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NetApp Launches Midrange Data Storage and Management Platforms

NetApp has launched the new FAS3200 series midrange storage systems. The company designed them with the education market in mind, to help consolidate operations onto a shared storage platform.

The FAS3220 and FS3250 systems are intended for storage area network (SAN) and network attached storage (NAS) environments. They include native support for high-speed, low-latency flash, and according to NetApp, they provide a foundation for highly scalable agile data infrastructure.

They are suitable for virtualized, private cloud, or traditional environments, and a single system can accommodate a wide range of storage requirements, from only a few terabytes to more than 2 petabytes. When clustered, they can scale performance and capacity across 24 storage nodes, according to NetApp.

When system upgrades and maintenance are required, the FAS3200-series systems can deliver nondisruptive operations for transparent upgrades, system replacements, and performance balancing.

The FAS3220 and FAS3250 use the NetApp Data ONTAP storage operating system, which offers data protection, scalability, thin provisioning, data deduplication, thin clones, Snapshot copies, backup, and disaster recovery. The FAS3200 series also supports clustered Data ONTAP, which enables the systems to operate as a shared pool of resources. According to the company, "this capability offers massive scalability and performance, simplified management, and the ability to transparently migrate application data."

The FAS3200 series also feature NetApp Flash Cache and NetApp Flash Pool to optimize system performance. NetApp Flash Cache is a controller-based PCIe card that caches recently read user data and metadata in the storage controller. According to NetApp, it increases throughput by up to 75 percent and reduces the number of disk drives required, without compromising performance. NetApp Flash Pool is a software feature of the Data ONTAP OS that enables automated storage tiering across combinations of solid state disks and traditional hard disks, based on traffic patterns. According to NetApp, this feature provides "better performance under load without requiring user to migrate data on demand."

Key features of the FAS3220 and FAS3250 storage systems include:

  • NetApp Data ONTAP storage operating system;
  • Support for Clustered Data ONTAP to enable scaling from two to 24 nodes;
  • 50 percent less storage required in virtual environments;
  • Nondisruptive operations for hardware and software upgrades; and
  • Transparent load balancing.

The FAS3220 and FAS 3250 are available now. Further information about the FAS3200 series is available on NetApp's site.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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