InfoStor articles from March 2003

InfoStor archives from March 2003

End users prepare for the next data deluge: reference information to grow at 92% per year.
March 1, 2003... One of the biggest problems facing end users today is what to do with all the reference information (or fixed-content data) that is beginning to accumulate within their organizations. According to a "SnapShot Study" conducted by the...

Serial interface groups target compatibility.(SCSI Trade Association, Serial ATA (SATA) II Working Group)
March 1, 2003... The SCSI Trade Association (STA) and the Serial ATA (SATA) II Working Group have embarked on an agreement that will enable Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS, or Serial SCSI) system-level compatibility with Serial ATA disk drives. This means that OEM...

SRM activity picks up.(storage resource management )(Industry Overview)
March 1, 2003... A number of storage resource management (SRM) product announcements over the last couple of months indicate increased end-user interest in a product category that some analysts predict will top $4 billion by 2006. Analysts say SRM will grow...

Network Appliance becomes early iSCSI adopter.
March 1, 2003... Hoping to position itself as an early leader in the still-nascent iSCSI market, Network Appliance last month announced native iSCSI support for its F800 filers and FAS900 storage systems. In voicing its support of iSCSI, NetApp reiterated its...

InfiniBand relegated to niche applications: Dell, IBM, Sun re-commit. (News Analysis & Trends).
March 1, 2003... The buzz around InfiniBand started in 1999, and hype followed quickly as virtually every major server vendor hopped aboard. But a variety of factors put the brakes on the InfiniBandwagon, including the economic slump (which led to cutbacks in...

TOEs gain foothold in NAS market: Alacritech targets Linux-based NAS. (News Analysis & Trends).(TCP/IP offload engine )
March 1, 2003... Continuing its TCP/IP offload engine (TOE) push into network-attached storage (NAS), Alacritech is now targeting Linux-based NAS by partnering with three software companies: FalconStor Software, Mountain View Data, and OpriFacio Software...

HP to merge virtualization platforms. (News Analysis & Trends).
March 1, 2003... Since its acquisition of Compaq, Hewlett-Packard has been in the difficult position of trying to juxtapose a two-platform storage virtualization strategy--one based on the former Compaq VersaStor platform and the other based on the StorageApps...

MaXXan enters storage switch market. (News Analysis & Trends).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Last week, MaXXan Systems began production shipments of an "intelligent switching platform" that promises to move storage intelligence (applications) from hosts and subsystems into the storage network fabric. Although analysts praised the...

EqualLogic readies iSCSI disk array. (News Analysis & Trends).
March 1, 2003... Until recently, iSCSI has not ranked high on end-user priority lists. The absence of a completed standards specification and the lack of native iSCSI target devices (i.e., disk arrays and tape drives) have kept end-user interest levels low. ...

LightSand. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... LightSand has successfully completed all testing and has been awarded OPEN-ready Tested Partner status by McData.

EVault InfoStage database backup plug-ins for Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... EVault InfoStage database backup plug-ins for Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle are now available. The plug-ins extend the ability of EVault InfoStage to disk-to-disk data provide automated, protection and recovery.

ProvisionSoft. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... ProvisionSoft has certified the Emulex LightPulse 2Gbps LP9002L and 1Gbps LP8000 Fibre Channel host bus adapters for use with ProvisionSoft's DynamicIT software.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The British-based Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has deployed Atempo's Time Navigator to protect more than 40TB of science data. Time Navigator is running in a heterogeneous environment that includes P-4000...

FalconStor Software. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... FalconStor Software has announced full support for the new iSCSI standard ratified by the Internet Engineering Task Force.

Inrange Technologies. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Inrange Technologies has been working with IBM and others to provide storage networking solutions that enable customers to leverage the stability, security, scalability, and power of Linux.

SCSI Trade Association. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The SCSI Trade Association (STA), a member-run industry consortium established to support and promote SCSI technology, announced their newly elected Board of Directors for 2003. The board includes President-Harry Mason, director of industry...

Computer Associates simplifies SAN design: acquires Netreon assets. (News Analysis & Trends).
March 1, 2003... Computer Associates officials say that its quisition of key assets of Netreon, a provider of storage area network (SAN) software, will be instrumental in furthering CA's vision of end-to-end storage management. Over the past few months, CA...

