D-Link Unveils 32TB Storage Arrays For SMBs

D-Link announced two new storage arrays Tuesday for small to midsized businesses (SMBs): The DSN-4000 Series xStack iSCSI SAN arrays, which have a maximum capacity of 32 TB.

When I think of D-Link, I think of that wireless Internet router I bought years ago from Circuit City. D-Link had never entered my mind for storage. Until now. It turns out that the company has models ranging from the consumer-class, two-bay ShareCenter network storage with USB Printer Port (2 TB) to the new DSN-4000 Series, which has a maximum capacity of 160 TB.

The DSN-4000 Series consists of the DSN-4100 and DSN-4200 storage arrays and the DSN-4000 3U 16-bay expansion array. Both arrays use iSCSi to connect to the network and both support a mixture of serial ATA (SATA) and serial attached SCSI (SAS) drives. The arrays replace the previous generation DSN-3200-10 and DSN-2100-10. Further, each array is available in a 3U (5.25-inch) high enclosure that holds 16 2-TB drives.

As many as 80 drives can be supported by adding the drive to the DSN-4000 expansion array for 160 TB of external storage.

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D-Link doesn't restrict the type of drive used to a single manufacturer. Customers can choose from a variety of manufacturers to populate their arrays.

The DSN-4000 series also offers virtualization capability at the volume level to enable data migration, volume expansion, or reconfiguration. Since drives are not tied to their expansion chassis, they can be migrated among xStack Storage Arrays.

The DSN-4200 differs from the DSN-4100 in the number of data ports connecting it to the network. The DSN-4100 has four 1-GbE ports; the DSN-4200 has eight ports.

D-Link storage arrays are expected to be available in November from D-Link and online retailers such as CompuUSA, TigerDirect, NewEgg, and Amazon. The DSN-4100 is priced at $4,999.99; the DSN-4200 is $6,199.99; and, the D-Link DSN-4000 is $3,199.99.

Deni Connor is founding analyst for Storage Strategies NOW, an industry analyst firm that focuses on storage, virtualization, and servers.

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