The 16TB ActiveRAID ES Hard Drive Array from Active Storage is a RAID storage system that is compatible with Mac OS X computer systems. It features a Fibre-Channel interface and a hardware RAID controller. Thanks to its use of business-class hard disks, the array is capable of an impressive 800MB/sec throughput. Windows-based client systems are supported, but all of the management tools that ship with the RAID are built for OS X.

It is an ideal storage solution for many of the services of Mac OS X Server, including file serving, database services, web hosting, calendar, Wiki, Mail, iChat, and more. It features redundant cooling, power, and Fibre-Channel ports for a fault-tolerant design. Monitoring applications for the iPhone and iPad are available, allowing you to check the status of your array with ease.

ActiveRAID ES Hardware and RAID Kernel Design
The ActiveRAID ES sets a new standard in low-cost high-performance fault tolerant RAID for Apple IT infrastructures. It was designed for outstanding ease-of-use and deployment while delivering the best price/performance possible in Apple based IT business applications. The ActiveRAID ES shares the same modern design of the original ActiveRAID, offering sophisticated features found on systems costing significantly more, but scaling back the blistering overall throughput and 24/7 365 day non-stop features usually reserved for enterprise and the post-production/broadcast deployments the ActiveRAID excels in.

Like the original ActiveRAID, Active Storage started with a proven storage processor design and enterprise hardened RAID stack. The single high-throughput RAID controller utilizes the latest storage processor technology and runs a Linux based operating system to provide ultra-fast data transfer and maximum reliability.

Light-Weight RAID Kernel
The Linux operating system provides a stable environment for the RAID kernel and allows Active Storage to finely tune the system's performance while taking advantage of a world-class TCP/IP networking stack and 128-bit SSL security. The light-weight RAID kernel maintains a small memory footprint for fast execution, and is enhanced with hardware accelerated X-OR calculation. This hardware/software combination gives the ActiveRAID ES excellent storage performance in all parity RAID levels.

Our RAID kernel has been specifically tuned to deliver maximum RAID 5 and RAID 6 performance. Running in single controller mode the kernel provides a more balanced write to read ratio, as the system does not require cache coherency to be maintained. Latency and small file performance are improved in most operations such as database look-up and file serving. The system delivers excellent performance while guarding against any data loss by utilizing hardware accelerated parity RAID. Dual 4Gb Fibre-Channel ports on the RAID controller deliver near "line speed" performance, and support Apple mult-pathing and load balancing when using multiple LUNs.

Advanced RAID Management
The Apple Xserve RAID set the high-water mark for storage management on Mac OS X. Other RAID systems with clunky Windows Explorer-like browser based interfaces, difficult to use command line interfaces and even cryptic LCD displays just seemed antiquated and out of place, and more importantly not particularly Apple-friendly. Active Storage knew they could do better.

They asked a number of Apple users what would be the best storage management approach for them; the answer was unanimous: "a Cocoa management application." They got the message loud and clear and began developing a native application suite for Mac OS X, and they are happy to say it's here now. Setup, management, and monitoring. A perfect complement to the performance, redundancy, and features of the ActiveRAID. They feel it's absolutely the best way to manage external storage on Mac OS X.