InfoStor articles from March 2006

InfoStor archives from March 2006

Cost, compatibility are key for VTLs.(CASE STUDIES)(virtual tape libraries )
March 1, 2006... It's no secret that disk-based backup is now a top priority for a large number of enterprises, and virtual tape libraries (VTLs) are emerging as the technology of choice for fixing the broken backup-and-recovery process. But how do end users...

NetApp joins VTL fray.(Network Appliance Inc. releases two virtual tape libraries)
March 1, 2006... Network Appliance last month kicked off a disk-to-disk backup campaign with the release of two virtual tape libraries (VTLs) and related services. The company also released an enhanced version of its Decru DataFort security appliance for data...

The good thing about standards ...(EDITORIAL)
March 1, 2006... ... IS THAT THERE'S SO MANY OF THEM. There's an interesting brouhaha brewing in the storage management standards arena. As covered in senior editor Kevin Komiega's story on p. 8 (see "Users drive open source storage initiative"), an open source...

Emulex and QLogic have joined Blade.org, an industry community created by IBM to focus on accelerating the expansion of solutions for IBM's BladeCenter (a blade server co-developed by IBM and Intel).(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... Emulex and QLogic have joined Blade.org, an industry community created by IBM to focus on accelerating the expansion of solutions for IBM's BladeCenter (a blade server co-developed by IBM and Intel). Blade.org aims to spur development around...

Globalstor Data and Xyratex have entered into an OEM agreement.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... Globalstor Data and Xyratex have entered into an OEM agreement whereby Globalstor will integrate Xyratex's disk arrays into its storage systems and digital video solutions.

SonicWALL.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... SonicWALL launched its SonicWALL Continuous Data Protection (CDP) Solution Series, which provides recovery of data in the event of disaster. SonicWALL CDP solutions are the first SonicWALL-branded products to be introduced as a result of the...

Symantec has completed the acquisition of IMlogic, an instant-messaging software vendor.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... Symantec has completed the acquisition of IMlogic, an instant-messaging software vendor. Separately, Symantec broadened its support of Sun technologies to include Solaris 10 on the AMD Opteron-based Sun Fire systems with its Veritas Storage...

Arkeia Software.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... Arkeia Software has shifted to a 100% channel strategy and recently launched its JumpStart Partner Program for VARs. The program includes a number of incentives related to pricing, margins, and support.

LSI Logic.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... LSI Logic's Engenio storage systems have achieved Solaris Ready certification within the Sun Cluster Open Storage Program.

iStor Networks has an OEM partnership with Kano Technologies.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... iStor Networks has an OEM partnership with Kano Technologies. Integrating iStor's GigaStorATX enables Kano to expand its product line with an iSCSI subsystem, iStor's Giga-StorATX will be used as centralized storage for electronic data,...

Dynamic Network Factory has acquired StoneFly Networks, which is now called StoneFly Inc.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... Dynamic Network Factory has acquired StoneFly Networks, which is now called StoneFly Inc. StoneFly will continue to maintain its San Diego headquarters, operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of DNF with a directive to expand its line of iSCSI...

Xiotech has qualified and will resell the Brocade Silk-Worm 200E Fabric Switch.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... Xiotech has qualified and will resell the Brocade Silk-Worm 200E Fabric Switch with its Magnitude 3D network storage systems.

Users drive open source storage initiative.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
March 1, 2006... Another storage industry group has joined the race to deliver a universal storage management framework, but this time the vendor community isn't leading the effort. Last month, a Website called StorageRevolution.com went online with a mission...

EMC refreshes product line: Insignia brand aimed at SMBs.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
March 1, 2006... Last month, EMC introduced a line of hardware and software products aimed at meeting the storage requirements of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Dubbed "Insignia," the new line primarily comprises existing products that have been...

ILM a higher priority than security.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
March 1, 2006... A recent survey conducted by GlassHouse Technologies, a storage consulting and services provider, reveals that IT organizations will focus primarily on increasing storage infrastructure efficiencies and holding down costs this year. The 2006...

Disaster-recovery plans fall short.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
March 1, 2006... A survey of 500 IT managers conducted by Applied Research shows that nearly half of the companies do not have a disaster-recovery (DR) plan in place. Why? Lack of resources was cited by 33% of the respondents, while 27% don't see a need for DR...

Abrevity tackles data classification.(introduces FileData Manager, BioData Manager)
March 1, 2006... At the ILM Summit last month, Abrevity introduced its FileData Manager information classification management (ICM) product. Both FileData Manager and BioData Manager, which was introduced in January, run on top of 1Base, the foundation of...

HP acquires OuterBay.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
March 1, 2006... Hewlett-Packard recently completed its acquisition of database archiving specialist OuterBay Technologies in an effort to advance its information lifecycle management (ILM) offerings and bolster the capabilities of its Reference Information...

Survey reveals archiving/backup confusion.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
March 1, 2006... A survey conducted by eMedia and commissioned by BridgeHead Software reveals that the process of archiving data is often misunderstood and inefficiently implemented by US enterprises. The survey concludes that failing to archive properly can...

SCSI Trade Association.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... The SCSI Trade Association (STA) announced its new board of directors for 2006. Re-elected to the position of president was Harry Mason of LSI Logic, president from 1995 through 2000 and again from 2002 to 2006. New board members are Don...

LeftHand Networks has expanded open iSCSI SAN support for the HP ProLiant DL380 G4 SAS server.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
March 1, 2006... LeftHand Networks has expanded open iSCSI SAN support for the HP ProLiant DL380 G4 SAS server, which uses LeftHand SAN/iQ technology.

