Performance So Good, You’ll Want to Share

Sonnet’s Fusion RAID systems have been providing fast, dependable, local storage for individual users for years. In the past, accessing files at high speed on another computer meant moving the system to the other computer. Today, files are centralized and served from fast network storage systems. Sonnet's Fusion RX1600Fibre 16-drive RAID Fibre Channel storage system provides multiple users with general purpose shared storage system. This 32TB, 48TB, or 64TB 3U rackmount system is designed to be the stellar performer for video editing workgroups. Fusion RX1600Fibre features a high-performance internal RAID controller with a high speed, 4-port 8Gb Fibre Channel interface that enables multiple users to connect and access data at the same time. This system can deliver 30 streams of ProRes 422 HQ (twice as many as general purpose Fibre storage), and also maintains aggregate stream capacity for multiple simultaneous clients—an area where general purpose Fibre storage falls behind.

Much Higher Stream Counts

Fusion RX1600Fibre boasts a 4-port 8Gb Fibre Chanel interface that enables it to deliver much higher stream counts to workgroups, with up to twice as many streams available than when using general purpose shared storage systems.

Big Performance for Small Workgroups

The Fusion RX1600Fibre storage system’s 8Gb Fibre Channel host interface can provide four workstations direct, high-speed access to stored assets without an added Fibre Channel switch—depending on your workflow and the SAN software used, even using a dedicated server is optional. Fusion RX1600Fibre delivers aggregate bandwidth up to 1,000 MB/sec, with high bandwidth available to individual workstations.

Higher Bandwidth

Its fast interface and multipathing support enable Fusion RX1600Fibre bandwidth than general purpose shared storage systems.

Scalable Access

While ideal for small workgroups, the Fusion RX1600Fibre storage system is equally suited for use in larger storage area networks (SANs) with a switch and many video editing users. Because it employs a 4-port 8Gb Fibre Channel host interface rather than a common 2-port 4Gb interface, the Fusion RX1600Fibre offers more speed and flexibility than general purpose shared storage systems. For example, you can connect two of the Sonnet system’s ports to a Fibre Channel switch to yield improved performance and redundancy for the general storage pool, while the remaining ports can be connected to two more workstations requiring the highest bandwidth. The high-speed 8Gb interface also delivers higher aggregate bandwidth, providing more users with up to one hundred percent more streams than general purpose shared storage systems.

Power and Excellent Handling

Driving the Fusion RX1600Fibre storage system is the ATTO FastStream™ SC 8500E storage controller. This state of the art RAID engine is based on the latest-generation Intel® 81348 RAID processor. Running at 1.2 GHz and configured with 1GB of ECC-protected RAM, this controller can handle the throughput from all the drives with plenty of overhead, especially important to maintain data stream writes as the disk array nears capacity. Featuring ATTO’s exclusive Advanced Data Streaming (ADS™) Technology, this RAID controller provides controlled transfer acceleration for steady data streaming, especially important when working with video. ADS compensates for data transfer rate peaks and drops, maintaining a consistent data flow to allow more streams for the bandwidth available. The FastStream controller provides tunable rebuild priority, enabling the Sonnet system to deliver users full performance during a RAID group rebuild, unlike general purpose shared storage systems which typically experience a severe drop in performance during a rebuild.

Performance During Rebuilds

Fusion RX1600Fibre maintains full read performance during RAID group rebuilds, allowing you to keep working, not waiting!

Multipathing Support

The Fusion RX1600Fibre supports multipath I/O, a technique that enhances performance and fault tolerance, combining data paths from two or more Fibre Channel ports to increase performance and provide redundancy in case of a port or cable malfunction, the leading causes of storage failure. Multipathing additionally provides load balancing to distribute I/O across multiple paths for improved system and application performance.

RAID Flexibility

Fusion RX1600Fibre systems support RAID 4, 5, 6, and 10 drive formatting for balanced performance and file protection; RAID 1 for ultimate redundancy; and RAID 0 for pure, unadulterated speed; JBOD support is available, too. Fusion RX1600Fibre systems even support dedicated and global hot spares—you can set up your RAID groups so that one or more designated hot spare drives wait unused in the background to automatically replace a failed drive without you having to lift a finger. All this flexibility is accomplished without switches—the simple to use Web GUI enables you to optimize your setup for specific workflow requirements.

Status Supervisor

The reliability of the Fusion RX1600Fibre is further enhanced through SES (SCSI Enclosure Services) 2.0 compliance and enhanced S.M.A.R.T (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) data reporting for each hard drive installed in the system. Built into the Fusion RX1600Fibre enclosure, SES functionality provides enhanced real-time monitoring and reporting of drive, power supply, and temperature status, with real time results displayed in the RX1600Fibre’s onscreen interface and the illumination of LEDs on the enclosure—warning alarms sound in case of a power supply or fan issue, too. You can also configure the system to automatically send email notifications to multiple addresses to notify you (and others) of an impending drive failure or other issue, enabling you to minimize downtime as a result.

Easy Storage Expandability

When you need access to more than 64TB of assets, Sonnet offers an economical upgrade path that is simple to deploy—Fusion RX1600 Expansion systems. Fusion RX1600Fibre storage systems feature dual internal SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) expanders that enable you to connect additional RX1600 Expansion systems in a daisy chain, no additional RAID controller card needed. This simplifies installation and significantly reduces your cost to expand capacity. As a matter of fact, incorporating more storage capacity is nearly as simple as installing additional Fusion RX1600 Expansion systems into the rack and connecting two cables. Of course, if you don't need access to all your files all the time, the Fusion storage system’s user-swappable drive modules enable you to easily change sets of drives as you go.

Driving Force

Fusion storage systems employ Enterprise/RAID Edition hard drives that have been selected for their superior performance, error handling, and reliability characteristics, especially when used in RAID groups. These drives are subjected to hours of additional, stringent testing to check for soft errors, vibration, and other reliability predictors. Just the sturdiest drives pass these tests and are prepared with special RAID-optimized firmware to become the building blocks of a super-reliable Fusion storage system.

Versatile Performance

These systems are ideal for use in mixed environments—various operating systems, editing applications and output demands requiring the flexibility and interoperability that Fusion RX1600Fibre storage systems provide. Fusion RX1600Fibre systems support OS X®, Windows®, and Linux® systems. They are compatible with capture cards from AJA, Blackmagic Design, Matrox, and Bluefish444, work with all mainstream video editing applications, and are compatible with file sharing SAN management software packages including, but not limited to Apple Xsan® 2, Tiger Technology metaSAN 4, and CommandSoft® FibreJet®. Fusion RX1600Fibre supports 8Gb, 4Gb, 2Gb, and 1Gb Fibre Channel host adapters.