AMD provides platform for growing NAS market

     At the Storage Networking World conference AMD earlier this month announced availability of the first Reference Design Kit (RDK) for the Storage Bridge Bay (SBB) 2.0 Specification based on the AMD Athlon™ processor.
     This RDK can simplify the design process and provide a standardized platform powered by AMD’s unrivaled Direct Connect Architecture. AMD expects to help storage vendors deliver low power, high performance, entry-level networked storage systems while helping reduce time-to-market, allowing them to focus more on specific innovations that their customers require. AMD also announced an expansion of its embedded product offerings with three new, low power AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core processors for embedded system designs.
     “This SBB RDK could help our customers reduce the typical design cycle by three to nine months,” said Buddy Broeker, director of Embedded Computing Solutions, AMD. “Further, the new low power additions to our embedded line-up provide system designers simplicity and flexibility to create innovative, high-performing embedded systems powered by the exceptional performance-per-watt and energy-efficiency of AMD processor technology.”
     AMD’s new SBB RDK provides storage vendors with a highly configurable platform with the exceptional data throughput capabilities of AMD Athlon and AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core processors featuring Direct Connect Architecture and HyperTransport technology.
     It allows them to differentiate their systems based on customer needs while addressing the need for high memory and I/O bandwidth in networked storage environments.
     The RDK supports Network Attached Storage (NAS), Storage Area Networks (SANs), Unified Storage systems, as well as all major interface connectivity options including GigE, 10GigE, Fibre Channel, and Infiniband. The RDK includes schematics and layout source files, with reference design hardware to be available from AMD partner Newisys Data Storage.
     “Newisys Data Storage is extending our long collaboration with AMD to help grow the ecosystem of standardized storage building blocks which enable customers of all sizes the opportunity to deploy advanced storage capabilities,” said Steve VonderHaar, vice president of product marketing and business development for Newisys Data Storage. “The SBB initiative is an integral component in our product roadmap, and we look forward to launching more SBB-compliant OEM and joint development designs later this year.”
     “The reduced design costs and complexity delivered by SBB 2.0 combined with enhanced manageability, security, and reliability of Windows Storage Servers will help promote affordable enterprise class storage functionality to customers of all sizes,” said Bala Kasiviswanathan, director of the Storage Solutions marketing division at Microsoft. “Microsoft is pleased to collaborate with AMD in delivering the promise of SBB 2.0 to our joint partners so they can innovate on our platform and build solutions that better meet the needs of our customers.”
     In addition to Microsoft, AMD has also worked with storage software companies AMI and FalconStor. These additional software developments on the AMD SBB 2.0 RDK will provide customers several different implementation options.
     AMD also announced the addition of three new low power AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core processors to its embedded product roadmap.
     These will enhance the available options for deploying industry-changing AMD technology in embedded systems that span from entry-level networked storage systems designed with the new RDK, to other high-performance embedded designs including telecommunications solutions, digital signage, and point of sale, gaming, and kiosk systems.
     The new AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core processor Models 3400e, 3600+ and 4200+ deliver greater levels of performance in the same low-power envelopes of 22, 35, and 35W maximum thermal design power, respectively.
     Offering continued platform stability, the new additions are AM2 socket-compatible to help embedded system designers easily upgrade from single-core or use their existing AM2 board designs to address new markets with reduced time-to-market and development costs.
     The new processors are designed to be paired with the AMD M690E chipset, offering embedded customers a ready-to-implement, stable and reliable commercial embedded platform. They can also be combined with other industry-leading chipsets including the Broadcom HT-2100 and HT-1000 chipsets for performance-hungry yet energy-efficient designs. Availability is expected in the second quarter of 2008 with embedded industry-standard component longevity of 5 years.

NASLite-2 HDD for SoHo file sharing

     NASLite-2 HDD is the latest release of the stable and successful operating system developed by Server Elements for the creation of additional storage space on a home or small-business network.
     There are three versions of NASLite-2, each of which transforms a basic computer into a dedicated file server. Each version can implement multiple file-transfer protocols: SMB/CIFS (Windows networking), NFS (Unix networking), AFP (Apple networking), FTP, HTTP, and RSYNC. And every release of NASLite-2 can support fixed-disk drives connected through IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB, and FireWire (IEEE 1394), as well as hardware RAID arrays.
     NASLite-2 runs in an 8-MB virtual disk in RAM, which ensures consistent and reliable operation of this file-sharing OS. The two previous releases boot into RAM either from a CD-ROM or from a USB drive, which requires that either the CD and its drive or the USB drive and its connection be present throughout operation.
     NASLite-2 HDD, however, boots from a hard drive that is also used for file storage, thereby minimizing both the need for hardware and its cost. A single NASLite-2 HDD server is capable of exporting terabytes of information, handling 50 or more networked users easily and efficiently, even when running on modest hardware. NASLite-2 can be implemented on a PC with any Pentium CPU with as little as 64 MB of RAM, one or more hard-disk drives, and a network adapter----either on the mainboard or connected through a PCI bus.
     The operation of NASLite-2 is independent of the computer’s BIOS, so there is virtually no limitation on the size of the drives involved. And the number of drives is limited only by the number of connections available----whether IDE, SATA, SCSI, USB, or FireWire.
     “Because NASLite-2 is very easy to set up, to administer, and to use,” says Tony Tonchev, a founder of Server Elements and a developer of the OS, “It’s perfect for the home user who has replaced, but not discarded, an old PC. You can add the storage capacity of multiple hard drives----enough capacity to wrangle your complete archive of videos, photos, and music. And you can do it essentially for the cost of the drives themselves. The cost of NASLite-2 HDD itself is about the same as the cost of a USB enclosure for a single external drive.”
     Small-business users will appreciate that the economical simplicity of NASLite-2 is complemented by a comprehensive set of reports that detail system status, hardware health, and resource usage. These reports can be accessed through any of the active protocols, and they are made available as a series of HTML pages. Server Elements was founded in 2004 for the distribution of Linux-based operating systems for network-attached storage (NAS). NASLite-2, in each of it boot-specific versions, is the fourth iteration of this elegant, economical software.
     Find more information at www.serverelements.com.