InfoStor articles from July 2008

InfoStor archives from July 2008

SSDs jockey for position in the enterprise.(NEWS analysis + trends)
July 1, 2008... EMC has been shipping solid-state disk (SSD) drives in its Symmetrix DMX 4 systems for months. Sun Microsystems is prepping new hybrid arrays that mix SSDs and traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) to accelerate storage I/O. Hewlett-Packard and...

iSCSI options proliferate.(PRODUCT ROUNDUP)(internet Small Computer System Interface)
July 1, 2008... InfoStor has published dozens of case studies over the last couple of years that have focused on why and how end users are using iSCSI-based IP SANS. In general, it all boils down to the old mantra: "iSCSI is less expensive and easier to manage...

Data de-dupe duplicity.(Editorial)
July 1, 2008... InfoStor has sponsored a number of Webcasts (presented by ESG and the Taneja Group, and archived at www infostor.com) that delve into data de-duplication. In every case, the most frequent question from attendees is: "Realistically, what kind of...

Fusion-io is working with Hewlett-Packard to accelerate enterprise server application performance using its I/O storage technology.(Business BRIEFS)
July 1, 2008... Fusion-io is working with Hewlett-Packard to accelerate enterprise server application performance using its I/O storage technology. The two companies are adapting Fusion io's ioMemory architecture to HP's enterprise-class servers, including the...

Emulex's 8Gbps LightPulse Fibre Channel HBAs are now supported in the HP ProLiant rack-, tower-, and blade-based server portfolio running Windows Server 2003.(Business BRIEFS)
July 1, 2008... Emulex's 8Gbps LightPulse Fibre Channel HBAs are now supported in the HP ProLiant rack-, tower-, and blade-based server portfolio running Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Linux.

Bosch Security Systems and NetApp have formed a partnership whereby Bosch will sell and support co-branded NetApp storage devices.(Business BRIEFS)
July 1, 2008... Bosch Security Systems and NetApp have formed a partnership whereby Bosch will sell and support co-branded NetApp storage devices as part of its closed-circuit television (CCTV) portfolio.

QLogic announced certification of its 2500 Series 8Gbps Fibre Channel HBAs with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2.(Business BRIEFS)
July 1, 2008... QLogic announced certification of its 2500 Series 8Gbps Fibre Channel HBAs with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2. Separately, QLogic has announced volume shipments of the 7200 series of InfiniBand host channel adapters (HCAs). Double Data Rate...

NEC Corporation of America has signed a reseller deal with Synnex that encompasses all of NEC's IT products, including the Express5800 and Series3800 family of servers; D-Series storage arrays and software; and ExpressCluster high-availability and disaster-recovery software.(Business BRIEFS)
July 1, 2008... NEC Corporation of America has signed a reseller deal with Synnex that encompasses all of NEC's IT products, including the Express5800 and Series3800 family of servers; D-Series storage arrays and software; and ExpressCluster high-availability...

NTP Software is now a Gold Level member of the HP Information Management and Storage Partner Program.(Business BRIEFS)
July 1, 2008... NTP Software is now a Gold Level member of the HP Information Management and Storage Partner Program.

Case studies: WAN optimization/acceleration.(NEWS analysis + trends)
July 1, 2008... For several years we have been talking about the basic benefits of WAN optimization and acceleration technologies, including speeding data transfers, saving IT dollars on bandwidth, and giving remote users LAN-like access to data and...

Symantec adds de-dupe, CDP to NetBackup.(NEWS analysis + trends)
July 1, 2008... At its Vision 2008 Conference last month, Symantec announced a series of updates to its Veritas NetBackup software platform, including the integration of data de-duplication and continuous data protection (CDP) technologies previously available...

Atto Technology's 4Gbps Celerity FC host adapters have been qualified for use with IBM's SAN Volume Controller (SVC).(Business BRIEFS)
July 1, 2008... Atto Technology's 4Gbps Celerity FC host adapters have been qualified for use with IBM's SAN Volume Controller (SVC). Separately, Atto will integrate its ExpressSAS R348 SAS RAID adapter with Harris' Inscriber G7 broadcast graphics system.

