SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 12, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- RAID storage expert Infortrend(r) today announced that it is adding multipathing technology to its family of EonStor(r) RAID storage subsystems. Called EonPath(tm), this multipathing software provides a dynamic fault-tolerant technique that helps avoid downtime or data loss that can result from a connection failure in a single-path configuration. EonPath makes it possible to have more than one connection between the host and storage devices so that in case of failure the host can access the storage device via another path, thereby maintaining continuous operation and data availability.
EonPath multipathing technology is comprised of two major functions -- failover protection and load balancing -- to provide high availability and improved performance.
Failover
RAID functionality protects stored data but does not increase the reliability of data transmission between the storage devices and the host. If an HBA, cable, or bus fails, the connected devices cannot be accessed. EonPath supports failover redundancy between the host and the EonStor array by enabling the host operating system to transparently route I/Os over alternate data paths, so that disk access will not be interrupted by hardware failures.
Load Balancing
Avoiding traffic bottlenecks is especially important in high workload settings or any situation requiring consistent service levels. Load balancing increases I/O performance by redistributing read/write requests in order to maximize throughput between the host and storage devices. With EonPath, the operating system is aware of multiple data paths so it can reroute traffic to or from the storage devices to paths with available bandwidth, thereby increasing throughput, avoiding bottlenecks, and distributing the load equally.
"With EonPath multipathing functionality on our EonStor systems, IT managers can ensure uninterrupted operation while maximizing the efficiency and availability of their computing and storage environments," said Tony Chu, president of Infortrend Corporation. "EonPath's transparent failover mechanism and performance improvements significantly increase available bandwidth while its automatic adaptive load balancing maximizes throughput and prevents data path bottlenecks."
EonPath Highlights
-- Path redundancy with automatic failover/failback for single or
clustered servers protects against hardware and path failures
-- Load-balancing function monitors I/O traffic and dynamically
distributes it through multiple data paths for optimal
transmission speed
-- Optimizes use of I/O paths with Target Port Group Service
technology (TPGS)
-- Multi-platform support
-- Windows 2003 Server x86, x64 platform; Microsoft MPIO
certified
-- Linux Red Hat AS v.3, EL v.4, Fedora v.5
-- Solaris SPARC 9/10 platform
-- Identifies connected devices and associates data paths (HBA
ports) with a RAID logical drive
EonPath Availability
This powerful multipathing solution began shipping at the end of August 2006 on the current redundant controller ASIC266 models, including the EonStor S12F-R1420, ES A24F-R2224, and ES FF-R2021-6 systems, and will be included on all models of the next generation ASIC400 EonStor subsystems.
About Infortrend
Infortrend, the RAID storage expert, is a pioneer in cost-effective, high performance networked storage. The company's products include EonStor(r) storage systems and RAIDWatch(r) software for virtually all storage interfaces including SAS, SCSI, iSCSI, SATA and Fibre Channel. For over a decade, Infortrend has provided reliable, fault-tolerant technology to prominent OEMs, distributors, and storage integrators worldwide. The company's core competency includes performance optimized RAID ASICs, feature-rich firmware, and redundant, high availability RAID subsystems. Founded in 1993, Infortrend is traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (Taiex), ticker number 2495. For more information, visit www.infortrend.com.
Infortrend, EonStor, and RAIDWatch are trademarks or registered trademarks of Infortrend Technology, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.