The PetaBox product line is a collection of individual hardware storage nodes that can be purchased individually (the GB nodes) or as full-rack (the TB line) offerings. They are targeted primarily for near-line storage implementations.

The rack offerings are fully populated with the 1U nodes, and additionally include a 48 port switch (10/100 or 10/100/1000) that boasts the ability to aggregate the connections to multiple 1G uplinks. A racked version is supplied for each of the corresponding 1U nodes; i.e., the TB40 rack has a total raw capacity of 40 TB and is populated with GB1000 (1 TB each) nodes; the TB64 has a total raw capacity of 64 TB and is populated with GB1600 (1.6 TB each) nodes; the TB80 has a total raw capacity of 80TB and is populated with GB2000 (2 TB each) nodes; and the new TB120 has a total raw capacity of 120TB and is populated with GB3000 (3 TB each) nodes.

The Fedora Linux-based nodes themselves connect to the network via either a 10/100 or 10/100/1000 port, and are, in actuality, complete motherboard implementations based on VIA Technologies gear. In addition to the network connectivity, each module has 2 USB 2.0 ports, a serial port, a parallel port, a VGA port, and PS2 mouse and keyboard ports, as well as an optional 16 x 2 LCD readout. They are driven by a 1GHz VIA C3 CPU, and up to 1 GB of DDR266 RAM can be included.

The key feature of the nodes as noted by the vendor is their power usage requirements; the low end GB1000 nodes (1 TB) require a typical 65W per node (65kW for an entire PB), while the new GB3000 (3 TB) requires 80W per node (less than 30kW for a PB). Other features include remote monitoring of system status and in/outbound bandwidth via serial console output.

Each of the 4 available modules (GB1000, GB1600, GB2000, and GB3000) include 4 ATA disks, featuring the vendor's "EZ-Latch" disk mounting system. Typical latency is listed at 8.5ms. At least 8MB of disk cache is offered on all four nodes; the new GB3000 can include 8 or 16MB of disk cache. The difference between each of the nodes is the size of the included disks and therefore the total capacity; disk sizes are 250GB, 400GB, 500GB, and 750GB, respectively.

The PetaBox nodes and racks are available now. Base pricing for the nodes (512K RAM, 10/100 interface, and no LCD) ranges from $1,595 (GB1000) to $3,395 (GB3000).

Contact Capricorn Technologies for further information.