Technology News: Enterprise Systems: Apple Serves Up Heartier Xsan, Drops Stale RAID

Apple has upgraded its storage area network offerings with Xsan 2. At the same time, however, it has dropped its Xserve RAID hardware. While Apple's Xsan may be a happy addition in high-end Mac-focused organizations and departments, enterprise penetration seems to be minimal compared to SAN solutions designed for mixed computing environments.

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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has delivered a major upgrade to Xsan, the company's enterprise-class storage area network (SAN) file system for Mac OS X. Called "Xsan 2," the upgrade includes completely redesigned administration tools, which Apple said make it even easier for first-time users to set up and deploy a SAN.

In addition, Apple has introduced new features, including MultiSAN, which lets users on a single workstation access multiple SANs at the same time. Xsan 2 is also fully integrated with Mac OS X Leopard and Mac OS X Leopard Server, and it can take advantage of core Mac OS X features like Spotlight to search across multiple SAN volumes, Apple said. Leopard Server features, such as iCal Server, Mail Server and Podcast Producer, can now integrate with Xsan 2 to support clustered file systems to improve performance and reliability in the event of a server outage. Xsan 2 is compatible with existing Xserve RAID (redundant array of inexpensive drives) implementations.

But No More Xserve RAID

While Apple updated Xsan to Xsan 2, the company quietly dropped its own aging Xserve RAID hardware. Instead, for the first time, Apple is offering a third-party RAID storage solution in its place -- the Promise VTrack E-Class RAID Subsystem.

Promise Technology's solution, according to Apple, can be configured with "up to 16 750 GB, 7,200-rpm SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) or 300 GB, 15,000-rpm SAS (serial attached SCSI) drives in a 3U rack-optimized enclosure for up to 12 TB of raw capacity on one or more RAID sets. Promise RAID is an ideal storage solution for direct-attached or SAN-based server and workstation applications , qualified for use with Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, Final Cut Studio 2, and Xsan 2."

Apple was unavailable for comment at press time, but the company is selling the Promise V-Trak E-Class chassis and drive modules at a variety of price points and configurations starting at US$11,999.95. Additional Promise 750 GB SATA drive modules running at 7,200 rpm go for $399.95, while 15,000 rpm 300 GB modules go for $799.95.

As for Xsan 2, it's available immediately for $999.

'Small Pockets of Individuals'

While Apple's Xsan may be a happy addition in high-end Mac-focused organizations and departments, enterprise penetration seems to be minimal compared to SAN solutions designed for mixed computing environments.

"Based on our consulting engagements done with our clients, there are a lot of Macs and Mac file severs in their environments, but I haven't run into any exclusively Mac SAN environments. It [Mac usage] still tends to be small pockets of individuals, for example a department in development or engineering that might be using it, but it's not widespread," Stephanie Balaouras, an infrastructure and operations analyst for Forrester, told MacNewsWorld.

"There are other SANs that are compatible with Macs ... and there are other vendors who have expertise in the Mac environment ... but another interesting thing is, in Mac environments a lot of times it's just file storage -- so they don't even need a SAN -- it's just NAS [network attached storage]," she added.