SONY EXTENDS INTO NETWORKED STORAGE—ANNOUNCES THE STORSTATION FAMILY OF SONY-BRANDED SOLUTIONS
New Line-up of Network Appliances Demonstrate Sony's Commitment
to Broadening its Storage Solutions Market Leadership
SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 17, 2001 — Sony Electronics today unveiled a family of networked storage systems designed to provide a range of scalable and cost-effective storage solutions for shared storage environments.
Sony's network storage solutions, part of its new StorStation ™ family, come in three models, each designed to suit the requirements of particular markets and applications. All versions of the StorStation appliances are compatible with multiple OS platforms for full interoperability in heterogeneous environments. All three models feature easy installation and management with minimal impact on network availability.
The FSV-E1 StorStation entry-level file server is equipped to handle file-sharing needs of the small office/home office (SOHO) market at a price lower than many other standard application servers. With a capacity of 80GB in a small 1U-high form-factor, the FSV-E1 model is ideal for sharing data, rich-media files, such as AV media streaming, and for storage in a small office, remote corporate office or residential gateway environments.
To accommodate the multi-faceted backup needs of workgroups at the mid-range level, Sony is offering the BSV-M1 model, a packaged network back-up server and AIT library solution that combined, fits in a 3U rack space. The BSV-M1 system is a network-attached backup server, integrated with Sony's new rack-mountable AIT library LIB-162 and backup application software, to create a cost-effective package that offers comprehensive backup capabilities in one easy-to-manage solution. The BSV-M1 unit enables automated archiving and quick data restores with a secondary backup capacity of up to
2.08 TB (with average 2.6:1 compression) on the AIT library LIB-162.
For high business performance, Sony in the U.S. will offer the FSV-M1 StorStation file server, which delivers quick file-sharing and backup storage management over the network. The FSV-M1 network appliance brings benefits to branch offices, corporate offices, and groups with multiple workstations that share files and require data availability and security with automated backups. Within a 1U-slim form-factor, the FSV-M1 unit includes up to 480 GB of native capacity provided by four 120 GB hard drives that can be set up in RAID 0, 1or 5 configurations for added data security. The FSV-M1 StorStation file server is also gigabit Ethernet-ready for enhanced network sharing configurations.
"We are leveraging 50 years of storage experience to evaluate the market, identify specific needs and growth sectors, and design our networked storage solutions with a custom fit for a networked environment," said Steve Baker, vice president of storage solutions for Sony Electronics' Core Technology Solutions Company. "Our plan is to penetrate the market with high-quality networked storage solutions that can be easily integrated into most networks and achieve rapid returns on investment."
"Networked storage appliances are an affordable and efficient means for co-workers to share files, applications and storage resources, and for administrators to consolidate, manage and backup storage using a familiar network transport," said Brad Nisbet, senior research analyst for IDC. "Sony's new network-attached automated storage solutions can help a multitude of users, from home offices to multiple branch offices of large corporations, to make their stored data more readily available and useful."
Sony's trio of StorStation network storage solutions are designed to meet the needs of a variety of corporate settings and vertical markets, including graphics, medical, publishing, insurance, law and digital non-linear video editing.
About Sony's Storage Solutions Product Families
In addition to Sony's new StorStation networked storage appliances - the FSV-E1, BSV-M1 and FSV-M1 - the Storage Solution product line-up is also comprised of four AIT libraries, including the recently announced Sony AIT library LIB-162, which features a 2U-slim design, and the AIT LIB-152 and AIT LIB-304 libraries.
The entry-level FSV-E1 model will begin shipping at an estimated retail price of $1,300 through distributors, value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators in October. The other two networked storage solutions, the FSV-M1 and the BSV-M1, are expected to ship through the same channels later this year. Sony currently offers a three-year limited warranty and optional onsite service support and enhancement programs with all of its branded storage solutions.
* Estimated U.S. retail selling prices. Actual prices may vary.
** Sony, StorStation and Advanced Intellingent Tape are trademark of Sony Corporation.
Based in San Jose, Calif., the Storage Solutions Division of Sony Electronics' Core Technology Solutions Company markets storage solutions through OEM, commercial and industrial distributors, retailers and resellers. For additional information about Sony storage products, call (800) 352-7669 or visit Sony's World Wide Web site at http://www.sony.com/news or at http://www.storagebysony.com.
