InfoStor articles from August 2003

InfoStor archives from August 2003

Sorting through regulatory compliance hype.
August 1, 2003... You would have had to be living under a rock for the past few months to have missed all the vendor noise about SEC 17a, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley. In fact, many storage vendors have made these new regulations a central focus of their marketing...

Microsoft spurs iSCSI adoption.
August 1, 2003... Earlier this summer, Microsoft announced the availability of its iSCSI software initiator package, which includes a software driver and initiator service. The software works with Windows 2000 client and server versions, Windows XP, and Windows...

Is iSCSI ready for prime time?(editorial)
August 1, 2003... It's been three years coming, but there are signs that iSCSI may be ready for end-user adoption. Although the original developers of the spec--Cisco and IBM--have for the most part failed in spurring user interest in the protocol, support from...

StoneFly Networks.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... StoneFly Networks has secured $12 million in Series C funding, led by Rustic Canyon Partners. Existing investors, including Crescendo Ventures, El Dorado Ventures, and Palomar Ventures, also participated in the latest round of funding, bringing...

Revivio.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... Revivio has secured $20.7 million in Series B funding, bringing the company's total funding to $30.5 million. Globespan Capital Partners, a new investor, led the round, which also included investments from all previous participants--Bessemer...

Overland Storage has acquired Okapi Software, marking its entry into the emerging market of intelligent, disk-based appliances based on iSCSI and Serial ATA disk technologies.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... Overland Storage has acquired Okapi Software, marking its entry into the emerging market of intelligent, disk-based appliances based on iSCSI and Serial ATA disk technologies. The acquisition price of $5 million includes $2.5 million in...

BlueArc.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... BlueArc has secured an additional $47 million in funding, bringing total capital raised to $147 million. MeriTech Capital Partners led the round, with co-investments from Crosslink Capital and RWI Group.

File system management start-up DeepFile has signed a licensing agreement with Collective Technologies, an IT services firm.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... File system management start-up DeepFile has signed a licensing agreement with Collective Technologies, an IT services firm. Collective will incorporate DeepFile's products with its packaged services offerings and is also partnering with...

KVS and MDY Advance Technologies have a strategic partnership for e-mail archiving and records management.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... KVS and MDY Advanced Technologies have a strategic partnership for e-mail archiving and records management. The companies will integrate KVS's Enterprise Vault e-mail archiving and content management software with MDY's FileSurf records...

LSI Logic will participate in the industry's first public demonstration of the exchange of data between Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS) prototype devices at a Colorado Springs reception of the ANSI T10 committee.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... LSI Logic will participate in the industry's first public demonstration of the exchange of data between Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS) prototype devices at a Colorado Springs reception of the ANSI T10 committee. Its SAS controllers based on...

ATTO Technology and NCE Computer Group, a worldwide provider of custom service and storage solutions, announced an agreement that will expand technical support worldwide for both system integrators and end users of ATTO storage products.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... ATTO Technology and NCE Computer Group, a worldwide provider of custom service and storage solutions, announced an agreement that will expand technical support worldwide for both system integrator and end users of ATTO storage products. The...

Compellent Technologies.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... Compellent Technologies has secured more than $14 million in additional financing, bringing the total capital raised to more than $23 million. Funding was led by Cargill Ventures and existing investors El Dorado Ventures and Crescendo Ventures....

Nishan Systems.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... Nishan Systems' IPS 3300 multi-protocol IP storage switch was named SAN Product of the Year at the 10th Annual Networking Industry Awards, based on it functionality, innovation, performance configuration, resilience, ease of use, price and...

Hewlett-Packard has introduced a developers program completely based on an open, industry-standard interface across storage hardware and software.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... Hewlett-Packard has introduced a developers program completely based on an open, industry-standard interface across storage hardware and software. The HP SMI-S Developers Program facilitates part nor development of technologies based on the...

