InfoStor articles from September 2003

InfoStor archives from September 2003

Auto-provisioning rises to top of user 'wish list'.
September 1, 2003... Auto-provisioning may sound too good to be true, but it isn't. A variety of products are available to help end users streamline the time-consuming and tedious task of provisioning resources (e.g., heterogeneous disk arrays) within storage area...

Easing e-mail management headaches.
September 1, 2003... E-mail is one of IT's greatest challenges from both a management and data-protection standpoint. And that's no surprise given the fact that businesses are sending more than 2.75 trillion e-mails per year, according to the Gartner consulting...

Business continuity still on center stage.(editorial)
September 1, 2003... This issue includes the second installment in our four-part special series on business continuity and disaster recovery. BC/DR has always been a top IT priority at large organizations. And two years ago this month, it became a priority for all...

Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA).(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... The Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) announced its Board of Directors for 2003-04. Bob Williamsen (McData) is FCIA secretary, and Tom Hammond-Doel (Vixel) is FCIA treasurer. Members-at-large include David Allen (LSI Logic); Yuichi Arai...

Artesia Technologies and Storigen Systems.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... Artesia Technologies and Storigen Systems have a partnership that unites Artesia TEAMS distributed repository capabilities with Storigen's Distributed Storage Network (DSN). The companies have integrated their respective products and are...

Correction.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... In the July 2003 cover story, "Focus shifts from backup to recovery," we incorrectly classified StorageTek's EchoView as a next-generation snapshot technology. EchoView does not use any snapshot, nor does it create snapshots. In fact, EchoView...

St. Bernard Software has announced an OEM relationship with Lindon, UT-based Altiris.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... St. Bernard Software has announced an OEM relationship with Lindon, UT-based Altiris, whereby Altiris will integrate St. Bernard's Embedded Open File Manager into Altiris Recovery Solution 5.7.

DataCore Software has teamed with NOX Co. Ltd.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... DataCore Software has teamed with NOX Co. Ltd., a network systems integrator and solution provider, to address storage management needs in combined SAN/NAS environments. NOX will offer consultation, implementation, sales, and support for...

To the editor.
September 1, 2003... (Editor's note. The following was sent in response to the editorial in the August 2003 issue of InfoStor, p. 6.) Do the big storage network players want adoption of 10Gbps or 4Gbps Fibre Channel? If they go to 4Gbps they don't keep up with...

Users look forward to fabric-based intelligence.(news analysis & trends)
September 1, 2003... Despite the fact that the technology will not be available from major vendors until next year, end users are surprisingly interested in running storage applications in fabrics, as opposed to hosts or storage subsystems. In a recent InfoStor...

Distributors report low demand for iSCSI.(news analysis & trends)
September 1, 2003... Storage distributors say demand for iSCSI products remains weak for several reasons, including lack of products, perceived performance limitations, interoperability concerns, and a general lack of understanding about the potential benefits of...

The last--and first--SSP calls it quits.(News analysis & trends)
September 1, 2003... StorageNetworks, which pioneered the ill-fated storage service provider (SSP) market, recently succumbed when its board of directors approved a plan to liquidate the company after failing to find a buyer after an extensive search. ...

XIOtech introduces 'storage clustering'.(news analysis & trends)
September 1, 2003... Disk array vendor XIOtech recently introduced what analysts say is a unique architecture that essentially decouples controllers and disk arrays on a Fibre Channel storage network. The company hopes to differentiate its distributed controller...

Benchmark mania.(news bytes)
September 1, 2003... Most end users take vendors' benchmark results with a grain of salt--or a salt lick--but that doesn't stop vendors from doing them. In an attempt to dispel criticism regarding the performance of its storage area network (SAN) appliance...

NETAPP, Veritas expand partnership.(news bytes)
September 1, 2003... Expanding a partnership formed in 1997, Network Appliance and Veritas announced last month that they would collaborate on joint sales and marketing and continue to integrate products for NAS, SAN, and NAS-SAN systems. The companies will make...

STORServer, Microsoft ink OEM deal.(news bytes)
September 1, 2003... STORServer will integrate Microsoft's Windows Storage Server 2003 into its next generation backup appliance as part of an OEM deal signed this summer. The new appliance will be available in the next month or two and will include a Web-based...

Start-up claims low-cost replication.(news analysis & trends)
September 1, 2003... This month, San Jose-based Kashya began shipments of a data replication product that includes a full range of replication options for linking heterogeneous storage systems over long distances. In the past, end users were often limited to...

