InfoStor articles from May 2005

InfoStor archives from May 2005

E-mail management tops users' priority list.
May 1, 2005... In the latest end-user survey on storage management conducted by TheInfoPro (TIP) research firm, e-mail management came out on top of the "Technology Heat Index" ranking, which weights technologies based on users' adoption plans and the...

Virtualization activity picks up.
May 1, 2005... Although storage virtualization is still in its infancy, a December 2004 IT spending survey conducted by Goldman Sachs shows strong interest in the technology among Fortune 1000 companies, despite a slight dip in interest since last fall. ...

TIP turns up the heat.(EDITORIAL)(TheInfoPro)
May 1, 2005... WE'VE SAID IT BEFORE, but TheInfoPro's surveys are the most comprehensive end-user research we've seen. The hardest thing about writing articles summarizing these reports is that out of hundreds of pages we pull out hundreds of possible topics....

US District Court has granted Alacritech's motion for preliminary injunction to prevent Microsoft from making, using, offering for sale, selling, importing, or inducing others to use Microsoft's "Chimney" TCP offload architecture.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)
May 1, 2005... US District Court has granted Alacritech's motion for preliminary injunction to prevent Microsoft from making, using, offering for sale, selling, importing, or inducing others to use Microsoft's "Chimney" TCP offload architecture slated to be...

A storage management solution that integrates the Accelera 800 and 1600 Network Storage Services (NSS) Platform.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A storage management solution that integrates the Accelera 800 and 1600 Network Storage Services (NSS) Platform from Troika Networks and Storage Virtualization Manager (SVM) from StoreAge Networking Technologies has earned Engenio Compatibility...

InoStor Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tandberg Data ASA, has expanded its current partnership with Condre Storage Inc. to reach VARs and system integrators with Tandberg Data's recently launched LTO tape drives and tape automation product lines.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... InoStor Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Tandberg Data ASA, has expanded its current partnership with Condre Storage Inc. to reach VARs and system integrators with Tandberg Data's recently launched LTO tape drives and tape automation product...

The Information Storage Industry Center (ISIC) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) announced that Rainfinity and NeoScale Systems are now sponsors of the ISIC's StorageNetworking.org Initiative and that InfoStor magazine has been named a media sponsor.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The Information Storage Industry Center (ISIC) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) announced that Rainfinity and NeoScale Systems are now sponsors of the ISIC's StorageNetworking.org Initiative and that InfoStor magazine has been...

Broadcom has entered into sales agreements with both D&H Distributing and Partners in Europe.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Broadcom has entered into sales agreements with both D&H Distributing and Partners in Europe (PIE) to sell Broadcom's RAIDCore family of BC4000 RAID controller cards and XelCore RAID software as well as future products.

Decru DataFort storage security appliances have completed interoperability testing.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Decru DataFort storage security appliances have completed interoperability testing with Neartek's Virtual Storage Engine (VSE).

Correction.(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2005... In the Storage in the Studio supplement in our March issue ("The Power of the Pipeline"), the caption on p. 34 was incorrect. It should have said that Digital Neural Axis (DNA) used a Medea VideoRAID array in its edit/preview suite to house...

IBM, NetApp team up against EMC.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)(International Business Machines Corp)
May 1, 2005... IBM and Network Appliance last month announced a broad OEM agreement designed to combat mutual archrival EMC, primarily in the NAS market. The deal gives IBM OEM privileges to Network Appliance's full line of hardware and software...

Early adopters praise CDP.(CASE STUDIES)(continuous data protection )
May 1, 2005... It has been several years in the making, but end users are beginning to embrace the concept of continuous data protection (CDP), a new category of data protection that industry experts believe has the potential to change the face of "backup and...

Survey shows users replacing tape.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
May 1, 2005... Although the vast majority of all backup/recovery operations are still based on tape, the trend is clearly toward disk-based backup and recovery. Early adopters of disk-to-disk (D2D) backup usually include tape-based devices as a third tier for...

Compliance advice: keep it simple.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)
May 1, 2005... The vendor hype surrounding regulatory compliance is reaching a feverish pitch this year, but some vendors and consultants are advising users not to over-react. "There's a hysteria around compliance that may be more vendor-driven than...

EMC software manages SAN changes.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)(Storage Area Networks)
May 1, 2005... Targeting the 40% of downtime that Gartner Inc. claims is caused by operator error, EMC this month began shipping new functionality for its ControlCenter family of storage resource management (SRM) software. SAN Advisor replaces the SAN...

