InfoStor articles from May 2009

InfoStor archives from May 2009

EMC overhauls Symmetrix architecture.(NEWS analysis + trends)
May 1, 2009... EMC last month unveiled a new high-end storage architecture and Symmetrix systems that blow away the current line of Symmetrix DMX-4 arrays in terms of performance, scale and automated management in virtualized data centers. EMC's Virtual...

FalconStor accelerates VTL backups.(NEWS analysis + trends)
May 1, 2009... At the Storage Networking World conference in Orlando last month, FalconStor Software announced an option for its popular Virtual Tape Library (VTL) platform that promises to accelerate backups and eliminate the backup window. "VTLs solve...

Go online for in-depth lab reviews.(ONLINE)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Although some of our lab reviews run in print (see "SAN clarity in a virtual cloud" in this issue), infostor.com is the best place to read all of our in-depth, hands-on reviews from the Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) and openBench Labs. ...

Virtual servers create storage challenges.(EDITORIAL)
May 1, 2009... Server virtualization is arguably the hottest trend in the IT arena, but users are rapidly finding out that virtualization can create as much complexity as it does consolidation, particularly in storage. This month's Special Report, by Taneja...

Sepaton.(Business BRIEFS)
May 1, 2009... Sepaton has secured $15.5 million in series F financing. The company claims more than 1,300 customers and 100PB under management.

Fusion-io.(Business BRIEFS)
May 1, 2009... Solid-state storage vendor Fusion-io has closed $47.5 million in Series B funding from a group of investors led by global venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company also announced that David Bradford has been named CEO.

Nirvanix announced that its CloudNAS software has been certified to work with Ocarina Networks' ECOsystem capacity optimization technology.(Business BRIEFS)
May 1, 2009... Nirvanix announced that its CloudNAS software has been certified to work with Ocarina Networks' ECOsystem capacity optimization technology to deliver up to a 10:1 reduction in the size of files.

Online backup provider AmeriVault and NTG, a hosting services and data protection provider.(Business BRIEFS)
May 1, 2009... Online backup provider AmeriVault and NTG, a hosting services and data protection provider, have combined to form a new company called Venyu, which will provide data protection, availability and recovery services. The parent company is PHNS.

Asigra and CoreVault are partnering to bring cloud backup and recovery services based on Asigra's Cloud Backup platform.(Business BRIEFS)
May 1, 2009... Asigra and CoreVault are partnering to bring cloud backup and recovery services based on Asigra's Cloud Backup platform. CoreVault allows users to store copies of backup data both onsite and offsite in its two facilities for disaster recovery.

PMC-Sierra.(Business BRIEFS)
May 1, 2009... PMC-Sierra's SRC 8x6G 6Gbps SAS RAID-on-Chip (RoC) and SXP 36x6GSec 6Gbps SAS expanders are shipping across HP's new line of ProLiant G6 servers. The companies claim a 150%+ increase in RAID-5 write performance, and a 350%+ increase in RAID-0...

PLX Technology and solid-state storage specialist Fusion-io have entered into a partnership under which Fusion-io is using PLX ExpressLane Gen 2 PCIe switches in its ioDrive Duo SSD product.(Business BRIEFS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... PLX Technology and solid-state storage specialist Fusion-io have entered into a partnership under which Fusion-io is using PLX ExpressLane Gen 2 PCIe switches in its ioDrive Duo SSD product. Fusion-io also plans to use PLX's PCIe switches in...

QLogic delivers single-chip CNAs.(NEWS analysis + trends)(converged network adapters )
May 1, 2009... QLogic is shipping to OEMs and its channel partners the second generation of its converged network adapters (CNAs), which support the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) protocol. Company officials claim that virtually all of the Tier-1 server...

Brocade debuts FCoE switches, CNAs.(NEWS analysis + trends)(Brocade 8000 Switch and converged network adapters )
May 1, 2009... Brocade fired the latest shot in the battle for the converged networking market last month with the announcement of a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) and Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE) switch and an accompanying set of converged network...

Cisco unveils Unified Computing System.(NEWS analysis + trends)
May 1, 2009... Cisco has put a new twist on next-generation data centers with the debut of the Unified Computing System (UCS), which combines compute, network, storage access, and virtualization resources in a single system based on a new line of blade...

3PAR ships quad-controller array.(NEWS analysis + trends)
May 1, 2009... 3PAR has added two systems to its midrange family of storage arrays, including a quad-controller Fibre Channel system priced for midrange environments. Vice president of marketing Craig Nunes claims the InServ F-Class--which consists of...

