolidation, and is the perfect complement to Apple's award-winning Xserve(R) and Xserve RAID hardware. "Apple's pro video and IT customers now have an affordable, high- performance SAN file system on Mac OS X," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Xsan delivers a powerful end- to-end SAN solution, with less complexity and no hidden charges, at under half the price of alternatives from Avid, IBM and SGI." Xsan is a 64-bit cluster file system for Mac OS(R) X that enables organizations to consolidate storage resources and provide multiple computers with concurrent file-level read/write access to shared volumes over Fibre Channel. It is certified with Apple's suite of professional applications, including Final Cut Pro(R) HD, Apple's Emmy award-winning editing software and Motion, a breakthrough new application that redefines professional motion graphics production. For the first time on Mac OS X, up to 64 video professionals can simultaneously access a single storage volume that supports multiple high-bandwidth video streams for efficient workflow in video and film editing, audio editing and effects, and motion graphics creation. "Xsan will build on our investment in Final Cut Pro, Xserve and Xserve RAID to deliver a high-performance, end-to-end SAN solution for video workflow," said Bob Farina, CEO of the Cimarron Group, one of Hollywood's largest entertainment marketing agencies. "We're thrilled with Xsan because no other solution on the platform can provide the performance, functionality, stability and security that we require to produce trailers and more for the next generation of blockbuster movies." Xsan is ideal for demanding professional video workflows as well as storage consolidation for business, government, education and high-performance computing. Advanced features such as metadata controller failover and Fibre Channel multipathing ensure high availability; file-level locking allows multiple systems to read and write concurrently to the same volume which is ideal for complex workflows; bandwidth reservation provides for effective ingestion of bandwidth-intensive data streams, such as high resolution video; and flexible volume management results in more efficient use of storage resources. Set up, administration and monitoring is built into the Xsan Admin tool which provides volume management, SAN file system configuration and remote monitoring in one integrated, easy-to-use application. User quotas and access controls allow administrators to restrict storage usage and file access for maximum data security. Since Xsan is interoperable with ADIC's StorNext File System, it can be used in heterogeneous environments that include Windows, UNIX and Linux server operating system platforms. Additionally, Xsan is supported by ADIC's industry leading data management software, StorNext Management Suite. "We are delighted that Xsan is interoperable with StorNext File System and our full range of policy-based data management software," said Bill Yaman, vice president of ADIC Software. "By integrating Mac OS X data into their unified storage environments, our customers will optimize storage utilization, simplify data management and further build a foundation for Information Lifecycle Management (ILM)." Pricing & Availability A beta version of Xsan is available immediately to qualified customers at www.apple.com/xsan. Xsan will be available in Fall 2004 through the Apple Store(R) (www.apple.com) and through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999 (US) per system. Apple has qualified Xsan with Xserve G4, Xserve G5, Power Mac(R) G4, Power Mac G5, Xserve RAID and Apple Fibre Channel PCI cards. Xsan requires Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server v.10.3 software installed and will support Fibre Channel switches from qualified vendors, such as Brocade, QLogic or Emulex.