Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How many different FORTRA varieties
are there?
What I-O interfaces are used on FORTRAs?
Do FORTRAs provide fault-tolerance
and complete redundancy?
Can FORTRAs be "daisy chained"
to other products for storage expansion?
Can JMR "customize"
my FORTRA, to give it unique features or a unique product
identity?
What is your product warranty?
What is the MTBF of FORTRA products?
What verification testing has
been performed on FORTRAs?
Is it possible to only partially
configure a FORTRA and still have it meet specifications?
Do the disk canisters "lock"
in FORTRA products?
Are the FRUs for FORTRAs available
separately?
Is it possible to convert a Fibre
Channel unit to SCSI, or vice-versa?
Is it possible to convert a
JBOD to a RAID, or vice-versa?
Is FORTRA packaging reusable?
Does JMR perform turnkey integration
of FORTRA products? Or any products?
Do FORTRAs have SAF-TE and SES?
Are FORTRAs available with 48Vdc
power supplies for Telecom use?
Are any FORTRAs fully NEBS Level
3 certified?
Where are FORTRA (or any JMR) products
manufactured?
What about shipping logistics?
What is the FORTRA installed base?
How long have FORTRAs been shipping?
What makes FORTRA innovative?
What else does JMR do?
How many different FORTRA varieties
are there?
There are 2-bay desktop units supporting U/160 SCSI,
and 4-6-8-10-15 bay products, including 6-10-15 bay
rackmount products, supporting U/160 SCSI and 1Gb/S
Fibre Channel. There are also 4 and 6-bay desktop products
supporting 2Gb/S Fibre Channel, and 15-bay products
(rackmount, with tower conversion kit available) supporting
2Gb/S Fibre Channel as well. Further, the 15-bay SCSI
product has been updated to fully support U/320 SCSI.
And there are several RAID models which include SCSI:SCSI,
SCSI:FC-AL, and FC-AL:FC-AL bridge controllers! All
FORTRA models are available in various color schemes.
In all, more than 100 FORTRA products provide a very
full matrix to suit most any need.
What I-O interfaces are used on
FORTRAs?
The SCSI U/160 models all use standard SCSI-3 HD68
(high-density, half-pitch DB68) connectors, the industry
norm. U/320 models are migrating to VHDCI connectors,
which better support the faster bus speed. FC-AL models
use FC DB-9 connectors for copper (or optical, with
an MIA) fibre channel cabling; however the newer products,
and all the 2Gb/S FC-AL products, use GBIC ports for
copper or optical GBICs.
Do FORTRAs provide fault-tolerance
and complete redundancy?
The "Enterprise" class FORTRA products do.
The smaller capacity desktop products do not. The 6,
10 and 15 bay rackmount products all have N+1 power
and N+1 cooling elements. The 15-bay products are our
"Flagship" units and provide substantial fault
tolerance, with N+1 power, cooling and data paths which
provide no single point of failure. All FORTRA products
have removable, hot-swappable disk drive trays standard.
Can FORTRAs be "daisy chained"
to other products for storage expansion?
Generally, yes. Surely within the FORTRA product matrix,
this is so. For compatibility with "other"
(non-FORTRA) products, please inquire with JMR
Technical Support.
Can JMR "customize"
my FORTRA, to give it unique features or a unique product
identity?
Absolutely! JMR manufactures hundreds of products,
including FORTRA, from the "ground up", meaning
we control all fabrications, subassembly, final assembly,
configuration, test and packaging, and we perform all
operations in house. As such, it's rather easy for us
to "customize" products. Many products we
manufacture daily or weekly are 100% "full custom"
OEM products private-labeled
for other companies. JMR places no labels or marks that
would identify those products as being manufactured
by JMR. Inquire
with your needs, and we'll be happy to evaluate what
we can do for you.
What is your product warranty?
FORTRA products carry a 3-year limited warranty. Custom
OEM product warrantees are negotiated case-by-case but
are typically 3 years.
What is the MTBF of FORTRA products?
Because there are so many versions of FORTRA, no one
answer suffices. The worst-case, most complex configuration
has MTBF = 21,900 hours including electromechanical
devices such as cooling fans or blowers. Those are N+1,
hot-swappable CRU items, so if you ignore cooling elements,
worst-case FORTRA MTBF is more than 100,000 hours at
35 degrees C ambient.
What verification testing has
been performed on FORTRAs?
A great deal has. All FORTRAs released for sale (beyond
Beta) have completed FCC Part 15; CE Mark; UL1950 and/or
IEC950 product safety (NRTL for US, Canada and the European
Union); and are internationally compliant products.
Compatibility testing has been completed on all released
FORTRA products, with data available from JMR Compatibility
Engineering on request. Severe environmental and stress
testing has been completed for rack mount products:
This includes H.A.L.T. testing by a certified NRTL,
and the rack mount products have successfully undergone
MIL-STD-810 environmental testing. We work with technology
partners and providers, including all the disk drive
manufacturers, to assure compatibility, both electrically
and mechanically (including thermals & vibration)
and make continuous improvements. And, we have an O.R.T.
lab that continuously assesses product reliability.
