New VTrak Hardware

[brianwells]

I just noticed that the VTrak hardware at http://www.promise.com/apple/ has a new look.



There also is mention of 1TB drives instead of 750GB.

[abstractrude]

I heard from a buddy within Apple that were going to make it more apple centric. lame. Maybe they will have promise-chromatic storage, ill take a pink one please. anyway, has anyone figured out a way for keep the drives locked in place, like some sort of bezel. Broadcast machine rooms are not like datacenters, they are little hands always wanting to touch and feel, especially the mac freaks that have never seen them.

[d4corp]

Promise VTrak Product Update

Key Highlights:

New pro aluminum look
New capacities
New price points
New firmware features
New service program

Messaging and Features

With new capacities and a lower entry price point the Promise VTrak E-Class products continue to be the only third party RAID product that Apple has qualified through extensive testing in a Mac OS X / Xsan 2 / Final Cut Studio 2 environment. As before only the Promise VTrak E-Class and J-Class products supplied through Apple are qualified and therefore supported by both Apple and Promise.

The VTRAK E-Class range now starts with a new entry level product which includes 4X 1TB SATA drives and a single RAID controller at just €6,999 inc. VAT. This system can be upgraded with a full quota of 16 drive modules and a second RAID controller. If a customer wishes to add the second RAID controller in the future this will be available only as part of the the 'TV276 VTrak E-Class SUBSYSTEM Service Parts Kit'

With the new 1TB Drive Module each VTrak can support up to 16TB* per 3U Subsystem. Each VTrak E-Class Subsystem can support up to 4 VTrak J-Class Expansion Units providing up to 80TB* per system.

Setup has been simplified with Bonjour support for auto discovery now built into the E-Class firmware. As before the firmware is specific to the SKUs that Apple supplies.

The new pro aluminum look is perfect compliment to Xserve.

Promise supply a 3 year limited warranty on all the E-Class and J-Class products with advanced parts replacement and 24 x 7 email and phone support. Spares kits for both the E and J Class products are available for people who wish to self service and require minimal downtime. Promise Technology are also launching 'ServicePlus' in January as a 24 x 7 x 4 parts replacement service which we will cover the major cities across europe currently covered by the Xserve Premium Service and Support Plan.

New Product Codes and Descriptions

Prod Code Description Price

TV270 VTRAK E-Class 4X (4TB) SATA Single Controller RAID SUBSYSTEM €6,999
TV272 VTRAK E-Class 8X (8TB) SATA RAID SUBSYSTEM €10,499
TV299 VTRAK E-Class 16X (16TB) SATA RAID SUBSYSTEM €12,999
TV271 VTRAK E-CLASS 16X (7.2TB) SAS RAID SUBSYSTEM €16499
TV274 VTRAK J-CLASS 16X (7.2TB) SATA EXPANSION CHASSIS €10,499
TV275 VTRAK J-CLASS 16X (16TB) SAS EXPANSION CHASSIS €13,999
TV276 VTRAK E-Class SUBSYSTEM Service Parts Kit (TV270/271/272/299) €3,299
TV277 VTRAK J-Class EXPANSION CHASSIS Service Parts Kit (TV274/275) €529
TV278 1TB SATA Drive Module €349
TV279 450GB SAS Drive Module €699

Compatibility

The new E-Class, J-Class units and drive modules are interoperable with the previous generation of Promise VTrak products and therefore the new drives modules can be used in the old units and also the Chassis and Expansion Units are interchangeable.

Availability

Details of these new products from Promise will be published to the Apple Online Store on 15/1/2009. Online orders can then be placed with lead times expected to be one week on the TV270 SKU, and end of Jan on the other SKU's.

* All storage capacities are raw.
All prices shown are ALP inc. VAT as shown on the Apple Online Store

[mw10dot1]

Does this mean apple now supports more then one J-class.

Michael

[matx]

[lolopb]

[abstractrude]

there is an firmware upgrade and I hear its out, not sure where to get it though.
edit: found it, but I cant seem to open the disk image...
http://www.promise.com/support/download/download2_eng.asp?productId=199&category=firmware&os=100&go=GO


i know apple has certified this release. I guess this means 1TB drive support to the older models? In additon this update is supposed to fix those nasty bugs for the early adopters. SLP protocol issues, /tmp/ filling up and that weird 1 network cable affecting performance bug.

[MattG]

I'm having the same issue - the .img file (odd if it's supposed to be for Mac) is not verifying as a disk image. Hopefully, the Promise folks are reading this and can re-upload the image.

[abstractrude]

haha lets hope the firmware is better than the disk image

[lolopb]

[rstasel]

could the .img be the actual firmware image, and not a disk image?

I've seen .img extensions on firmwares before.

[abstractrude]

you might be right, but shouldnt there be release notes and all the crap they usually stick in there. i sent a note to my friend over at promise.

[lolopb]

[JonThompson]

Isn't this forum supposed to be monitored by Promise? Any chance they want to correct the lack of release notes?

Also, their help documentation on the VTrak references a .img file as being the firmware itself.

[aaron]

Far be it for me to be a Promise apologist, but their Apple team has been quite occupied by Macworld this week. Now that the show is over, I think we can expect for information from then soon. Please be a little patient.

In general, I have a lot of respect for a company that is willing to back a forum that they don't completely control. It isn't the usual corporate mentality, for sure. That should earn them a little lattitude.

On the other hand, please do continue to use this forum to tell Promise how you feel. I love it.
_________________
Aaron Freimark
http://www.tekserve.com/vcard/af.vcf