NeoScale Systems' CryptoStor family of storage security appliances have achieved OpenReady-tested status with McData.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... NeoScale Systems' CryptoStor family of storage security appliances have achieved OpenReady-tested status with McData, enabling NeoScale's products to become part of the McData SANtegrity Ecosystem of partners to deliver solutions for securing...

Correction.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... A chart accompanying the article, "High-end NAS market heats up" (InfoStor, May 2003, p. 10), inaccurately reflects the number of terabytes shipped by NAS vendors in 2002. The correct chart is published here. High-end NAS vendors (by...

Is the EMC-Legato deal a win for users?(news analysis & trends)
August 1, 2003... Analysts view EMC's acquisition of Legato, which is expected to be finalized in October, as a win-win for both companies, and most analysts see it as a positive deal for end users--with a few caveats. "We expect end users to win with this...

Veritas continues push beyond storage.(news analysis & trends)
August 1, 2003... With the completion of its acquisition of Precise Software earlier this summer and the release of the first products from its acquisition of Jareva Technologies (see "Veritas expands beyond storage," InfoStor, July 2003, p. 8), Veritas is...

On-demand computing headlines CA World conference.(news analysis & trends)
August 1, 2003... At its annual CA World conference in Las Vegas last month, Computer Associates outlined its vision of on-demand computing and described some of the near-term steps the company plans to take toward that goal. The concept of on-demand...

Start-up delivers out-of-band virtualization.(news analysis & trends)
August 1, 2003... Citing limitations to in-band virtualization, d MonoSphere claims its out-of-band approach to storage virtualization does not cause single points of failure or use host CPU cycles, and can talk to storage area networks (SANs), network-attached...

SMI-S extended for NAS.(news Bytes)
August 1, 2003... The Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S) standard will extend its network-attached storage (NAS) focus in Release 1.1. The SMI-S object model will include NAS objects such as file systems, directories, and related constructs and...

Cisco, IBM team on iSCSI.(news Bytes)
August 1, 2003... Last month, IBM became the first storage vendor to offer Cisco's MDS 9000 IP Storage Services Module. The two companies believe the new blade, which supports both iSCSI and FCIP, will stimulate storage area network (SAN) adoption in mid-tier...

Start-up tackles iSCSI error recovery.(news Bytes)
August 1, 2003... PyX Technologies, in El Cerrito, CA, claims to be the first vendor with iSCSI software that meets the IETF standard for Error Recovery Level Two (ERL2), which is the highest level of iSCSI error recovery. The software supports both initiators...

FCIA announces board members.(news Bytes)
August 1, 2003... The Fibre Channel Industry Association's new board members include Skip Jones (QLogic), Dave Allen (LSI), Tom Hammond-Doel (Vixel), Mark Hamel (Hewlett-Packard), Rich Ramos (Xyratech), Art Edmonds (Hitachi Data Systems), Gordy Lutz (Seagate),...

How to manage DLT.(news Bytes)
August 1, 2003... Quantum recently introduced its DLTSage management software, which provides storage administrators with a view of their SDLTtape resources. Quantum claims that the software enables administrators to better manage, predict, and proactively...

Tape- vs. disk-based backup, Part II.(Reader-Expert I/O)
August 1, 2003... Q: In the last month column, you claimed that a well-designed tape system should out-perform disk-based backup systems. Can you explain what goes into designing such a tape system? Let me first clarify the claim that I made in that column...

SteelEye Technology, a provider of enterprise IT reliability solutions for business continuity.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... SteelEye Technology, a provider of enterprise IT reliability solutions for business continuity, and Sistina Software announced a joint business alliance that will ensure support for customers deploying Linux solutions comprising SteelEye...

The Dexxon-Data Media Group, based in Paris.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... The Dexxon-Data Media Group, based in Paris, has acquired Digital Storage from Daisytek International.

NEC Solutions and OuterBay are working together to deliver PeopleSoft customers a life-cycle approach to manage data growth and reduce infrastructure costs.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... NEC Solutions and OuterBay are working together to deliver PeopleSoft customers a life-cycle approach to manage data growth and reduce infrastructure costs. The solution allows companies to relocate inactive PeopleSoft data to less expensive...

