IBM has extended its storage offering downmarket with the announcement of the cheapo DS3000 range for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs).

Starting at just under $5,000, two models will be available January 30 and come with simplified management software. The DS3200 is direct-attached only with a serial attached SCSI (SAS) connection, aimed at IBM System X server setups. The pricier DS3400 can also be set up as part of a SAN, with a 4Gbps fibre channel suitable for IBM BladeCenters.

IBM said its new duo support Dell and HP servers too, without which they may as well not bother in the SMB space.

The boxes will both accomodate up to 12 SAS disks, topping out at 3.6TB. The DS3400 can accomodate IBM's EXP3000 disk racks though, which ups the maximum capacity to 14.4TB.

More info here. There's a podcast and everything. ®