3PAR advocates 'thin provisioning'.(news analysis & trends)
September 1, 2003... At least one vendor would like you to buy fewer disks. Hoping to solve the common "allocated-but-unused capacity" problem, 3PAR has introduced Thin Provisioning in the latest release of its InForm operating software. Although the software works...

Quantum.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... Quantum has shipped 100 million DLTtape media cartridges, outpacing the nearest competition in the midrange tape market by a factor of 10:1, according to company claims.

CommVault Systems and StorageTek have signed a global OEM agreement extending their current interoperability agreements.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... CommVault Systems and StorageTek have signed a global OEM agreement extending their current interoperability agreements. StorageTek receives exclusive worldwide distribution rights to a jointly developed StorageTek-branded version of CommVault...

Arkeia and Interstate Software.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... Arkeia and Interstate Software have signed a reseller agreement for enterprise network backup-anti-recovery solutions that take advantage of high-performance MySQL database applications.

STORServer has formed an OEM agreement with Spectra Logic to incorporate the company's line of high-density tape libraries into STORServer's S Series Backup Appliances.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... STORServer has formed an OEM agreement with Spectra Logic to incorporate the company's line of high-density tape libraries into STORServer's S Series Backup Appliances. STORServer changed its status to OEM partner after serving two years as a...

American National Standards Institute.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2003... One week after the Executive Board of the InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) approved a new Fibre Channel Backbone standard (FC-BB-2), the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) accepted the document,...

Tape- vs. disk-based backup, part III.(Reader-Expert I/O)
September 1, 2003... Can you elaborate on some of the new, cutting-edge backup systems that you mentioned in your first column on disk-enabled backup systems? There are a number of really snazzy back-up technologies on the market today, and a number of other...

Overland enters disk-based backup market.(news analysis & trends)
September 1, 2003... Overland Storage recently took further steps to expand beyond its tape backup business with the announcement of in first disk-based backup appliances--the REO Series B2000 and R2000. The B2000 is focused on backup, the R2000 on recovery. Both...

Intransa.
September 1, 2003... Intransa has expanded its integration channel with the addition of three new channel partners--GreenPages, Zones, and Intervision--that will play a strategic role in ensuring the reliable implementation and delivery of the IP5000 full-featured...

Storability software has acquired ProvisionSoft's intellectual property and intangible assets related to its Dynamic-IT software product, a resource management software application.
September 1, 2003... Storability Software has acquired ProvisionSoft's intellectual property and intangible assets related to its Dynamic-IT software product, a resource management software application. The acquisition enables Storability customers to allocate and...

IBM.
September 1, 2003... IBM has a new offering that allows qualified customers to choose between making lower payments with reduced financing rates or deferring all payments at no charge until 2004. No interest is charged during the deferral and standard financing...

Editor's note.
September 1, 2003... The recent blackout that blanketed parts of the Northeast and Canada highlights just how important it is to have a tested business continuity/disaster-recovery plan in place. In this second part of our special series on business continuity,...

Data protection still comes first.(Special series: Part II: business continuity planning: the lifeline of forward-looking organizations)
September 1, 2003... The overriding sentiment among end users at this spring's Storage Networking World conference was delight that the vendor community hadn't introduced any new acronyms since the fall conference. After 18 months of a seemingly unending barrage of...

Are you ready for a 'recovery disaster?'.(Special series: Part II business continuity planning: the lifeline of forward-looking organizations)
September 1, 2003... Cataclysmic events are often required to permanently change human behavior and cultures. Even corporate cultures can be slow to adapt without a sufficient catalyst. The terrorist attacks in 2001 caused an immediate, serious assessment by nearly...

SRM lays the groundwork for storage management: administrators are still using storage resource management software for basic capacity monitoring and reporting, but SRM will eventually be integrated with other storage management functions.(Special Report)
September 1, 2003... According to the Gartner consulting firm; storage resource management (SRM) software includes functions such as capacity and performance reporting and analysis, capacity/performance management automation, storage provisioning, storage...

Guidelines for ensuring storage security: although a variety of storage security technologies are under development, the best advice is to focus on what you can do today.
September 1, 2003... IT have always been concerned the security of their systems. Originally, the focus was on physical security, limiting access to mainframes through swipe cards and providing audit trails though sign-in sheets. As systems became more open and...

Are TOEs a panacea for backup performance? TCP offload engines (TOEs) can speed up applications such as client/server backup and file serving.
September 1, 2003... The challenge of ever-shrinking backup windows for exponentially growing data is expanding beyond central data centers to departments across most corporations. Data production across many corporate departments is estimated to be growing at...