RTKL, an international, multi-disciplined design services practice headquartered in Baltimore, MD.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... RTKL, an international, multi-disciplined design services practice headquartered in Baltimore, MD, has signed a Master Alliance Teaming Agreement with Storage Tek. The companies will jointly identify, pursue, and develop potential sales and...

British Telecom.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... British Telecom (BT) has signed a frame agreement with Nortel Networks optical metro dense wavelength-division multiplexing (DWDM) equipment as a response to customer-driven demand for SAN connectivity. BT's broadband point-to-point data...

Vixel, has added two new OEMs to the list of vendors that are integrating its In-Speed switching technology into disk arrays.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... Vixel, has added two new OEMs to the list of vendors that are integrating its In-Speed switching technology into disk arrays. Xyratex will integrate Vixel's SOC 320 and Vitesse's VSC7197 switching technology in a Fibre Channel disk array....

How prepared are you?(Special series: Part I business continuity planning: the lifeline of forward-looking organizations)
August 1, 2003... According to the META Group, only 20% of Global 2000 organizations have business continuity plans in place that are effective enough to ensure a strong likelihood of survival--one without lasting adverse effects--in the event of a disaster or...

Vendors address NAS management challenges: start-ups and market leaders are focusing on management to ease problems with scaling beyond a single NAS device.(Special Report)
August 1, 2003... Long known for its low cost, heterogeneous file sharing, and simple installation--among other benefits--network-attached storage (NAS) is difficult to manage when scaling beyond the first few appliances. The problems are multifaceted....

Security implications of network-attached storage: networked storage presents additional security vulnerabilities, and protection may require multiple layers of security protection.
August 1, 2003... Two years ago, it was defense in-depth. Last year, it was cyber terrorism. Now a new topic raising quite a few eyebrows IT organizations: storage security. Until recently, they were independent issues. Today, however, the phrase "storage...

A realistic approach to automating storage management: (1) think big, start small, scale fast. (2) Automate the repetitive before the complex. (3) Don't automate what you do; automate what you would do.
August 1, 2003... Many analyst/consulting firms have dubbed storage automation as the "next big thing" in storage management. For instance, the Enterprise Storage Group ("storage process automation"), the Yankee Group ("storage automation"), and Strategic...

iSCSI software initiators vs. iSCSI host bus adapters: for some applications, software initiators will suffice, but more-demanding applications will require iSCSI and TCP/IP hardware accelerators on host bus adapters.
August 1, 2003... The promise of iSCSI for early adopters is affordable storage consolidation solutions for server environments where simplicity, flexibility, and price/performance are critical IT decision factors. While a range of storage applications may...

Jobstor.com.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... jobstor.com, the data storage industry's job board and career portal, has established a Board of Advisors, which consists of industry experts who will provide strategic advice to jobstor.com's executive management team. Charter members of the...

Invio Software has an agreement with McData.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... Invio Software has an agreement with McData, whereby McData will license Invio's Storage Practice Manager software, leveraging its process automation technology to create next-generation enterprise storage management solutions.

EMC is acquiring Legato Systems, Mountain View, CA, in a stock transaction worth approximately $1.3 billion.(Business Briefs)
August 1, 2003... EMC is acquiring Legato Systems, Mountain View, CA, in a stock transaction worth approximately $1.3 billion. The addition of Legato's strengths in heterogeneous information protection and recovery, hierarchical storage management, automated...

Modular disk systems expand to the enterprise: modular RAID arrays are taking over monolithic arrays in applications such as storage consolidation, enhanced backup, and disaster recovery.
August 1, 2003... RAID systems were developed more than a decade ago to solve the common problem of failed disk drives causing applications to fail and end users to lose access to their data. Modular RAID systems were direct-attached to open systems platforms...

