Apple Previews New 2 GB Fiber Channel RAID Solution [Updated]

by , 3:00 PM EDT, May 14th, 2002

Apple has not officially issued the press release as of yet, but buried in the announcement for the new Xserve rackmount servers was a teaser for another new product. The company will be releasing a 2 Gb Fibre Channel RAID solution, and previewed the unit at the press event for Xserve. That snippet:

Apple today also previewed its new high-performance RAID storage product featuring industry standard 2Gb Fiber Channel, which will be introduced later this year.

C|Net is reporting that the RAID solution will be called Xserve RAID. The storage unit will include 14 drive bays, with a capacity of up to 1.68 Terabytes. From the C|Net article:

Apple also previewed a future storage device, the Xserve RAID, a 5.25-inch thick cabinet that can contain 14 hard drives for a total capacity of 1.68 terabytes. The system has two 2-gigabit-per-second Fibre Channel connections, a high-speed connection technology for communicating with servers.

You can read the full report, which covers analyst reaction to Xserve and other related information, at C|Net.

The Mac Observer Spin:

This is a very compelling storage product, and really offers Apple an opportunity for a new revenue stream. This sort of device has a big price tag, and high profit margins. If Apple can deliver the kind of solution it is known for, reliable and easy to set up and maintain, it could have a hit in the IT world on its hands.

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