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VARBusiness Labs is in the middle of a series of comparisons of storage products. In the first review, we compared high-capacity hard disk drives. These were drives of 9-GB capacity or greater. In the next, and last, review in this series, we will evaluate tape backup solutions.
This issue's review looks at RAID storage. RAIDs are redundant arrays of inexpensive disks, which users can configure in various ways to provide increased storage and more security. We tested products from three vendors: Compaq Computer Corp., nStor Corp. Inc. and Procom Technology Inc. Two of the three, from nStor and Procom, are external arrays, while the third, from Compaq, is a server-based RAID.
nStor NexStor 8Le
The nStor NexStor 8Le is a SCSI-to-SCSI RAID solution. The unit is housed in a mini-tower enclosure that accommodates up to eight drives. A set of front-panel controls allows easy configuration and monitoring of the array. The panel can be password-protected and a lock prevents access to vital information stored on the unit.
Setting up the NexStor 8Le is simple. We connected the unit to an Adaptec 3950U2 SCSI 2 controller and used the front-panel controls to configure the array. Settings, such as stripe size, array size and RAID level, were easy to specify and enter. The use of the configuration panel allows for easy operating system independent configuration, making the unit easy to plug into any platform.
Once the array was built, the host computer had no problems seeing and working with it. Our test model came equipped with seven 9.1-GB Seagate Cheetah drives. This should be sufficient for most, but if your installation requires larger capacities, the unit can be configured with the 18- or 36-GB versions of the Cheetah. Furthermore, three separate enclosures can be daisy-chained together to achieve even greater headroom for growth.
Furthering the grow- with-your-business features, the unit is upgradable to a...