Part II: extending storage over WANs: choosing the best solution first requires an understanding of latency, data integrity, and bandwidth utilization.
August 1, 2003... Business continuity and disaster recovery have taken on a very high profile, requiring more and more organizations to extend their storage over long distances using a wide area network (WAN). Not only can losing access to critical data for even...

How to conduct a storage security audit: changes, including new architectures and regulations, can increase your security vulnerability.(SNIA on storage)
August 1, 2003... Data storage and networking technologies are changing. Some of those changes could increase your risks of data loss, damage, or unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data. How do you assess and manage those risks? Are you expanding data...

Which company will save iSCSI? Here's a hint: it's not Cisco, IBM, Intel, or any of the dozens of start-ups.(opinion)
August 1, 2003... You may not think iSCSI needs to be saved, what with the market's renewed attention on the IP-base storage I/O alternative to parallel SCSI, Fibre Channel, and Serial ATA. Yet we've been here before, haven't we? Remember three years ago...

StorageTek.(RAID recap)
August 1, 2003... StorageTek introduced a new member in its D-series line of disk subsystems. Designed for workgroups, the D220 uses 2Gbps Fibre Channel technology, scales from 730GB to 6.1TB, and comes with software that can be used with STK's high-end D-series...

Western Digital and Promise Technology have teamed to offer system builders bundled WD Raptor hard drives and selected Promise FastTrask controller cards.(RAID recap)
August 1, 2003... Western Digital and Promise Technology have teamed to offer system builders bundled WD Raptor hard drives and selected Promise FastTrask controller cards. The bundle includes four 10,000rpm Serial ATA hard drives and a 4-port Promise FastTrak...

3ware.(RAID recap)
August 1, 2003... 3ware recently introduced its second-generation Serial ATA RAID controllers (the Escalade 8506 series) and sixth-generation Parallel ATA RAID controllers (Escalade 7506 series). Both are based on 3ware's StorSwitch non-blocking switching...

Arco Data Protection Systems.(RAID recap)
August 1, 2003... Arco Data Protection Systems' EzRAID disk array does not require a keyboard or monitor, and operates without IRQs, device drivers, or any other software, making it compatible with any platform or operating system. All RAID functions are...

Arena Maxtronic.(RAID recap)
August 1, 2003... Arena Maxtronic's Premium Series RAID systems include dual PCI chipsets, 12 or 16 disk drive trays, an Intel i80303 CPU, Ultra160 LVD SCSI host buses, and up to 512MB of cache memory, The company's Global-Net software allows users to set up...

Dynamic Network Factory.(RAID recap)
August 1, 2003... Available only in a JBOD configuration, Dynamic Network Factory's Taskmaster 4160 array includes EIDE disk drives and data rates up to 160MBps via an Ultra160 LVD SCSI-2 host interface. Users can daisy-chain as many as seven of the 1U arrays...

Kano Technologies.(RAID recap)
August 1, 2003... Kano Technologies has added FireWire connection to its SureVault 800 RAID-5 desktop storage system. The SureVault 800 is hot-pluggable and is recognized by Mac OS X and Windows XP without additional software. The portable system stripes data to...

Rancho Technologies.(RAID recap)
August 1, 2003... Designed to double the length of SCSI cables, Rancho Technologies' Ultra320 SCSI External Expanders can also be used to connect Ultra320 LVD SCSI devices to older HVD SCSI-based servers. The multimode expanders can operate in either LVD or...

Texas Memory Systems.(RAID recap)
August 1, 2003... Texas Memory Systems claims that its RamSan-320 solid-state disk (SSD) device can boost application performance by as much as 25x over standard RAID arrays, assuming 250,000 I/Os per second and 3,000MBps. Based on SDRAM technology, the SSD...

NAS for SMBs.(Disk/Connectivity)
August 1, 2003... Tritton Technologies' Advanced Server Appliance Product (ASAP) combines 120GB of network-attached storage (NAS), VPN, firewall, router, and a 4-port switch. Designed for the small-to-medium business (SMB) market, the array supports Microsoft,...

