Sun rolls out Unified Storage Systems

Sun's 'Amber Road' offerings will be released under the banner of its Storage 7000 series

Sun Microsystems has rolled out the first Unified Storage Systems models under the banner of the Sun Storage 7000 series.

The vendor claimed that the new systems, code-named 'Amber Road', offer better manageability and ease of setup due to the onboard software in each system.

A software stack known as FishWorks embeds monitoring and analytical software in each system, allowing the storage servers to issue real-time status reports.

"We have simplified this process with a comprehensive set of tools that gives insight on system performance and potential issues that may arise," said Mike Shapiro, lead engineer for the FishWorks project.

"Over the past two and a half years, the FishWorks team has built an entirely new architecture for integrated storage products that delivers unprecedented analysis capabilities and a new economic model for storage."

The new systems will also feature a number of open source components. Sun said that, in developing the 7000 series, many components were shared with the open source community, particularly through Sun's OpenSolaris project.

As such, the company says that the new systems are especially optimised for both Solaris OS and OpenSolaris.

The three Storage 7000 series products will range from a compact 2TB system to a high-end half petabyte offering which will include an option for solid-state drives.

Prices range from $10,000 for the entry-level system, to an $89,490 starting price for the high-end model.