Can someone from Promise explain....

SiNiSon · fully protected Joined: 07 Oct 2008 Posts: 11

The difference between Apple pricelist parts and non-pricelist parts..

There seems to be such a large gap between the two $ wise, while everything appears and specs to be the same..

The Promise/Apple FAQ states that only one E-Class and one J-Class are supported.. so anyone going beyond that would be crazy not to look at non-blessed hardware and a significant cost savings..

S.

Promise · Could work for Apple Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 42

Good question let me cover the differences between our PC/Linux box and the box sold from Apple.

1) Hardware: The Apple unit comes with drives installed, burned in and tested for 48hrs. The system is burned in with all the drives installed as a complete system. This allows the system to have a very low failure rate out of the box. Each drive bay includes the Mux adapter for dual controller access and is covered by a 3 year 24-7 advanced replacement warranty. Our PC/Linux box does not include hard drives or adapters and will not have advanced replacement for the drives and adapters. The Apple unit also includes more Cache on each controller.

2) Software/firmware: The Apple unit has a custom firmware that is fine tuned to work with the Apple environment. Newer firmware will give you fixes for problems found under Apple O/S and Apple software applications. You will not be able to use future Apple firmware updates on our PC/Linux box.

3) Support: The Apple Vtrak is covered by a 3 year parts and labor warranty with advanced replacement of the drive modules with adaptors. We offer free 24-7 phone tech support. When a support call is placed to Apple or Promise they confirm the serial number of the unit to determine if it is an Apple unit to qualify supporting the system. There is no support on our PC/Linux box under Apple environments. The Apple Vtrak is supported from both Apple and Promise. You can get full support from Apple on Software and Promise on Hardware. Having this support from both companies is a real advantage.

One of the main reasons Apple Pre-configures their system is to maintain consistency in support and data rates to insure no dropping frames in video environments. Having a good working system out of the box with support for both your software and your hardware is really worth the cost of the complete Apple Vtrak unit.

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We have recently announced that the Vtrak E-Class will now support up to 4 J-Class in non video environments. In Video environments we still recommend only one E-Class to one J-Class to maintain the listed streams of video.

-EC

SiNiSon · fully protected Joined: 07 Oct 2008 Posts: 11

Thanks very much for the thorough reply.

mcain · partially protected Joined: 21 Oct 2008 Posts: 6

How can I tell if mine is an Apple solution? I'm sure that's what I ordered, but there is no mention of Apple in the Web interface. Just want to make sure before putting the firmware on.

Thanks

aaron · Site Admin Joined: 19 Mar 2005 Posts: 405

I'm not from Promise, but this is from the firmware download page:

abstractrude · Xsan Master Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 864

funny thing, I have multiple promise units with apple numbers and they came without the drives installed...

soward · Could work for Apple Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 42

IIRC, Apple's Promise units come with the drives installed _in the tray_ but the trays are not in the Vtrak, instead they are in an array of tiny boxes in the giant box the whole thing comes in...

Also I can say from experience that if you have a hardware anomaly with a non-apple Promise array, you will need to connect it to a non-Apple system to get any support...

abstractrude · Xsan Master Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 864

wait, so on regular promise units you have to install the drive in the sled? wow thats worth the extra price right there.

also, will promise be selling the silver spray paint for first gen promise unit users?