IntraDyn intros archive appliance.(Disk/Connectivity)
August 1, 2003... IntraDyn's RocketVault is an archiving and e-vaulting system that features Server Managed Vaulting (SMV) technology for on-site and off-site data protection, including backup, archiving, and vaulting. SMV streamlines archiving processes by...

Hitachi ships 250GB ATA/SATA drive.(Disk/Connectivity)
August 1, 2003... Hitachi Global Storage's Deskstar 7K disk drives are available in either Parallel or Serial ATA versions. The 3.5-inch drives have 80GB+ per platter, up to 250GB of total capacity, a rotation rate of 7,200rpm, and 2MB or 8MB buffers. Other...

Start-up ships tape systems for eServers.(Tape)
August 1, 2003... Recently formed GST Inc. is coming out of the gates with 10 tape systems for the IBM eServer family (iSeries, pSeries, xSeries), ranging from stand-alone drives to large libraries. The units support LTO, AIT, and SLR tape formats and are...

JNI improves Solaris drivers.(Software)
August 1, 2003... JNI claims that the 5.3 version of its Solaris driver (for the company's 2Gbps Fibre Channel host bus adapters) is the only driver that does not require the server to be rebooted for dynamic target and LUN re-configuration, driver parameter...

Unitrends bridges backup gap.(Software)
August 1, 2003... Secure Data Sync software from Unitrends allows users to create a synthetic master backup of remote data. The software captures incremental data locally and then synchronizes the data at the block level. This allows enterprises to replicate...

UltraBac upgrades backup software.(Software)
August 1, 2003... UltraBac Software recently released version 7.1 of its backup-and-recovery software. In addition to support for Windows 2003 Server, UltraBac 7.1 includes an updated agent for backup and restore of Unix platforms, as well as remote backup...

Host Interface updates backup software.(Software)
August 1, 2003... Host Interface International's Double age 5.0 software can be used across local or remote networks with an unlimited number of Windows workstations/ servers. Full or incremental backups can be performed using an Explorer-style interface. New...

HSM for the iSeries.(Software)
August 1, 2003... LXI has released a new version of its MMS/hsm hierarchical storage management (HSM) software for IBM's iSeries platforms. Release 5.1.0 features advanced disk-space reclamation forecasting (which improves the ability to predict storage needs),...

KOM automates storage management.(Software)
August 1, 2003... Version 2.1 of KOM Networks' KOMworx life-cycle management software provides data protection that enables hard disk volumes, folders, or files to be archived online instantly so that they are unalterable. The software also improves application...

HSM for the iSeries.(Software)
August 1, 2003... LXI has released a new version of its MMS/hsm hierarchical storage management (HSM) software for iBM's iSeries platforms. Release 5.1.0 features advanced disk-space reclamation forecasting (which improves the ability to predict storage needs),...

Software recovers Outlook e-mails.(Software)
August 1, 2003... BVG Group recently announced the release of OE-Mail Recovery for Windows platforms, a tool for recovering lost e-mails from damaged Outlook Express d-base files. It fixes damaged dbx files and lets users export the e-mails in eml format, which...

hyperI/O monitoring tool supports WMI.(Software)
August 1, 2003... hyperI/O's hlOmon 3.0 file I/O performance monitoring tool now supports Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). The software measures and monitors disk I/O operations at the file level so that files can be appropriately placed in a storage...

Calendar.
August 1, 2003... September 10-12 Storage Decisions--Chicago, IL Sponsored by TechTarget, the conference is designed for senior enterprise IT professionals responsible for making decisions to maximize storage ROI. Topics include storage virtualization,...

Ciprico.(corporate profile)
August 1, 2003... Corporate Description Ciprico Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets storage solutions that simplify and accelerate digital media workflows. Founded in 1978, Ciprico is the leading provider of professional quality storage solutions for...