Coraid unveils EtherDrive storage tower
updated 02:15 pm EST, Wed February 21, 2007
EtherDrive storage tower
Coraid today unveiled a free standing tower configuration of its SR1521 EtherDrive Storage Appliance (older product shown at right). The newest member of the company's high capacity storage appliances delivers networked storage over standard Ethernet, and is based on the open AoE (ATA over Ethernet) protocol. AoE is a block level storage protocol that is simpler to implement than other SAN technologies, according to Coraid, and is considerably less costly than iSCSI or FibreChannel solutions. AoE is also a non-routed protocol, negating the need for TCP/IP processing overhead or expensive network adapters. Servers can simply connect to EtherDrive storage appliances using ordinary Ethernet connections. The Coraid Storage Tower holds up to 15 standard 3.5-inch SATA (Serial ATA) drives which are hot swappable, and the SR1521T is available for $4,500. Customers are free to purchase their own hard drives for the unit, and the tower is compatible with Mac OS X.
