Archive appliance developer PowerFile Inc. has introduced the Permanent Storage Appliance. The appliance is a network-attached storage system that uses a patented, highly scalable DVD-based subsystem with the capability to store files online for many years. This system is the company’s first foray into the multi-billion dollar enterprise storage market, according to a release.

For organizations with large and long-term data storage requirements including the medical industries, failure to both safeguard records and retrieve them in a timely fashion could result in fines and penalties, the company said. Permanent Storage Appliance is designed to allow enterprises to quickly access stored data as does any other network volume online, PowerFile said.

The Permanent Storage Appliance virtualizes large disk arrays behind a network attached front end. It is comprised of a 2U, rack-mountable network attached server and up to 18 DVD-based robotic libraries. A single system supports up to 12 500GB SATA disk drives, providing up to 6TB of high-performance cache and up to 30.6TB of usable archive capacity. The system comes pre-configured with storage management software that virtualizes the DVD subsystem into storage volumes in any required increments. Hot-swappable, redundant components allow for high availability and reliability, while the modular design enhances field serviceability. The Permanent Storage Appliance is powered by Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 for integration with existing infrastructures, the company said.

DVD libraries that are bundled with the Permanent Storage Appliance can archive terabytes of critical data on industry-standard DVD media that can be read by any standard DVD drive.