Boston Igloo Syncro Series: High Availability No Longer Requires High-Priced Storage

Hi Folks –

Boston Limited recently announced its Boston Igloo Syncro Series cluster, a new offering that uses LSI Syncro CS controller cards to build a two-node cluster that can share one huge external JBOD array. The end result: up to 180 TB of highly available storage, at a fraction of the cost and complexity of traditional Fibre Channel SANs.

An Innovative Approach to Cost-Effective High Availability

The cluster nodes for the Boston Igloo Syncro Series consist of two Supermicro servers featuring the latest Intel Xeon E5-2600-series processors, each configured with a LSI Syncro CS controller card. The controller cards communicate with each other using a direct SAS link instead of a traditional Ethernet link, allowing both controllers to share a single JBOD array and be active on the same RAID volumes. The solution delivers fully redundant shared storage and application failover, putting high availability within the reach of organizations that once considered it impractical.

The two cluster nodes share a Supermicro disk enclosure with dual SAS expanders, eliminating the need for a more expensive SAN. The disk enclosure supports up to 45 high-capacity 3.5” SAS drives via hot-pluggable bays on its front and back, enabling you to deploy up to 180 TB in a space-saving 4U form factor.

The following image shows the components of a Boston Igloo Syncro Series cluster:

 

Key specifications for the Boston Igloo Syncro Series include the following. All stats are per cluster node unless otherwise noted.

If you’re interested in the Boston Igloo Syncro Series, here are a few useful links:

• Product page for the Boston Igloo Syncro Series.
• The full range of Boston Syncro Series offerings (including configurations for Hyper-V, SQL, and IIS workloads) 
• The data sheet for the Boston Igloo Syncro Series.
• More information on LSI Syncro CS controllers.

With its impressive performance, huge capacity, and out-of-the-box clustering, the Boston Igloo Syncro Series is capable of supporting the most demanding workloads. Of course, because it runs Windows Storage Server 2012 Standard, you also get Data Deduplication, snapshots, multiprotocol support (SMB, NFS, and iSCSI), native Active Directory support, BranchCache, Server Manager, and more—all at a fraction of the cost and complexity of traditional Fibre Channel SANs.

Back in June, I blogged about an IT Pro Magazine review of the Boston Igloo 2U-24T-Stor. The review’s bottom line: “With the Standard version of Windows Storage Server 2012 included, the Igloo 2U-24T-Stor isn’t found wanting for storage features. Capacity can’t be expanded outside the box but NAS and IP SAN performance is excellent, Microsoft’s deduplication delivers big savings in storage and it’s good value as well.”

If you haven’t already read that review, you can check it out here.

About Boston

Founded in 1992, United Kingdom-based Boston Limited provides award-winning server, storage, and workstation solutions worldwide. The company offers a full range of services, from custom design, configuration, assembly, and testing to global support and maintenance. For more information about Boston, a Microsoft Gold-certified Partner, visit www.boston.co.uk or follow the company on Twitter @BostonLimited.

About LSI

LSI Corporation (NASDAQ: LSI) designs semiconductors and software that accelerate storage and networking in datacenters, mobile networks, and client computing. LSI’s innovative Syncro™ storage architecture is built on trusted LSI MegaRAID technology, the industry's most widely deployed data protection technology, and is designed to deliver unprecedented storage sharing and scaling capabilities for multi-server solutions. More information is available at www.lsi.com.

I can’t wait to see a review on this system!

Cheers,
Scott M. Johnson
Senior Program Manager
Windows Storage Server
@SuperSquatchy