Intransa IP storage systems use the same basic architecture of an external enclosure for storage capacity independent of its controller nodes, allowing users to add storage on the fly.

Cypress' Intransa IP5500 includes two active controllers, 4GB cache and four disk enclosures, to which the company has added a fifth disk enclosure. The IP 7500 that Cypress is evaluating includes four controllers, 8GB cache and seven enclosures.

Separately, Cypress is in the midst of upgrading its backup storage system, Bass said. "I can no longer even come close to doing a full backup," because of the amount of data he has and the time it takes to back it up, he said. "I'm stuck doing selective backups of the most critical data."

Currently Bass has a single tape library from Dell Inc. using SuperDLT drives and is looking to move to a an LTO 3 tape library from Quantum Corp. in San Jose with two Hewlett-Packard LTO-3 Ultrium tape drives using backup software from CommVault Systems Inc. in Oceanport, N.J., he said.