Quantum Corp. last month announced a new compact network attached storage (NAS) box aimed at the workgroup, but with features such as snapshot copying and local or remote tape backup, previously the purview of the company’s enterprise-class devices. The Guardian 4400 NAS, a 1U-high server, replaces Quantum’s model 4100 server with more capacity, features and three times the performance in 480GB and 640GB capacity models, according to the Milpitas, Calif.-based vendor. One U equals 1.75 in. The new entry-level server runs Quantum’s latest Guardian operating system, Version 2.1, which offers many of the same Linux-based software features found on the midrange Guardian 14000 NAS server. The Guardian 4400 is expected to ship this month and will list for US$5,495 for the 640GB model and US$4,295 for the 480GB.
Tropic Networks Inc. will demonstrate what it says is a unique metropolitan-optical management capability at this month’s National Fiber Optic Engineers Conference in Dallas. Tropic’s Wavelength Tracker technology, integrated in the company’s TRX-24000 metropolitan-optical transport platform, identifies and tracks individual wavelengths traveling in a metropolitan-area network. Wavelength Tracker also lets carriers detect faults and power degradations before service is affected at the node, rack, shelf, slot and port level, Tropic says. The company is at www.tropicnetworks.com.
SSL remote-access provider Aventail Corp. introduced late last month a version of its service hardware that is scaled down so customers can afford to support more sites with remote-access capabilities. The company is shipping the SA-1000, a managed appliance that the company installs at customer sites to authenticate users and grant them authorized access to company network resources via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) links. Use of SSL makes it possible to use standard SSL-enabled Web browsers as remote-access clients, so no special remote-access-client software is necessary. The price of service based on an SA-1000 is US$5,000 per month, compared to a base price of US$9,000 per month to use Aventail’s SA-9000, which used to be its only customer site gear.