Vicom Systems has announced Vmirror, a new family of data protection appliances designed to work with Apple’s Xserve RAID network storage systems. The Vmirror systems start at $8,950.
Vmirror is a 1U, rackmounted system that runs using Fibre Channel. It’s solid-state, requiring no hard drives, and can support up to four Xserve RAID systems.
The Vmirror routes and transparently mirrors data from any number of Macintosh-based hosts to Xserve RAID storage systems. Vmirror is designed to work in high-availability environments, providing continuous data protection — useful for Xserve RAID users working in High Definition (HD) broadcast and post-production facilities, for example.
The Vmirror can present one or two pairs of Xserve RAID arrays to connected hosts as a single storage unit. If one system goes out, data is made available instantly through its mirrored counterpart. Recovery is also instantaneous — you don’t have to install any software; just add the new RAID system in Vmirror’s configuration management tool and it’ll rebuild.
The $8,950 VM-1 model is a single appliance. The VM-2 costs $14,500, and is a dual, clustered appliance with twice the data throughput. Vmirror works with Power Mac G5s, Xserve G5s, Xsan and Xserve RAID.