When the Apple Store came back up after this morning's Tuesday outage, I thought the new $49 price tag on the shuffle summed up the changes.
But I was wrong.
Xsan2 has been released. See apple.com/xsan
And we have a big change up at apple.com/server/storage
We don't have new Xserve RAIDs, not exactly.
It looks like Xserve RAID has been replaced with Promise's "VTrak E-Class RAID" units.
It is the same 3U, but instead of 14 drives, the Promise holds 16 drives.
Instead of PATA, now we have the choice of SATA or SAS. (750GB for SATA and 300GB for SAS drives). 12TB raw capacity if you want one big dangerous RAID 0 LUN.
4Gb/s FC instead of 2Gb/s.
Dual active/active controllers.
And of course, it supports Xsan 2.
by 
Just priced an X-RAID out on the 5th and started the PO process… going to start that again lol oh well… The new Promise VTrak systems are far faster it seems then the old X-RAIDs. Anyone have any comments on the Promise solution since i have never even looked at them before today?
Promise makes sweet boxes. I’ve been using their external arrays since RM8000 days (ah the heady days of 5 years ago). I refused to buy 2GB Xserve RAID’s when this particular chassis was out for *significantly* less with dual active-active 4GB controllers, SATA or SAS etc.
I’ve been really pleased with all my Promise equipment and always enjoy talking to support … sounds stupid, but the two guys I usually get are dead pan funny.
peet
There’s a lot of useful information available on the Promise site.
Take a look at the user manuals and quick start guide to see some of the features on the box – note that the manuals refer to multiple units. The 16 drive unit is the only one Apple has qualified for Xsan.
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~Ian
More than that. The only Xsan certified units are the ones on the Apple page.
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Breaking my server to save yours.
Josh Wisenbaker
http://www.afp548.com