Q&A with EMA: virtual servers and storage.(NEWS analysis + trends)(Interview)
May 1, 2009... Are the virtual server and disaster recovery/business continuance management roles mutually exclusive? Andi Mann: This is a big area of overlap for server administrators, so they are not mutually exclusive, but the two groups have to work...

Dell overhauls iSCSI SANs.(NEWS analysis + trends)
May 1, 2009... Dell has transitioned to a new series of EqualLogic iSCSI SANs with faster processors, more cache, additional Ethernet ports, and support for solid-state disk (SSD) drives. The new Dell EqualLogic PS6000 series storage arrays include five...

Who are the perceived leaders?(NEWS analysis + trends)(computer industry market research)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... [GRAPHIC OMITTED] The data in these charts is compiled from the IT Brand Pulse April 2009 Leader Surveys. As part of each survey, end users were asked which vendor they perceive as the market leader in various technology areas, including...

Why you need virtual infrastructure optimization: VIO provides critical insight and management for virtual server, storage, network and application environments.(Special REPORT: Storage Issues for Virtual Servers)
May 1, 2009... There have been a number of changes in enterprise IT organizations that have overtaken many administrators. While the IT manager's every day is a swim through waves of invisible bits, there has long been some comfort to be found in the...

Aptare SRM targets virtual servers.
May 1, 2009... Storage resource management (SRM) software maker Aptare recently introduced a new version of its StorageConsole software with functionality for better control of storage resources within VMware virtual server environments. The Aptare...

FalconStor: zero-impact backups for VCB.
May 1, 2009... FalconStor Software's HyperTrac Backup Accelerator for VMware Consolidated Backup (VCB) is an option that integrates with FalconStor's Network Storage Server (NSS) virtualization and provisioning platform. HyperTrac is designed to optimize VCB...

Sorting out SSD strengths and weaknesses: there are many options available for solid-state disk (SSD) drives, and a number of organizations--including SNIA--are working on standards that will facilitate the evaluation process.(SNIA on storage)
May 1, 2009... SSDs are bursting onto the scene in many forms with a variety of features, I/O interfaces, speeds, capacities, and internal architectures. This article explores how users can evaluate the various types of SSDs, and explains the role of the...

Storage tiers create benefits, challenges: a shift towards efficiency is raising the demand for more cost-effective ways to store file-based data without creating additional complexity.
May 1, 2009... Faced with tighter budgets and sparser resources, waste is not an option for most storage administrators. Yet aligning appropriate storage resources with application demands is still a challenge. Storage tiering has been available for some...

SAN clarity in a virtual cloud: as the number of virtual servers sharing the physical FC HBA ports of a VOE server increase, SAN fan-out is no longer just a switch issue: It becomes a server HBA issue that mandates management of SAN infrastructure from switches to HBAs.
May 1, 2009... For IT administrators, all of the popular HBAs, whether from Brocade, Emulex or QLogic, provide a GUI-based management application: Brocade's Host Connectivity Manager (HCM), QLogic's SANsurfer, and Emulex's HBAnyware. Each of these...

CA upgrades SRM software.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2009... Storage Resource Manager (SRM) r11.7, CA's software for distributed (non-mainframe) environments, now supports both host/server and storage virtualization. On the host side, CA SRM supports VMware, with support for Microsoft's Hyper-V in the...

Mimosa archives SharePoint.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Mimosa NearPoint for SharePoint)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Mimosa Systems, which is primarily known for data protection, e-mail and file archiving software, has extended its reach into the fast-growing Microsoft SharePoint archiving market with the debut of Mimosa NearPoint for SharePoint. The...

Data Domain upgrades D2D.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Data Domain has expanded its line of de-duplicating disk-based backup products with the introduction of the DD660, a quad-core processor system that offers a 50% increase in both speed and capacity over its dual-core predecessor. The...

Continuity enhances DR.(NEW PRODUCTS)(Continuity Software's RecoverGuard 4.0 disaster recovery software)(Brief article)
May 1, 2009... Continuity Software has added high availability (HA) gap detection and reporting to its RecoverGuard software. RecoverGuard 4.0 has improvements in cluster system support, root cause analysis, and HA gap detection and reporting, all aimed...

Double-Take revamps software.(NEW PRODUCTS)
May 1, 2009... Double-Take Software has added boot-from-SAN and migration capabilities to its data protection repertoire as it expands beyond continuous data protection (CDP), replication and failover with a new software suite. All of the company's...