Dell launches EqualLogic array

Having completed its acquisition of networked storage supplier EqualLogic last week, Dell has launched the first EqualLogic storage systems with the new owner's name attached.

The Dell EqualLogic PS5000 Series comprises three iSCSI (Internet Protocol-based Small Computer System Interface) arrays with differing capacities. The entry-level version is the PS5000E, which offers a maximum of 16TB of capacity--in 16 1TB Serial Advanced Technology Attachment II (SATA II) drives--for $29,110.

Moving up, the PS5000X uses 10,000rpm SAS (Serial Attached SCS1) drives for 6.4TB of storage, while the top-end PS5000XV uses 15,000rpm SAS drives for up to 4.8TB capacity.

Only a few weeks have elapsed since early November, when Dell announced it would purchase EqualLogic for $1.4 billion, and the appearance of the first Dell-branded drives, so the company has had little time to influence the design of the PS5000 Series. Dell did hint that there would be new products delivered "soon," although executives at Monday's announcement would not offer details.

The EqualLogic arrays promise to bring some innovation to Dell's midrange storage options. Dell's storage sales engineer, Liam Farrell, demonstrated that, despite having 16 drives in each grid, the whole unit works as one: remove two drives from the array and it will continue to work. Apart from an increase in the noise of the air-conditioner, there was little sign that anything had changed as the unit reconfigured itself. For greater performance, flexibility, and reliability, several 16-drive arrays can be combined.

"The whole is greater than the parts," Farrell expained. "So the growth in performance as you add to the array is not mathematical but much more than that."

The Dell EqualLogic PS5000 Series is available immediately.

Colin Barker of ZDNet UK reported from London.

Clarification: The abbreviation for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment II drives originally used in this story may have caused some confusion. The correct abbreviation is SATA II. The story has been corrected above.

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