Combining storage virtualization and iSCSI: coupling storage virtualization with iSCSI-based IP SANs provides a number of benefits.
March 1, 2006... Every technical advance and innovation in the storage industry comes with disruption to users' conventional practices, battles among vendors, and the ever-present hype factor. Storage virtualization and iSCSI are no exceptions. But the hype is...

Storage stokes the creative process: high-speed data transfers and collaborative content sharing top the storage priorities at DCC facilities.(CASE STUDIES)(digital content creation)
March 1, 2006... Most digital content creation (DCC) professionals don't think much about their company's underlying storage system unless it starts to impact their creative efforts--like being stuck waiting for a file to be copied or rendered, or having to...

SAN speeds Capital FX's DI process: postproduction studio combines a SAN with a shared file system to keep the workflow flowing.(SGI InfiniteStorage RM660 SAN)
March 1, 2006... With seven digital film recorders running 24x7 and more film directors requesting the impressive visual fidelity of the 4K digital intermediate (DI) process, Capital FX, a leading UK postproduction company, has to keep its workflow, well,...

ILM's state-of-the-art (storage) studio: Industrial Light & Magic uses high-speed NAS servers with a distributed file system, 10Gbps Ethernet, and a 5,000-node render farm to store and move 170TB of content.(STORAGE IN THE Studio)
March 1, 2006... When George Lucas moved a large part of his filmmaking empire from San Rafael, CA--a small town north of San Francisco--into a state-of-the-art, four-building complex on 17 acres of parkland in San Francisco's Presidio, he spared no detail....

Storage networking options for moving terabytes: your choices boil down to Fibre Channel SANs, iSCSI SANs, NAS, and InfiniBand--all at a variety of performance and cost points.(STORAGE IN THE Studio)
March 1, 2006... It may seem like a question you would ask a first grade student: Is 10 better than four? In this case, the "10" is 10Gbps Ethernet, and the "four" is 4Gbps Fibre Channel. However, for data transport, raw (theoretical) speeds don't necessarily...

Quantum redefines DLT 'value': by giving DLT drives the software functionality of SDLT, Quantum puts the squeeze on DAT with the launch of the DLT-V4.(LAB REVIEW)(Product/service evaluation)
March 1, 2006... WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF ITS fourth generation of DLT "value" tape drives, Quantum's product road map has a simplified naming scheme. While the old SuperDLT (SDLT) moniker is gone, drive development will continue along two distinct lines:...

Sepaton VTL extends DR.(virtual tape library)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Sepaton's Site2 electronic vaulting software runs on the company's $2100-ES2 virtual tape library (VTL) and replicates data from data centers over a WAN to remote locations. Integrated with a backup application, Site2 uses Sepaton's VTL to...

Data Domain adds VTL option.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Data Domain has added a VTL option for its DD400 series of disk-based backup appliances. Users now have the option of emulating a tape library over Fibre Channel, in addition to backing up to a file system over Ethernet. Data Domain...

Atto ships 4Gbps Fibre Channel array.(ATTO Technology Inc.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Atto Technology's FastStream 5300 is a JBOD/RAID array with 4Gbps Fibre Channel host connections, Ultra320 SCSI drive connections, and more than 480MBps of throughput. Supporting RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10, the 1U subsystems are designed for...

WD ships 500GB SATA drives.(Western Digital Corp.)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Western Digital recently began shipments of the 500GB Serial ATA (SATA) Caviar SE16 desktop-class hard drives. The 7,200rpm drives have a 300MBps transfer rate, 16MB cache, and native command queuing (NCQ). Suggested price is $349.99. ...

Finisar adds SAS, SATA.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Finisar has added support for the Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) and Serial ATA (SATA) protocols to its Xgig Analyzer 3.0 tester, which enables users and manufacturers to decode and analyze SAS and SATA traffic and automatically detect errors. ...

Asigra launches remote office backup software.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... Asigra recently launched a new version of its Televaulting software aimed at meeting the backup-and-recovery objectives of remote branch offices. Televaulting Version 6.0 includes a number of new features, including Oracle 10g and SQL 8.0...

NTP 'digs deep' with heuristics.(NTP Software Inc., QFS with Deep Scan )(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... NTP's QFS with Deep Scan software uses heuristics to determine the content of files, even if the file extension has been changed. New features in the software, which is currently available only for Network Appliance editions of QFS, include...

UltraBac: 'dissimilar hardware restore'.(UltraBac Software)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... UltraBac Software's UBDR Gold Version 3.0 software eliminates the need for users to buy identical hardware spares for disaster-recovery operations. The Windows-based software can restore to a system with a different hardware abstraction layer...

3PAR intros Utility DLM.(3PARdata Inc., Data Llifecycle Management)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... 3PAR recently introduced Utility Data Lifecycle Management (DLM), which is designed to reduce storage costs without the expense and complexity associated with information lifecycle management (ILM). Utility DLM includes a scalable tiered...

Calendar.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Calendar)
March 1, 2006... April 24-27 EMC World--Boston, MA Sponsored by EMC, the conference features more than 330 technical sessions via lectures, live demonstrations, and hands-on workshops. Technical keynotes, 17 breakout sessions, exhibits, and...

Plextor enters NAS market.(introduces new servers)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... This month, Plextor entered the NAS market with low end appliances with 250GB (PX-EH25, $299 MSRP) or 400GB (PX-EH40L, $449 MSRP) capacities. The PX-EH series appliances include a print server that can share a USB-connected printer. Other...