Apple Ships Xsan Storage Area Network File System
High Performance, Enterprise Class SAN Solution Priced at Just $999
CUPERTINO, California-January 4, 2005-Apple today announced it has begun
shipping Xsan=81, a high performance, enterprise class Storage Area Network
(SAN) file system priced at the industry’s most aggressive price point of
$999 per client and per server. Xsan combines breakthrough performance with
Apple’s legendary ease of use for customers who require scalable,
high-speed access to centralized shared data for storage consolidation and
workflow in video post production, data center, broadcast and high
performance computing environments.
“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. “Together, Apple’s
Xsan file system software and Xserve RAID storage hardware deliver a
powerful, easy-to-manage, enterprise class SAN solution at a breakthrough
low price.”
Xsan is a 64-bit cluster file system for Mac OS 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 HD, Apple’s Emmy award-winning
editing software and Motion, a breakthrough 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, broadcast, visual effects and motion graphics
creation.
“Xsan is the holy grail of shared storage for Final Cut Pro,” said Mark
Raudonis, director of Post Production, Bunim-Murray Productions. “We can
now take advantage of Final Cut Pro HD in a fully networked environment to
edit groundbreaking reality TV series such as MTV’s ‘The Real World’ and
‘Road Rules’ and FOX’s ‘The Simple Life’ in real time at a third of the
cost of existing solutions.”
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; and sophisticated volume management results in
more efficient use of storage resources.
Setup, administration and monitoring is built into the Xsan administration
software 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
including Windows, UNIX and Linux operating system platforms. Additionally,
Xsan is supported by ADIC’s industry leading data management software,
StorNext Management Suite.
Pricing & Availability
Xsan is available immediately through the Apple Store (www.apple.com) and
through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999
(US) per client and per server. Apple has qualified Xsan with Xserve G4,
Xserve G5, Power Mac G4, Power Mac G5, Xserve RAID and Apple Fibre Channel
PCI-X cards. Xsan requires Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server version 10.3
software installed and will support qualified Fibre Channel switches from
vendors such as Brocade, QLogic or Emulex.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple
II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.
Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its
award-winning desktop and notebook computers, OS X operating system, and
iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital
music revolution with its iPod portable music players and iTunes online
music store.
