SGI's InfiniteStorage product line consists of multiple modular components providing NAS or SAN storage systems and disk arrays for entry level to full enterprise deployments. Several systems are also offered in gateway flavors (including no preconfigured storage) for the management of 3rd party storage.

A key, core capability of the vendor's SAN offerings is the InifiniteStorage Shared File System CXFS. CXFS provides data access and sharing among systems without network mounts or copies; large files can be accessed in a shared manner over the SAN directly from their stored locations without the need to replicate them or move them over the network at the request of each individual process. CXFS is based on the vendor's NAS filesystem XFS and supports IRIX, Solaris, AIX, Windows, Linux (32-bit/64-bit), Mac OS X, and other UNIX flavors.

Individual components available in the InfiniteStorage product line include the SAN 2000/3000 offerings (and gateway versions of each), the NAS 4050/4550 packages, the new NEXIS NAS line, and multiple disk arrays.

The SAN 2000/3000 systems can be SAN or Network attached (with CIFS and NFS support) and feature the vendor's CXFS filesystem, a journaled filesystem with a maximum file size of 9 million TB (or the limit of the system drives); and a maximum filesystem size of 18 million TB. Both can be utilized with SATA or Fibre Channel drives. The SAN 2000 features 2 Gb/sec Fibre Channel connectivity (dual/active controllers) and a maximum bandwidth per storage module of 400 MB/sec; while the SAN 3000 sports 2 or 4 Gb/sec Fibre Channel dual/active controllers, and a maximum bandwidth per storage module of 1600 MB/sec. Gateway versions (no included storage) of both are also offered.

On the NAS side, the vendor now offers the 4050/4550 systems and the NEXIS product line. All are based on/leverage the vendor's XFS file system.

The 4050 is offered in two configurations, with support for up to 112 or 448 SATA drives, respectively. The 4550, on the other hand, can be loaded with up to 224 drives maximum, which can be SATA or FC. The 4550 is offered in two base configurations: Streaming, or Ultra (transaction-based processing) based on and tuned for the intended target workload.

The new NEXIS line is offered in multiple flavors, ranging from the entry level 500, a 2U offering with integrated NAS Server and storage (SATA); to the 7000, which is targeted to high-performance environments and is served in standard and HA flavors. In between are the 2000 w/SATA (48) or SAS (144) drives; and the 5000, with up to 448 SATA drives. The 1000 is a gateway versions of the 2000.

Disk arrays available in the InfiniteStorage line range from the 120 to the 15000 system; many available in both Fibre Channel and SATA versions. A sampling of the available disk arrays as of this writing includes:

- InfiniteStorage 120: A Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) JBOD array, targeted as the primary storage for the AGI Altix servers. The 120 boasts 12 SAS drives (73GB or 300GB) in a 2U form factor, for a maximum capacity of up to 3.6TB. Features include hot-expandability (both adding drives and adding chassis), and redundant components including ESMs, cooling, and power supplies.

- InfiniteStorage 350: The 350 is a RAID array loaded with SATA drives (500GB), at total capacity levels of 8, 16, and 24 TB. The array boasts a 4 Gb/sec interface (backwards compatible to 1/2 Gb/sec) and each enclosure houses up to 16 disks.

- InfiniteStorage 10000: The 10000 can pack up to 240 TB of SATA capacity in a single rack or 480 TB of data behind a pair of controllers. The 10000 utilizes a Fibre Channel architecture with performance of more than 2.5 GB/sec (read and write) and Web (browser)-based management software. Entry level configurations of the 10000 start at 100TB.

- InfiniteStorage 15000: Can scale up to 1.2 PB in two racks (up to 60 TB per drive enclosure) and features built-in Dynamic Massive Array of Idle Disks (D-MAID) functionality. Interface support includes DDR InfiniBand or 8Gb Fibre Channel. Performance can reach sustained reads and writes up to 6.0 GB/sec.

Visit the SGI Web site for further information.