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ADIC Scalar i5oo

From STORAGE Magazine Vol 6, Issue 7 - September 2006
 

First seen in the Scalar i2000 tape library, ADIC's iPlatform technology offers enterprises a scalability that few other vendors can match. With its latest i500 library, ADIC has taken the same philosophy, allowing it to offer mid-range businesses an equally versatile modular design.

The i500 comprises a 5U base unit, which delivers many of the features found in its bigger brother. It supports up to two SCSI or FC (fibre channel) tape drives and ADIC offers high-speed LTO-3 models. The drives can be directly attached to a host server or an FC switch and ADIC plans to implement the same I/O blades as found in the i2000. These aggregate the tape drive FC ports for connection to an FC switch in a SAN and also provide additional management capabilities.

The expansion options offered by ADIC make the i500 extremely flexible. The base unit has a total of 36 tape slots, but you can add up to two 9U modules each, providing an additional 96 slots apiece. These support a further four tape drives each and adding them does not affect the slot count. Furthermore, you can elect to have a six-slot import/export bay in the main unit and up to 18 more in each expansion module.

ADIC's licensing system means you only pay for the hardware you are actually using. Slots are licensed in increments of 46, so you could add an expansion module, but only pay to activate those slots you actually need. ADIC also plans to increase support to four expansion modules by October, making the i500 even more flexible. Build quality is extremely good and the i500 has plenty of redundancy built in, as all components are connected to an internal power bus, which can be serviced by two hot-plug power supplies. Good design also ensures expansion won't incur any downtime. The modules can be located either above or below the main unit and the robotics operate vertically through the centre of each module. New units are directly connected, without the need for complex pass-through mechanisms, and the entire process is also tool-free.

In common with all ADIC's libraries, the i500 has a local touch-screen and control panel, but this can be locked down, if required, as the web management interface provides remote access to all the same functions. The home page provides a complete rundown on the library and its components, and a setup wizard makes light work of initial installation. A smart feature is the ability to create multiple partitions, each containing selected tape drives and slots, which then appear to the network backup software as independent libraries.

ADIC is proud of its new iLayer technology, which provides greatly enhanced report and diagnostics facilities. Instead of just collecting data on faults and events, it actively analyses them, identifies the root cause and provides recommendations for corrective actions. It can send an email to ADIC's support staff, advising them of the problem, and administrators can give them permission to run an ActiveX diagnostics tool on the library.

Management capabilities get a big boost, with support for SMI-S (Storage Management Initiative Specification), which allows the i500 to be integrated into enterprise network management software, such as IBM Tivoli and HP OpenView. Using EMC's ControlCenter, for example, provides a global view of all storage arrays and ADIC libraries from the same window. From here, you can view all library components and launch the remote web interface.

The Scalar i500 delivers enterprise-level data protection features to mid-sized businesses, and combines them with extensive remote management and
diagnostics features. Build quality and design is exemplary and the extensive expansion capabilities make this library solution unique. ST

Product: Scalar i500
Supplier: ADIC
Tel: 01189 443700
Internet: www.adic.com
Price: Starts from £11,300