Is it possible to only partially
configure a FORTRA and still have it meet specifications?
Yes, it is. Many FORTRAs are only partly populated
by disk drives, for example. It is important that all
removable canisterized elements are actually in place,
to provide electromagnetic shielding (for EMC) and to
assure chassis pressurization is correct to properly
cool all the disk drives and other elements installed.
The disk canisters do not need to be populated, just
installed.
Do the disk canisters "lock"
in FORTRA products?
In the 2-4-6-8 bay desktop units, there is a global
lock mechanism to lock all disk and power supply canisters
in place with one key. In the 10-15 bay towers and rack
mount units, there is not such a mechanism. The reason
is, we wanted to keep these products within a "3U"
form factor, and that form factor is fully occupied
by disk drive canisters, leaving no room for a lock
mechanism. However, we do have "custom" solutions
for canister locking, if this is a security requirement.
Are the FRUs for FORTRAs available
separately?
Of course! And we encourage FORTRA users and resellers
to keep some safety stock of FRUs, in order to provide
fast service for any field failures that might occur.
Is it possible to convert
a Fibre Channel unit to SCSI, or vice-versa?
Unfortunately, no. The drive (disk) channel is determined
by a midplane that is factory-installed and not considered
a serviceable element.
Is it possible to convert
a JBOD to a RAID, or vice-versa?
In some cases, yes. Our newest products such as the
FR15 15-bay FC-AL products, use the same main chassis
for both JBOD and RAID, and only plug-in I-O modules
are changed to make a conversion. Inquire for details.
Is FORTRA packaging reusable?
Yes, in all cases, it is. FORTRAs have ISTA Class 1A
certified reusable packaging carrying no “JMR”
markings and can thus be used for resellers and system
integrators to ship to customer/end user sites.
Does JMR perform turnkey integration
of FORTRA products? Or any products?
In some cases, yes. JMR has full integration and compatibility/interoperability
laboratory facilities in-house and can configure and
test almost anything. This is program-specific, however.
We have no standard FORTRA product that is sold as a
fully configured, integrated, end-user system; however,
under OEM contract, we can perform whatever services
the contract requires.
Do FORTRAs have SAF-TE and SES?
The "Enterprise" class FORTRA products all
do: SAF-TE is installed and tested by the factory for
SCSI products, and SES is installed and tested for FC-AL
products. If you have special needs, please inquire.
Are FORTRAs available with
48Vdc power supplies for Telecom use?
Yes, the rack mount products (10 and 15-bay) are all
available with either universal-input AC power supplies
(90~264Vac, 50~60 Hz) with active Power Factor Correction,
or -48Vdc input power supplies. Please inquire for part
numbers and prices.
Are any FORTRAs fully NEBS Level
3 certified?
Not at this time; however, based on the positive results
and margins indicated by compliance and H.A.L.T. testing,
it would appear the FORTRA rackmount products will meet
the requirements of GR-63-CORE, and some customers are
already using the FORTRA products in Network Equipment
Building facilities, including Central Office environments.
Where are FORTRA (or any JMR)
products manufactured?
All our manufacturing is in the U.S.A., primarily in
Chatsworth, CA. This is about 25 miles from downtown
Los Angeles, and easily
accessed by Los Angeles or Burbank Airports.
What about shipping logistics?
JMR has been in business for 20 years, making shipments
to all points of the globe. We have in-house logistics
planning and support, and all major common carriers
make pickups at JMR daily. Specific routing or consigned
carriers are easily accommodated, as are drop shipments.
What is the FORTRA installed
base? How long have FORTRAs been shipping?
Initial FORTRA shipments were made in March 1999. Since
that time, nearly 35,000 FORTRAs have shipped, and of
course that number grows monthly. We have a fairly large
installed base. It has been estimated that FORTRAs are
currently supporting more than 11,000 Terabytes of storage,
and of course that number continuously grows, too. Never
has a disk storage "enclosure" product been
as successful as FORTRA.
What makes FORTRA innovative?
FORTRA was developed from the start with a "product
family" concept, and 2-4-6-8-10 bay products, including
desktop, tower and rack mounts, all launched simultaneously
after more than 3 years of R&D. Since then, the
15-bay products and a 6-bay rackmount have been added
to the family, and more will come. FORTRA holds more
than 20 patents on unique technology and implementations.
We are proud to have developed the "blue light"
look, which is eye catching and most frequently commented
on. The sleek lines and timeless appeal of FORTRA's
industrial design has won awards at trade shows around
the world. And because we not only designed the products,
but also manufacture them in our own facilities, we
can facilitate improvements and customer-driven changes
quickly and efficiently. It's an unusual business model.
What else does JMR do?
Besides being the design and manufacturing facility
for FORTRA, JMR is a design and manufacturing facility
for hundreds of custom OEM products, most of which are
private-labeled for others, including several Fortune
500 companies. We are very vertically integrated, ISO
9001 registered (since 1994), and employ some of the
top people in the data storage industry. Check out our
facilities on the "Custom
Design and Manufacturing" section of this website.
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