The FibreMaster™ 16000 2 Gigabit Fibre Channel RAID was designed to be the most powerful and versatile Fibre Channel RAID solution on the market. Featuring 8 fully independent 2 Gb Fibre Channel connections, dual special purpose processors, a high speed multi-channel bus architecture, and capacities up to 114 TeraBytes, the FibreMaster 16000 RAID moves data from drive to desktop faster than any other controller.

Its advanced design accelerates RAID operations, improves read and write performance and maximizes data throughput. The 8 independent channels enable you to put the bandwidth where you need it addressing host or disk side bottlenecks. Add to this the true "no single point-of-failure" Active-Active dual RAID controller configuration option, the FibreMaster 16000 RAID delivers unprecedented levels of confidence and worry-free operation to storage managers.

For data availability, the FibreMaster 16000 RAID offers multiple RAID levels assignable by LUN to optimize performance across a variety of applications. The flexibility of 8 independent Fibre Channels facilitates a wide selection of enhanced availability configurations using channel redundancy, cross enclosure RAID groups and multiple drive/channel redundancy schemes. This controller performs active monitoring of all subsystem components including power supplies, fans, disks, Fibre Channels, temperatures, and UPS. It also includes automatic drive failure detection and repair, hot swap detection and reconstruction, user defined sparing policies and controlled shutdown in the event of a UPS failure.

But this is only half the story. More importantly, because the FibreMaster 16000 RAID is so powerful, versatile, scalable and reliable, it can be used in a wide variety of applications and environments. It can be configured for the extremes in performance or the limits of scalability, and everything in between, while still delivering superior fault tolerance.

To simplify system configuration and management, the FibreMaster 16000 RAID comes with a powerful, yet flexible embedded RAID manager. With FibreMaster's RAID manager, there is no software to purchase or install -- it is ready to run out of the box -- which significantly speeds deployments of any size and configuration. Simply attach an Ethernet cable to the FibreMaster 16000's 1U RAID Controller, and use a browser from any network location to easily initialize, configure, monitor and maintain the FibreMaster 16000 RAID using an ultra intuitive user interface.

The RAID manager also offers multiple security levels, proactive email alerts and an on-controller front panel VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) to provide storage managers with increased control, flexibility and visibility. This multi-format management approach enables users to easily create and modify RAID configurations, define individual LUN characteristics and their caching parameters, receive alert notifications, and add new drives without interrupting operation. Best of all, the RAID manager is so easy to use, no special training or skills are necessary to manage even the most sophisticated configurations.

The FibreMaster 16000 RAID's drive enclosures are designed for 24x7 operation with fully redundant and hot-swappable data path logic, power supplies, cooling and enclosure management functions. Disk drive trays are lockable as well at hot-swappable, and have mechanical properties which ensure excellent thermal, EMI and rotational vibration characteristics to support 15k RPM drives and 2Gb operation. Sixteen 2Gb Fibre Channel drives in a 3U rackmount enclosure represents industry leading capacity in this form factor, with absolutely no compromise in cooling capability up to 40°C ambient conditions. Highly effective cooling ensures your drives will provide the best possible Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF).

Two SES modules provide access to monitor/control all enclosure elements. These modules handle the status reports for all drive enclosure elements including hard drives, power supplies, cooling modules, and temperature. SES is implemented using the pass-through method. Up to four drives can be used as the alternate paths from the firmware to the SES devices. The redundant SES module eliminates single points of failure, making the FibreMaster 16000 RAID an excellent choice for mission-critical applications.

The FibreMaster 16000 RAID's scalable design makes expansion easy when storage needs increase. It is the ideal storage solution for applications requiring high data throughput, availability, and flexibility in configuration.