InfoStor articles from February 2008

InfoStor archives from February 2008

Users extol iSCSI benefits, Part 2.(CASE STUDIES)
February 1, 2008... The first article in our series of case studies on why users are embracing iSCSI-based IP SANs concentrated primarily on the benefits of iSCSI in virtual server environments (see January 2008, p. 1). In the second part of our series, we focus...

WAN optimization gaining ground.
February 1, 2008... Virtual private networks (VPNs) still reign supreme as the top technology for tying together the distributed enterprise, but as the number of mobile workers continues to skyrocket, WAN optimization and acceleration technologies are gaining...

The year of iSCSI (or, this is like deja vu all over again).(EDITORIAL)
February 1, 2008... THE VENDOR, ANALYST, and trade press communities have been proclaiming The Year of iSCSI since about 2004. We were always incorrect. However, more than four years after the spec was finalized, I think 2008 will truly be the year that iSCSI hits...

EMC unveiled its software-as-a-service (SaaS) strategy, which calls for the delivery of IT-based SaaS applications built on the EMC Fortress platform in areas such as trusted data services.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... EMC unveiled its software-as-a-service (SaaS) strategy, which calls for the delivery of IT-based SaaS applications built on the EMC Fortress platform in areas such as trusted data services. EMC also announced several reseller agreements with...

3Com and 3Com Open Network (3Com/ON) Program member Expand Networks announced the delivery of WAN optimization as a 3Com Open Services Networking (OSN) application on the new 3Com MSR Series Multi-Service Router platform.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... 3Com and 3Com Open Network (3Com|ON) Program member Expand Networks announced the delivery of WAN optimization as a 3Com Open Services Networking (OSN) application on the new 3Com MSR Series Multi-Service Router platform.

QLogic is now a member in the Interop Vendor Alliance (IVA).(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... QLogic is now a member in the Interop Vendor Alliance (IVA), a community of vendors working together to enhance interoperability with Microsoft systems.

Dot Hill Systems has entered into an OEM agreement with Sepaton.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... Dot Hill Systems has entered into an OEM agreement with Sepaton. Sepaton will integrate Dot Hill's 2730 Turbo storage system with its S2100-ES2 VTL disk-based appliance.

Open-E GmbH.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... Open-E GmbH announced the opening of its Open-E Inc. subsidiary in the US. The company recently opened an office in Tokyo.

Panasas.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... Panasas' ActiveStor Storage Clusters have been certified as part of the Intel Cluster Ready program.

Hifn has released a performance-optimized version of its Swarm iSCSI storage appliances for VMware ESX Server environments that is based on QLogic's iSCSI HBAs.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... Hifn has released a performance-optimized version of its Swarm iSCSI storage appliances for VMware ESX Server environments that is based on QLogic's iSCSI HBAs. The Swarm VMware Edition Model 3200 is configured with 7.5TB of capacity.

Atto Technology's ExpressSAS RAID adapters have been certified by Fujitsu Computer Products of America's latest SAS disk drives.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... Atto Technology's ExpressSAS RAID adapters have been certified by Fujitsu Computer Products of America's latest SAS disk drives--the MBA3300 and MBB2147 Series enterprise drives.

Crossroads Systems has qualified ProStor Systems' InfiniVault archive appliance as compatible with Crossroads' SurePath File.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... Crossroads Systems has qualified ProStor Systems' InfiniVault archive appliance as compatible with Crossroads' SurePath File-Migrator Agent (FMA).

InMage Systems and Mainline Information Systems, an IBM Premier Business Partner.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
February 1, 2008... InMage Systems and Mainline Information Systems, an IBM Premier Business Partner, have signed a strategic agreement to bring InMage's flagship DR-Scout to Mainline's customers.

EMC ships entry-level Clariion: targets iSCSI, Vmware.(NEWS: ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
February 1, 2008... EMC recently began shipments of a low-end Clariion disk array aimed at meeting the storage needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), but this time around EMC has a specific type of SMB customer in mind--VMware users. The Clariion...

Brocade delivers on data-center strategy.(NEWS: ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
February 1, 2008... Brocade offered a sneak peek at its strategy for the future late last year and is now delivering products designed to be the foundation for a new generation of data centers. The company recently announced the availability of the DCX Backbone,...

NetApp buys Onaro for SAN management.(NEWS: ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
February 1, 2008... Network Appliance has recently acquired Onaro, a privately owned company with software that provides an application-centric view into a SAN's access paths, redundancy, replication, and performance. According to NetApp officials, the...

Dell to resell EMC array.(NEWS: ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
February 1, 2008... Dell recently began shipments of the Dell/ EMC AX4-5 disk array, which is a re-branded version of EMC's AX4 array. "This is the first Dell/EMC product that supports both SAS and SATA in the same array," says Eric Cannell, product manager for...

IBM buys start-up for fixed digital content.(NEWS: ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
February 1, 2008... IBM kicked off 2008 last month with news that it had acquired XIV, a privately held storage technology company based in Tel Aviv, Israel, that specializes in grid-based storage systems for fixed digital content. XIV has developed a storage...

EMC adds flash drives to Symmetrix.(NEWS: ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
February 1, 2008... In an effort to gain an edge in high-performance storage environments, EMC recently announced the integration of flash-based solid-state drives (SSDs)--OEM'd from STEC--into its portfolio of Symmetrix DMX-4 storage systems. Solid-state...

Onaro extends into virtual environments.(NEWS: ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
February 1, 2008... As virtual server infrastructures take hold, the need to see the links between virtual machines and storage grows. In response to the shift from physical to virtual data centers, Onaro recently made some additions to its SANscreen software...