Sun launches N1-enabled blade system. (News Analysis & Trends).(Sun Microsystems Sun Fire Blade Platform)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Sun Microsystems last month introduced the Sun Fire Blade Platform, the company's first server blade system with Network One (N1) software--the N1 Provisioning Server 3.0 Blades Edition, which virtualizes a rack of blades as though they were...

IETF finalizes iSCSI standard. (News Bytes).(Internet Engineering Task Force)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... The SCSI specification has completed is labyrinthian trek through the Internet Engineering Task Force's standardization process and has been approved as a "draft" standard. For all intents and purposes, that means that the standard is set, and...

Start-up iSTOR eyes iSCSI. (News Bytes).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Irvine, CA-based iSTOR plans to take its Blade SCSI controller into beta in Q3. The controller is based on an iSNP8000 ASIC with a 10GbE lull wire rate and interfaces for Serial ATA, Serial SCSI, and Fibre Channel back-ends. The company will...

Cisco woos ISVs. (News Bytes).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Cisco has opened up the APIs and SNMP MIBs for its MDS 9000 series of storage switches and directors to help software developers write applications for managing the switches. ISVs in the program include BMC, Computer Associates,...

BMC re-organizes. (News Bytes).(BMC Software Patrol Storage Manager 2.2)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... BMC Software is rolling its storage business unit into one of its core business units while cutting back future investments in its Patrol Storage Manager (PSM) software, although the company will continue to support the product. PSM 2.2 was...

Quantum acquires software start-up. (News Bytes).(SANlight)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Quantum plans to augment its line of "enhanced backup" products with technology acquired from SANlight last month. Last year, Quantum introduced the DX30, a disk-based backup system, and launched the Enhanced Backup Solutions Initiative (EBSI)...

Sistina scores second-round funding. (News Bytes).(Sistina Software)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Sistina Software secured $10 million in funding last month, which it will use in part to expand its suite of products, which includes its Global File System (GFS). GFS is a cluster file system that can be used with IBM Linux mainframes.

What about SANs for SMBs? (Reader-Expert I/O).
March 1, 2003... As a financial analyst covering the data storage industry, I've heard a lot about the opportunity for storage area networks (SANs) in small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). However, when my small firm went to research SAN solutions for out...

Building intelligent storage networks. .(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
March 1, 2003... More data will be created in the next three years than in the last 40,000 years. This fact is often quoted to illustrate the dramatic acceleration of information accumulation. Corporations are grappling with this growth on a daily basis. For...

NAS and SAN converging, NAS-SAN but debates remain: although confusion exists over just what NAS-SAN convergence is, it's clear that some users have a need to merge the best of both worlds. (Special Report).
March 1, 2003... NAS-SAN convergence may be inevitable, but what it actually means depends on a number of factors, including who you talk to. Take the example of the Texas Children's Cancer Center (TCCC), where direct-attached storage systems were...

How to effectively manage your backup environment: window-less backup + replication = the answer?
March 1, 2003... Getting backups done quickly and without application downtime is a big headache for IT administrators--and it is getting bigger. IT managers are looking to the promise of "windowless" backup to lessen the impact of the backup process on...

Comparing replication techniques: snapshots and mirroring; due to decreasing disk costs, replication is becoming affordable to more and more companies.
March 1, 2003... Until recently, data replication was, oddly enough, both a luxury and a necessity. Only large enterprises could afford it--and only for their most critical applications. Today, however, few companies--regardless of size--can afford downtime....

DLT tape scales upward with SDLT 320: SuperDLT 320 outperforms first-generation LTO drives in benchmark tests. (Labs Review).(Hardware Review)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
March 1, 2003... The debate over tape cartridge formats is being driven by the need for increased density (capable of delivering library capacities anywhere from a few to tens of terabytes) and increased throughput. In the midrange market, the two dominant...

NAS + SAN = chocolate + peanut butter? .
March 1, 2003... A lot of vendors talk about NAS-SAN convergence (the topic of this month's Special Report) as though it were the second coming of Reese's peanut butter cups--you know, the best of both worlds. Two years ago, I would have called it Network...