Kasten Chase targets CAS.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)(content-addressable storage)
May 1, 2005... Kasten Chase, a vendor of data encryption appliances for the storage market, recently extended the support of its Assurency SecureData appliance to content-addressable storage (CAS)-based data archives, citing potential security risks with this...

NetApp banks on VTL, buys Alacritus.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)(Virtual Tape Library )
May 1, 2005... Network Appliance this month is expected to finalize its acquisition of virtual tape library (VTL) vendor Alacritus Software in an all-cash transaction valued at about $11 million, a move NetApp officials say should help the company further...

SNIA adds standards specifications.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)(Storage Networking Industry Association)
May 1, 2005... At last month's Storage Networking World (SNW) conference, the Storage Networking Industry Association announced new specifications that recently passed SNIA approval for further development, including the iSCSI Management API, Multipath...

FineGround joins WAFS pack.(NEWS ANALYSIS + TRENDS)(Wide Area File Services)
May 1, 2005... Next month, FineGround Inc. is expected to begin shipments of a wide area file services (WAFS) appliance, putting the company in competition with other WAFS vendors such as Cisco (via its acquisition of Actona Technologies), DiskSites,...

How to determine server-storage ratios.(READER--EXPERT I/O)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Q: How many servers can be attached to a storage device? A common mistake is to size the number of attached servers based upon the usable capacity of a storage device or the number of available ports. However, many factors can influence how...

Finisar recently acquired I-TECH Corp.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Finisar recently acquired I-TECH Corp., a privately held network test and monitoring company based in Eden Prairie, MN, for approximately $12.1 million in convertible notes.

StoreAge Networking Technologies and Microsoft will be developing enhanced solutions to support Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM).(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... StoreAge Networking Technologies and Microsoft will be developing enhanced solutions to support Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM). Separately, Yosemite Technologies announced "early access" support for the beta version of...

FalconStor Software's VirtualTape Library (VTL) has completed interoperability testing.(BUSINESS BRIEFS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... FalconStor Software's VirtualTape Library (VTL) has completed interoperability testing with software from BakBone (NetVault), CommVault (Galaxy), Computer Associates (BrightStor ARCserve Backup), EMC (EMC Legato NetWorker), Hewlett-Packard (HP...

SANs move downstream to SMBs: case studies illustrate why, and how, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are adopting SANs--both Fibre Channel and iSCSI.(SPECIAL REPORT)
May 1, 2005... When it comes to investigating the benefits of a SAN for their environments, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have many needs similar to those of larger enterprises, including a desire to improve data availability, data protection,...

User survey reveals data migration challenges: rapid data growth, frequent equipment refreshes, and application availability require transparent, efficient, online data migration.
May 1, 2005... Data migrations are a fact of life in the IT world. Server and storage equipment replacements, relocation, consolidation, lease renewals, and balancing workloads drive the need to migrate data on a regular basis. The problem is, data migrations...

Storage's role in entertainment creation/distribution: increasing resolutions, the move to digital content/distribution, video-on-demand, and digital archiving are driving the need for huge storage capacity and bandwidth.
May 1, 2005... The creation and distribution of entertainment content will be a big driver in the growth of digital storage, and likewise, digital storage will enable new technical achievements in content creation and distribution as well as make digital...

Understanding information life-cycle management, part 3: in the last article in our series on ILM we focus on strategies/products from IBM, Hewlett-Packard, ADIC, and FalconStor.(ANALYST VIEW)
May 1, 2005... IN THE FIRST PART of our series on information lifecycle management (see InfoStor, January 2005, p. 36) we defined ILM as a strategy rather than a product. We also defined the four segments of ILM: data classification, data policy, data...

SNIA creates security best practices: follow these guidelines and you'll be on your way to secure resources, data, and media.(SNIA on STORAGE)(Storage Networking Industry Association)
May 1, 2005... If storage security is not on your agenda today, it should be. Today's threats run the gamut from affecting system availability to impacting personal privacy. Attackers are active and the SEC and other regulatory agencies are watching closely...

Debunking the on-demand storage utility: a contrarian's view of why the storage utility model's promise of on-demand provisioning may be inappropriate/contraindicated for your corporate health.(OPINION)
May 1, 2005... THE INDUSTRY DEFINITION of the storage utility model focuses on its ability to provide storage on demand to an increasingly data-hungry business community. Industry pundits often liken the storage utility to electric or water utilities, which...

Sun upgrades StorEdge 6920.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... At the Storage Networking World (SNW) show last month, Sun Microsystems unveiled the latest version of its StorEdge 6920 disk array. The new model includes a number of features such as the following: * StorEdge Pool Manager, which...

