April 21, 2009 -- Today's release of VMware's vSphere 4 operating system – a new OS for building internal clouds – has brought with it a tsunami of support from dozens of storage vendors.
The vSphere 4 OS aggregates and manages large pools of infrastructure resources – processors, storage and networking – as a dynamic operating environment. VMware claims vSphere 4 will "bring the power of cloud computing to the datacenter, slashing IT costs while dramatically increasing IT responsiveness." VMware also touts vSphere as a path to delivering cloud services that are compatible with customers' internal cloud infrastructures. VMware plans to build in support for dynamic federation between internal and external clouds, enabling "private" cloud environments that span multiple datacenters and/or cloud providers.
Big, bad virtual machines
Using the vSphere OS, users can build bigger, faster virtual computing environments. According to VMware's published specs, the platform can pool together up to:
32 physical servers with up to 2048 processor cores
1,280 virtual machines
32TB of RAM
16PB of storage
8,000 network ports
It also creates bigger, faster virtual machines (VMs) with up to:
2x the number of virtual processors per virtual machine (from 4 to 8)
2.5x more virtual NICs per virtual machine (from 4 to 10)
4x more memory per virtual machine (from 64 GB to 255GB)
3x increase in network throughput (from 9 Gbps to 30Gbps)
3x increase in the maximum recorded I/O operations per second (to over 300,000)
New maximum recorded number of transactions per second - 8,900
Data protection and migration
VMware also claims vSphere offers zero downtime and zero data loss protection against hardware failures with VMware Fault Tolerance and minimized planned downtime due to storage maintenance and migrations with VMware Storage VMotion, which provides live migration of virtual machine disk files across heterogeneous networked storage types.
vSphere 4 also features integrated disk-based backup and recovery for all applications via VMware Data Recovery and VMware vStorage Thin Provisioning, which keeps capacity-hungry VMs in check.
Storage vendors on board
The announcements are coming fast and furious from the storage community as, so far, 3PAR, Akorri, CA, Compellent Technologies, CommVault, Dell, Double-Take Software, EMC, Emulex, FalconStor Software, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, IBM, LSI, NetApp, Nexenta, StoneFly, Sun Microsystems, Symantec and Vizioncore have all pledged support for vSphere 4.
Read on for the details we have so far…
3PAR
3PAR's InServ Storage Servers are on the VMware Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) for VMware vSphere 4. In addition, 3PAR and VMware are investing in joint engineering projects. For example, the 3PAR already supports the VMware vStorage initiative and the recently released adaptive queuing technology that became available in VMware Infrastructure 3.5 and is included in VMware vSphere 4.
Akorri
Akorri's BalancePoint software will support VMware vSphere by the end of 2009. BalancePoint is available on a VMware certified virtual appliance and assists in cross-domain virtualized data center management, managing virtual and physical server and storage infrastructure from a single console.
Compellent Technologies
Compellent Technologies announced that its Storage Center SAN supports VMware vSphere. Compellent's Storage Center has completed the VMware Hardware Certification Program testing criteria and is now listed on the VMware HCL for use with vSphere.
EMC
EMC announced new high-availability advancements for next-generation virtual data centers with the new EMC PowerPath/VE software. The PowerPath/VE software provides path management, load balancing and fail-over capabilities for VMware vSphere 4.
Emulex
Emulex's LightPulse host bus adapters (HBAs) and converged network adapters (CNAs) are fully supported with VMware in-box drivers as part of VMware vSphere 4. The LightPulse 8Gbps Fibre Channel HBAs and 10Gbps Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) CNAs deliver more than double the IOPS performance in VMware vSphere 4 environments over the previous release, according to Emulex.
FalconStor Software
FalconStor Software's NSS-S12 storage array supports vSphere and on the vSphere HCL. FalconStor's Network Storage Server (NSS) technology integrates storage virtualization and provisioning across multiple disk arrays and connection protocols to create a scalable iSCSI or Fibre Channel SAN.
