Sonnet Technologies (http://www.sonnettech.com) has announced the Fusion RX1600 Vfibre, an expandable 16-drive RAID video editing SAN server with multi-user Fibre Channel and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity built in.

This 4U rackmount system integrates Tiger Technology metaSAN Storage Area Network (SAN) Server software with an ATTO dual RAID controller-equipped SAS/SATA storage system. Capable of supporting a 4K workflow or multi-stream, multi-user collaborative workflows, Fusion RX1600 Vfibre provides direct connection for up to twelve 8Gb Fibre Channel users and 6 Gb/s aggregate bandwidth for users connected via Gigabit Ethernet.

Optimized for video editing, the base configuration Fusion RX1600 Vfibre provides four Fibre Channel ports, expandable to 12 -- additional Fibre users can be served with a Fibre Channel switch. Fusion RX1600 Vfibre supports multipath I/O to enhance performance and fault tolerance, combining data paths from two or more FC ports to increase performance to support a 4K workflow, and provide redundancy in case of a cable malfunction, which is the leading cause of storage connection failure, says Robert Farnsworth, CEO of Sonnet Technologies.

The Fusion RX1600 Vfibre video editing SAN server employs Tiger Technology's metaSAN, a high-speed file sharing SAN management application, setting a new standard for cross-platform workgroup collaboration. Available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux users connected via Fibre, metaSAN enables multiple users to simultaneously access a common pool of data files.

The metaSAN deployed on Fusion RX1600 Vfibre makes it the dedicated metadata master for the group, ensuring maximum CPU availability for SAN services and allowing client workstations to connect and shut down at will, says Farnsworth. This also enables client workstations connected via Fibre to render without affecting the Fusion system's ability to serve data to other connected workstations, he adds.

Each workstation connecting to the RX1600 Vfibre over Fibre Channel requires a 1-port or 2-port Fibre Channel host adapter, a metaSAN client license, and a Gigabit Ethernet port dedicated for metadata use. Users accessing files stored on Fusion RX1600 Vfibre through its Gigabit Ethernet ports may copy files using Windows Server 2008 file services, or can purchase Tiger Technology metaLAN software to gain block level access to the SAN storage pool and work directly with the files on the Sonnet system.

The Fusion RX1600 Vfibre's storage pool is formatted with an integrated system setup, management, and diagnostics configuration application. RAID group partitioning support increases storage efficiency by providing more logical unit numbers (LUNs) without the need to use lower-capacity RAID groups. MetaSAN manages shared storage access the same as any local drive. Standard OS account management tools are used to grant or deny access to the individual users.

Sonnet's Fusion RX1600 Vfibre's 16 RAID storage drives are controlled by dual ATTO Technology RAID controllers. Featuring ATTO's Advanced Data Streaming (ADS) technology, these controllers provide controlled transfer acceleration for steady data streaming. ADS compensates for data transfer rate peaks and drops, maintaining a consistent data flow to allow more streams for the bandwidth available.

The Sonnet Fusion RX1600 Vfibre is compatible with Mac OS X and OS X Server Versions 10.5+ (including Snow Leopard); Windows Server 2008, 7, Vista, Server 2003, and XP Professional; and many Linux operating systems. It works with mainstream video editing applications including Apple Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro.

Sonnet Fusion RX1600 Vfibre with either 16TB or 32TB capacity is expected to be available Q4 2010. Pricing is to be announced.