In November 2000 NEC announced two models, the iStorage S4100 large, high-performance disk array unit and the iStorage S2100 mid-sized disk array unit. The iStorage S4100 supported storage area network (SAN) architectures and had a maximum storage capacity of 31 terabytes, the largest class of storage in the industry. It realized large-scale high-speed disk array subsystems with the use of an internal X-Bar bus, with a total performance of 12 GB per second, and a building block architecture that joined together disk enclosures.
Offering high reliability, high performance, and high availability in a mid-sized disk array unit, the iStorage S2100 had a fiber channel interface that supported up to 210 drives for a maximum capacity of 9 TB. For improved performance, it used the latest microprocessors and fiber channel controllers as well as two newly developed LSIs for array control.
| iStorage S4100 | iStorage S2100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Host interface | Fiber channel (200 MB/s) | Fiber channel (100 MB/s) |
| Number of host ports | 4 ー 32 | 4 |
| Cache memory (mirrorable storage) | 1 ー 32 | 512MB — 4GB |
| RAID levels | RAID-1，RAID-5 | RAID-1，RAID-5，Raid0+1 |
| Hard disk specifications: drive interface | Fibre Channnel (100 MB/s) | Fibre Channnel (100 MB/s) |
| Hard disk specifications: capacity | 18GB，36GB，73GB | 18GB，36GB，73GB |
| Storage capacity [TB] | 31 max. | 9 max. |
| Number of drives | Up to 960 (64 hot spares) Up to 640 when using 73 GB drives |
Up to 210 Up to 140 when using 73 GB drives |
| External dimensions [mm]: basic / full configuration |
600 x 900 x 1,650 (w x d x h) / 5,400 x 900 x 1,650 (w x d x h) |
Basic: 482 x 554 x 393 (w x d x h) / expansion disk enclosure: 482 x 554 x 131 (w x d x h) |