Voltaire has announced compatibility of its 20Gbps Grid Director InfiniBand switches with LSI's recently introduced Engenio 7900 HPC storage system.(Business BRIEFS)
July 1, 2008... Voltaire has announced compatibility of its 20Gbps Grid Director InfiniBand switches with LSI's recently introduced Engenio 7900 HPC storage system. Voltaire is also collaborating with DataDirect Networks on InfiniBand-based storage solutions....

NetScout has extended its nGenious Performance Management systems.(Business BRIEFS)
July 1, 2008... NetScout has extended its nGenious Performance Management systems to support Riverbed's Steelhead WAN optimization appliances. According to Gartner Inc., the iSCSI market will hit $2 billion in 2010. And according to IDC, the compound...

Why you need SRM and SAN management: the storage management software market can be divided into three segments: heterogeneous SRM, homogeneous SRM, and SAN management software.(Special REPORT)(Cover story)
July 1, 2008... Managing information assets has become more critical as organizations seek ways to reduce costs associated with storing information, better understand what information assets exist and where, and ensure operational uptime of the infrastructure....

Benefits of a storage services architecture: one of the objectives of an IT organization is to streamline operations in order to reduce costs, and well-defined and clearly communicated service offerings are essential to achieving this goal.
July 1, 2008... The basic premise behind a storage services architecture is to address infrastructure as a granular set of reusable services that can be invoked as needed by the appropriate business application. This approach allows organizations to optimize...

The new case for open source data protection: the cost advantages are clear, and most of the drawbacks to open source backup software have recently been eliminated.
July 1, 2008... Open source tools, utilities, and products have been available for many years. While these alternatives tend to offer low acquisition costs, companies have been hesitant to adopt them for several reasons: spotty technical support, poor or...

Evaluating options for tape encryption: there are three primary options for encrypting data "at-rest": device-, application-, and appliance-based encryption.(ANALYST view)
July 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Given that the pressures to encrypt data at-rest are continuing to mount, and the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Secure Storage Working Group is nearly finished establishing standards for...

Dell adds 2.5-inch SAS drives.(NEW PRODUCTS)
July 1, 2008... Dell's PowerVault MD1120 disk array features 2.5-inch small-form-factor (SFF) SAS disk drives. Although Dell has been offering both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drives in its PowerEdge servers for some time, the MD1120 marks the first time the company...

Seagate ships 6Gbps SAS drives.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Although most 2.5-inch SFF SAS drives come in capacities such as 73GB and 146GB, Seagate recently began shipping to OEMs a 300GB SFF drive. According to Seagate, the 10,000rpm Savvio 10K.3 drives reduce power consumption by 70% and increase...

Infortrend ships FC-to-SAS/SATA arrays.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Infortrend's Eonstor S12F-R1432 (dual controller) and S12F-G1433 (single controller) are 2U, 12-bay RAID arrays with 4Gbps Fibre Channel host interfaces and support for SATA and/or SAS drives. Features include RAID 5 and RAID 6; performance of...

NetCom delivers SATA RAID.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... NetCom's NR6 RAID array comes in 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB capacities using 1TB SATA drives and is available with PCIe or eSATA host interfaces. The company claims a data-transfer rate of up to 400MBps, and support for RAID 0, 5, 6, and 10. The arrays...

Robobak: online backup for $1K.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Robobak has released a Standard Edition of its Version 8 Data Protection Platform, an online backup service with prices starting at $1,000 for 100GB of compressed, de-duplicated capacity (or about 200GB to 500GB of user data.) The Standard...

Neverfail intros ClusterProtector.(NEW PRODUCTS)
July 1, 2008... This month, Neverfail added a ClusterProtector enhancement to its Continuous Availability Suite. The software provides continuous data replication for Microsoft Windows Failover Clustering. Replication of application data is done in real-time...

Calendar.(Brief article)(Calendar)
July 1, 2008... SEPTEMBER 17-18 DISKCON USA -- SANTA CLARA, CA Sponsored IDEMA, the two-day conference addresses technical challenges the industry faces in meeting tomorrow's storage mandate. Topics focus on manufacturing and future storage,...