Less-Expensive Storage Hardware Is Aimed at Agencies, Corporate, Houses of Worship and Other Small Workgroups

Quantum introduced StorNext Pro Foundation, a new version of its StorNext Pro line of shared-storage systems designed for smaller studios, supporting up to seven simultaneous clients working with up to four streams of ProRes 422 content in its highest-capacity configuration.

Aimed at ad agencies, corporate video production departments, houses of worship, and other small-scale collaborative production environments, the StorNext Pro Foundation is built around the StorNext 5 file system, which is fully compatible with Apple's Xsan file system. The Foundation system includes dual StorNext Pro Foundation controllers and high-performance RAID storage.

"StorNext Pro Foundation is a great solution for smaller workgroups," said Dave Van Hoy, president of Quantum's advanced systems group, in a prepared statement. "It delivers the power of Quantum's StorNext 5 software in a complete and Xsan-compatible system designed specifically for small workgroups."

Depending on workflow, the 48 TB configuration supports five concurrent users on Xsan, Windows, or Linux SAN clients, and the 96 TB version supports up to seven, Quantum said. (Xsan clients can connect directly to the system; two client licenses for Windows and/or Linux are included.) The 48 TB version can be upgraded to 96 TB at a later date, and both systems can be configured into as many as four volumes containing up to 100 million files. The new Foundation can also be used by existing StorNext users to add individual small workgroups for VFX, graphics, and rendering, Quantum said. 

The StorNext Storage Manager can be configured to automatically move files to tape based on specified polices. The StorNext AEL500 tape archive and Brocade 6505 12-port fibre-channel switch are offered as options.