Another day, another SMB storage launch. This time from Sun, which is hawking its new StorageTek modular storage family and its first two representatives, the 6140 and 6540 arrays.

Modularity is the buzzword du jour here, meant to net customers with at least half an eye on expanding their needs in the relatively near future. The arrays are designed for both DAS and NAS set-ups with the now-obligatory 4Gb/s fibre channel support, though they can accomodate SATA-2 as well, for up to 112 drives for the 6140 and 224 for the 6540.

These first two products are aimed squarely at mid-market, with the 6140 starting at $25,000 and the 6540 weighing in at $85,000. Sun is keen to stress this is just the start for the range though. Storage VP Paul Giroux said: "Watch for additional developments in short order."

Sun's launch statement is here. It reckons it's got the beating of EMC and Hitachi for now in the modular arena.

With IBM making another punt at the SMB market this week to by launching the DS4200 Express, which it hopes will wrest the entry-level storage out-of-the-box market away from HP and Dell, it's time to face the question: who stands to benefit from the ensuing tussle in this sector on the vendor and customer sides?

Keep it Reg for a closer look next week.®