Data de-duplication: questions and answers: eight questions that every IT organization should ask about data de-duplication before they deploy or upgrade.(SPECIAL REPORT)
February 1, 2008... Data de-duplication is arguably one of the most important new technologies to hit the storage market in years, and it's a game-changing technology that can have an immediate impact on end-user environments. By reducing the amount of...

User survey: data-protection trends: an end-user survey shows strong interest in disk-based backup/recovery technologies such as VTLs, data de-duplication, and CDP.(SPECIAL REPORT)(Survey)
February 1, 2008... Drawing a broad conclusion from a recent survey of InfoStor's readers, commissioned by Sepaton, IT organizations are getting better with regard to their data-protection implementations compared to a few years ago, but there is definitely much...

Disk drive market/technology/trends update: improvements continue in form factors, rotation speeds, interfaces, recording technology, energy consumption, and encryption.
February 1, 2008... In an industry known for its cyclical up/downturns, the hard disk drive (HDD) market appears to be relatively stable. The TrendFocus market research firm expects HDD shipments to surge from 495 million in 2007 to 768 million in 2011, a compound...

Thin-provisioning options for file systems: although there are some situations where thin provisioning of NAS devices does not make sense, most data centers can benefit substantially from the technology.
February 1, 2008... Thin provisioning for file systems was first introduced in 2002 and has experienced renewed interest with the explosive growth in thin-provisioned block storage subsystems. Most major NAS vendors offered this technology by 2004 to alleviate...

Managing resource growth with storage virtualization: storage virtualization helps Purdue University manage storage complexity, facilitate change, and reduce costs.(CASE STUDY)
February 1, 2008... WIKIBON WAS INITIALLY SKEPTICAL when EMC cited Purdue University as a key reference for its Invista 2.0 virtualization engine. Several Wikibon members indicated that a university environment was not the classic reference model for...

VTL delivers real performance with virtual reels: Overland Storage's REO 9500D is a high-performance, data de-duplicating virtual tape library packaged as a fully configured appliance.(LAB REVIEW)
February 1, 2008... WITH NO HOPE OF ANY near-term respite in the growth of storage, enterprise and mid-tier IT sites have embarked on a number of resource management strategies and tactics, which include storage and system consolidation, iSCSI expansion of Fibre...

Storage changes: band-aids and plastic surgery.(ESg: INSIGHT)
February 1, 2008... THERE IS A NATURAL tendency to look back at what changed during the past year and then make predictions for the forthcoming year. The storage business is no exception. This can be disconcerting for storage professionals who are struggling just...

FalconStor teams with Virtual Iron.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... FalconStor Software and Virtual Iron, a provider of server virtualization software, have formed an alliance to streamline storage and server virtualization deployments. By jointly certifying their products, the companies aim to enhance business...

Nexsan targets Apple Xserve market.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... Next month, Nexsan Technologies is expected to begin shipping a RAID array designed specifically for the Apple Xserve server/storage market. The company is emphasizing density and energy efficiency, as well an Xserve look and feel (management...

Calendar.
February 1, 2008... March 11-13 Data Protection Summit 2008--Irvine, CA The conference provides attendees with practical information on the current state of data protection and focuses on information security, information lifecycle management, business...

Samsung enters Enterprise HDD market.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... Previously known primarily as a manufacturer of hard disk drives for the mobile/ desktop markets, Samsung will enter the so-called "enterprise" segment of the drive market next month with shipments of the 1TB Spinpoint F1 RAID (F1R) series of...

Server/storage system supports SAS/SATA.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... AMAX's StorMax is a hybrid server-storage platform with 14 2.5-inch SAS/SATA drive bays and six quad-core Intel Xeon 5400 processors and up to 12MB of cache memory. The systems support RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, and 50 and are based on Intel's...

Enhance intros iSCSI arrays.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... Enhance Technology's UltraStor RS16 IP-4 RAID arrays come in a 3U form factor and can be configured with 16 drives and four Gigabit Ethernet connections. Other features of the iSCSI subsystems include a 64-bit RAID controller, support for 1TB...

NAS appliance starts at $899.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... Buffalo Technology's 2U TeraStation Pro II NAS device is priced at $899 for a 1TB version; $1,299 for 2TB; and $2,299 for a 4TB configuration with 7,200rpm SATA drives. The rack-mount units support RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10, as well as JBOD...

iQstor's iSCSI RAID array scales to 240TB.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... iQstor Networks' iQ2850 iSCSI RAID array includes software features such as volume managementbased virtualization, snapshots, mirroring, remote replication, storage provisioning, and policy-driven capacity expansion. The iQ2850 can be populated...

Quantum debuts half-height LTO-4.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... Claiming performance equivalent to full-height LTO-4 tape drives, Quantum has begun shipping the half-height LTO-4 HH tape drives, with up to 800GB of native capacity and a transfer rate of up to 432GB per hour. The devices include AES...

DataCore offers low-cost SAN for virtual servers.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... DataCore Software has introduced a VM Starter SAN version of its iSCSI-based SANmelody software that includes features such as thin provisioning, SANmotion data migration, caching software, snapshots, synchronous mirroring, and asynchronous...

Infortrend ships SFF RAID.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
February 1, 2008... Infortrend is shipping two small-form-factor (SFF) RAID arrays--the SAS-to-SAS EonStor B12SR/ G1030 and the Fibre Channel-to-SAS B12F-R/ G1430. The 2.5-inch SAS drives draw 40% to 50% less power than conventional 3.5-inch drives. The 1U, 12-bay...

Toshiba to ship 128GB solid-state drive.(NEW PRODUCTS)
February 1, 2008... This month, Toshiba and its Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) subsidiary entered the market for NAND flash-based solid-state drives (SSDs) with multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory. A 32GB version is due this month, followed by 64GB...