Part III: extending storage over WANs: solving the issues of latency, data integrity, and bandwidth utilization can result in an effective WAN storage solution.
September 1, 2003... The distributed nature of IT and a heightened concern for disaster recovery and business continuity have combined to make it common today for enterprises to connect their data storage over distance. Virtually any size organization recognizes...

IP storage: the year in review: IP storage (including iSCSl, iFCP, and FClP) has moved from emerging technology end-user deployments.(SNIA on storage)
September 1, 2003... This has been an exciting year for IP storage, as the industry has gone from protocols to standards-based interoperable products and end-user deployments. This article reviews progress to date and previews what to expect over the next six...

SATA, not SAS, will shake things up: Serial ATA, not Serial-Attached SCSI, provides "good-enough" storage and will be the next disruptive technology.(opinion)
September 1, 2003... Most IT managers are familiar with author Clay Christensen and his concept of "disruptive technologies." He has shown in numerous case studies how new, "good-enough" technologies can disrupt mature, highmargin industries. The parallels with the...

McData takes aim at Brocade.(Disk/Connectivity)
September 1, 2003... McData recently began shipments of a Iow-end Fibre Channel fabric switch that starts at four ports and can be scaled to 12 ports in 4-port increments via the company's FlexPort "capacity-on-demand" technology. A 4-port version of the Sphereon...

Serial ATA activity heats up.(new products)
September 1, 2003... Promise Technology has begun shipments of a 4-port Serial ATA RAID controller with 1.5Gbps per channel, called the FastTrak S150 SX4. Features include a 32-bit/66MHz PCI 2.2 interface; support for RAID levels 0, 1, 10, and 5 (as well as JBOD);...

Gateway enters storage market.(new products)
September 1, 2003... In its ongoing attempt to branch out from laptops, desktops, and servers, Gateway last month entered the storage market with a low-end JBOD disk array and an LTO tape autoloader. The model 850 SCSI JBOD subsystem is a 2U rack-mount unit...

Procom upgrades midrange NAS.(new products)
September 1, 2003... Procom is adding the NetForce 1800 network-attached storage (NAS) server to its midrange NAS line while phasing out its older 5U, 10-drive NetForce 1750. The 2U 1800 starts at just over 1TB and will be expandable to 6TB. The device uses a...

FIA targets entry-level NAS.(new products)
September 1, 2003... First Intelligent Array (VIA) has introduced a family of NAS appliances for the entry-level market. The POPnetserver 4300 starts at 160GB and can be upgraded in 160GB increments to a maximum of 640GB. The product features POPfiler version 2.0,...

InfiniCon expands InfiniBand line.(new products)
September 1, 2003... Designed for database clusters and "highperformance computing," InfiniCon's InfinlO 3000 is a 10Gbps InfiniBand switch with 32 ports in a 1U form factor. The company's "Ports on Demand" (POD) technology allows users to purchase the switch with...

HP debuts controller-based architecture.(Tape)
September 1, 2003... Last month, Hewlett-Packard introduced the first components of its new Storage-Works Extended Tape Library Architecture. HP claims that by using a controller-based architecture similar to that used in network-attached disk arrays, it has...

Spectra Logic supports super drives.(Tape)
September 1, 2003... This month, Spectra Logic unveiled the T950 tape library, which supports all "super" drive tape formats, including LTO, SDLT, and SALT. "The T950 breaks us out of AlT and into the half-inch cartridge market," says Nick Harper, vice...

Sony introduces SAIT library.(Tape)
September 1, 2003... Sony Data Systems Solutions, a division of Sony Electronics, recently shipped its first SAlT-based PetaSite tape library, which provides 10TB to 1.5 petabytes of native capacity (or up to 250TB of capacity per square meter). It also features a...

StorageTek ships 'fast-access' drive.(Tape)
September 1, 2003... StorageTek last month began shipping its third-generation T9x40 tape drive. The T9840C features a 12s average access rate, a 30MBps data throughput rate, and 40GB of uncompressed capacity (twice that of the T9840A and T9840B). It has a native...

St. Benard software helps back up open files.(Software)
September 1, 2003... St. Bernard Software has released Version 9.0 of its Open File Manager software, with added support for Windows Server 2003 and NetWare6.5. The software enables end users to back up open files and can be integrated with existing...

Calendar.
September 1, 2003... October 8-10 Forum StockaDe--Paris, France The event is dedicated to data storage, management, administration, and security. Workshops focus on disaster recovery, network storage, backup, virtualization, and cost management, with input...