Xiotech boosts performance.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Xiotech claims a performance improvement of 2x to 5x with the latest addition to its Magnitude 3D line of clustered disk subsystems. Existing Magnitude users can upgrade to the new Magnitude 3D 3000 with no downtime. The system can be...

Isilon scales to >150TB.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Isilon Systems, a provider of clustered storage arrays, last month introduced three new arrays--the IQ 1920, 3000, and 4800--as well as a new version of its OneFS file system. Isilon claims to be the first vendor of clustered storage arrays to...

McData refreshes fabric switches.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... McData recently introduced a new line of Sphereon switches, which are due next month, including the 4Gbps Sphereon 4700 and 4400. Both Fibre Channel switches provide install and configuration wizards. The higher-end 4700 is FICON CUP-qualified...

Calendar.(Calendar)
May 1, 2005... June 1-2 Brocade Conference 2005--San Jose, CA "Make the Connection' is a free two-day event dedicated to providing Brocade end-user customers and partners with up-to-date technical training from Brocade and other leading SAN and...

PacketLight tests US waters.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Increasing demand for SAN extension products has enticed PacketLight Networks to expand into the US market. The PacketLight Product Suite offers business continuity and disaster recovery over any network. The company recently added new...

Infortrend supports SATA II.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Serial ATA )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Infortrend recently shipped four models of its EonStor RAID subsystems that support the Serial ATA II disk drive interface and single- or dual-port Fibre Channel or SCSI host connections. The 2U, 8- or 12-drive systems support SATA II features...

AMCC ships multi-lane SATA.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Applied Micro Circuits Corp)(Serial ATA )(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Applied Micro Circuits Corp. (AMCC) last month began shipments of multi-lane external Serial ATA (SATA) RAID controllers. The 9500S-4LPME controllers have an integrated cable connector system that combines four SATA ports into a single external...

Iomega upgrades NAS.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Network Attached Storage)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Iomega has added the NAS 300r to its line of NAS appliances. Based on Windows Storage Server 2003, the 300r ranges from 320GB to 500GB, with prices starting at $2,000 for a 320MB model (or 1.2 cents per megabyte), including the company's...

Buffalo adds NAS appliances.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Network attached storage)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Buffalo Technology has expanded its line of TeraStation NAS appliances for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to include 0.6TB (with 160GB drives) and 1.6TB (with 400GB drives) models. Features include Windows and Macintosh...

StorageQuest ships optical NAS.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... StorageQuest's Multi-Services Storage Manager (MSM) 150 is a network-attached optical storage archival appliance that includes compliance features and write-once, read-many (WORM) functionality. The MSM virtualizes optical libraries into one or...

Breece Hill targets SMBs.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Breece Hill recently added features to its iStoRA disk-to-disk-to-tape appliance, including an increase in capacity to 3.2TB, support for LTO-3 and LTO-2 half-height tape drives, WORM functionality, an optional model with dual Xeon processors...

iQstor goes native iSCSI.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... iQstor Networks last month released its iQ1250 storage system with support for native iSCSI. The entry-level IP SAN systems use Serial ATA (SATA) disk drives and include services such as volume manager-based virtualization, snapshots,...

Microsoft previews disk backup manager.(SOFTWARE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Microsoft announced the public beta of its Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) last month. DPM is designed to optimize disk-based backup and recovery. It uses byte-level rather than file-level replication and is designed to...

Hitachi intros software for heterogeneous environments.(SOFTWARE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Hitachi Data Systems claims its new Hitachi HiCommand Tiered Storage Manager is the first software to leave applications undisturbed while it helps users define and dynamically migrate data across multidimensional tiers of storage. Tiered...

Permabit enhances CAS.(SOFTWARE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Permabit last month introduced version 1.4 of its Permeon Compliance Store software (formerly Compliance Vault), which can be used to turn standard disk drives into WORM media for long-term retention of content, including e-mail, instant...

Northern integrates SRM.(SOFTWARE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Built on the company's Quota Server technology, the Northern Storage Suite 2005 integrates all of Northern's storage management software into one storage resource management (SRM) package, including disk quotas, reporting, chargeback,...

Crosswalk upgrades software.(SOFTWARE)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Designed for SMBs that may not have storage specialists, Crosswalk's Storage Manager 2.0 was unveiled last month. The start-up aims to fill the gap between provisioning and automation for mid-tier companies. Sold mainly through the channel, the...