Hitachi Data Systems. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Hitachi Data Systems has completed hardware interoperability qualification testing between its storage products and the Cisco MDS 9509 Multilayer Director, the Cisco MDS 9216 Multilayer Fabric Switch, and associated modules. HDS has also signed...

Nishan Systems announced its Nishan Partner Program, which is designed to provide comprehensive sales and marketing support for Nishan channel partners and to extend its IP storage solutions to more enterprise customers. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Nishan Systems announced its Nishan Partner Program, which is designed to provide comprehensive sales and marketing support for Nishan channel partners and to extend its IP storage solutions to more enterprise customers. Stack Computer, an open...

3ware. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... 3ware has completed a $26 million round of financing, led by U.S. Venture Partners. Other key investment companies include New Enterprise Associates, VantagePoint Venture Partners, and Selby Venture Partners, among others.

DataCore Software and LG-IBM. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... DataCore Software and LG-IBM, a South Korean joint company of LG Electronics and IBM, have signed a comprehensive contract to deliver integrated storage products and solutions to customers in South Korea.

Imation has passed the compliance verification testing process for the LTO Ultrium format Generation 2, set forth by IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Seagate Removable Storage Solutions. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Imation has passed the compliance verification testing process for the LTO Ultrium format Generation 2, set forth by IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and Seagate Removable Storage Solutions. Imation's Black Watch LTO Ultrium Generation 2 tape cartridges...

MTI Technology and Quantum have teamed to deliver an integrated backup/recovery solution incorporating the Quantum DX30, a disk-based backup system that emulates a tape library. (Business Briefs).(Data Sentry VTL)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... MTI Technology and Quantum have teamed to deliver an integrated backup/recovery solution incorporating the Quantum DX30, a disk-based backup system that emulates a tape library. MTI has packaged a turnkey solution called Data Sentry VTL...

NeoScale Systems and Hifn. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... NeoScale Systems and Hifn have a strategic alliance to apply the combined resources of both organizations to address the risk of unauthorized access to stored data for both primary and secondary storage infrastructures.

Pegasus Disk Technologies has added Vanguard Systems as a value-added reseller. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Pegasus Disk Technologies has added Vanguard Systems as a value-added reseller. Vanguard will resell Pegasus' InveStore archive management software, which works with MO, CD, and DVD-based optical drives and jukeboxes.

3PAR announced immediate availability of 3PAR Virtual Copy DBA, a storage solution that enables fast Oracle backups and recoveries using disk-based snapshots. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... 3PAR announced immediate availability of 3PAR Virtual Copy DBA, a storage solution that enables fast Oracle backups and recoveries using disk-based snapshots. Separately, the company has received Veritas Software's qualification of 3PAR Utility...

ProvisionSoft joined Hitachi Data Systems. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... ProvisionSoft joined Hitachi Data Systems' TrueNorth developer's program and will support Hitachi Freedom Storage 9000 product lines with its Dynamic IT provisioning software.

NuView. (Business Briefs).(StorageX 3.0 enterprise file management software)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... NuView has introduced version 3.0 of its StorageX enterprise file management software, which offers enhanced global namespace creation and management. Nu View has also added multi-vendor NAS management and support for Solaris and Red Hat.

Pioneer-Standard Electronics. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Sales Group (ESG), part of its enterprise computer systems operation, has been named an HP partnerONE Platinum Partner.

QLogic's technology is being used in Hewlett-Packard's Fibre architecture, which will enable heterogeneous SAN support on HP ProLiant BL p-Class blade servers. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... QLogic's technology is being used in Hewlett-Packard's Fibre architecture, which will enable heterogeneous SAN support on HP ProLiant BL p-Class blade servers. The architecture features "Fibre Down," the integration of single-chip Fibre Channel...

Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi Data Systems, with Oracle and Oracle Corp. Japan, plan to expand collaboration in the areas of technology, services and support, and sales and marketing. (Business Briefs).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2003... Hitachi Ltd. and Hitachi Data Systems, with Oracle and Oracle Corp. Japan, plan to expand collaboration in the areas of technology, services and support, and sales and marketing. The companies will expand integrated solutions built on Hitachi...