Big bandwidth storage

Dell has launched the PowerVault MD1000, a direct-attached storage enclosure that gives gains in bandwidth, capacity and performance.

The company claims to be the first to offer a storage enclosure incorporating 3.5" SAS drives that enable users to manage mainstream and bandwidth-intensive applications.

Users can achieve four times greater bandwidth with 3.5" SAS drives versus traditional SCSI drives. And, compared with 2.5" SAS drives based on the typical data profile, the 3.5" SAS drives provide a 30% increase in data throughput and double the storage capacity.

The device is also said to be the industry's first storage enclosure based on the proposed storage bridge bay specification that aims to standardise external disk subsystem technologies, to give users faster access to emerging technologies such as SAS.

Key features include: capacity: 4.5 TB with the option to expand up to three shelves for a maximum of 13.5 TB; drive types and sizes: 36, 73 and 146 GB drives operating at 15,000 rpm; 73, 146 and 300 GB drives operating at 10,000 rpm.