Fujitsu introduces pay-as-you-grow storage array
Fujitsu has introduced a data storage array with a revamped licensing model and better software for tiering data across different types of drives.
The Eternus DX8700 S2 Disk Storage Systems family, announced by Fujitsu on Wednesday and due for general availability in February 2012, is a storage array that can support 3,072 drives in either SAS, Nearline SAS and SSD formats across both 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch form factors.
The change means Fujitsu now "use the same disk enclosures from a $5,000 device up to a $2m device," according to Marcus Schneider, head of Fujitsu's product development group for storage.
The company has changed licensing terms as well. Previously, customers bought licences according to the quantity of data they used; now they buy them according to how many controllers they are using. "It means you can buy only the controllers you need," Schneider said.
Dynamic tiering has been introduced as well which allows the device to tier storage across further types of storage than before. Typical tiering allows the administrator to choose between SSD, HDD and tape, while Fujitsu's technology allows them to specify across a further range of drive types, such as the faster single-level cell SSD drives or the slower multi-level cell ones.
The maximum raw capacity for the drive is 4.6PB using 3TB 3.5-inch drives.