HP
Hewlett-Packard announced the integration of vSphere 4 into its HP Adaptive Infrastructure (AI) portfolio. The interoperability of VMware vSphere 4 with HP's portfolio includes hardware compatibility for a range of HP ProLiant and BladeSystem servers and StorageWorks systems and software integration of HP's Insight software with vSphere 4.
NetApp
NetApp also announced the integration and certification of its storage platforms with vSphere 4. NetApp storage platforms and software products such as SANscreen VM Insight and MultiStore are certified for vSphere 4 and available now. The NetApp Virtualization Guarantee Program for vSphere is also available immediately.
StoneFly
IP SAN maker StoneFly announced completion of VMware vSphere certification across its entire SAN product line. StoneFly IP SANs supporting VMware vSphere, including the StoneFly Voyager, Integrated Storage Concentrator and OptiSAN product lines, are now available.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Symmetrix V-Max: EMC’s big play for big data centers
April 14, 2009 -- There has been a fair amount of speculation that EMC would launch a new Symmetrix DMX-5 system, but while the company's latest high-end array shares the Symmetrix moniker, it's a completely different platform with an architecture built for virtualized data centers.
InfoStor's coverage of the EMC Virtual Matrix Architecture and Symmetrix V-Max Storage System launch outlines the technology, EMC's plans and how it all relates to cloud computing.
The architecture combines scale-up and scale-out capabilities with centralized management and (forthcoming) automated tiering of SSDs, Fibre Channel and SATA drives. The Symmetrix V-Max is significantly bigger and faster than the DMX-4, but has been specifically designed to support enormous cloud computing and virtual data center infrastructures.
David Vellante, co-founder and contributor to The Wikibon Project, says customers should take this announcement very seriously, especially if they have existing Symmetrix processes in place.
"To the extent EMC delivers on its vision, the V-Max will bring incremental strategic value to many customers and will represent a longer term investment platform. Specifically, the possibility of doing automated tiered storage within a federated Symmetrix infrastructure could be very cost competitive and advantageous if EMC can ship enough volume and – very importantly – ship software that automates the placement of data on the most cost-effective tier," says Vellante. "This software is not here today and that's important."
The software – EMC's Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) technology – is expected to debut later this year, according to EMC. It is touted as a feature that will automatically move data to appropriate tiers of storage within the Virtual Matrix Architecture. This is especially significant as EMC tries to speed the adoption of solid-state disk (SSD) drives as "tier zero" storage for frequently accessed data in high performance applications.
"The problem folks are having is they really don't have an automated way to move data between T1 and T2. So if EMC can give them a way to do that all within a single architecture from Tier 0 down to Tier 3 with high capacity SATA that gets interesting. But again, the software to do this is not here today, the [Virtual Matrix Architecture announcement] is the first step," says Vellante.
The industry reaction is sure to come fast and furious as the details of V-Max reverberate through the storage landscape. Stay with InfoStor's coverage of the announcement as Editor-in-Chief Dave Simpson adds his two cents to the discussion.
We have also posted a V-Max Lab Review from Enterprise Strategy Group to our ESG Lab Validation section found here.
InfoStor's coverage of the EMC Virtual Matrix Architecture and Symmetrix V-Max Storage System launch outlines the technology, EMC's plans and how it all relates to cloud computing.
The architecture combines scale-up and scale-out capabilities with centralized management and (forthcoming) automated tiering of SSDs, Fibre Channel and SATA drives. The Symmetrix V-Max is significantly bigger and faster than the DMX-4, but has been specifically designed to support enormous cloud computing and virtual data center infrastructures.
David Vellante, co-founder and contributor to The Wikibon Project, says customers should take this announcement very seriously, especially if they have existing Symmetrix processes in place.
"To the extent EMC delivers on its vision, the V-Max will bring incremental strategic value to many customers and will represent a longer term investment platform. Specifically, the possibility of doing automated tiered storage within a federated Symmetrix infrastructure could be very cost competitive and advantageous if EMC can ship enough volume and – very importantly – ship software that automates the placement of data on the most cost-effective tier," says Vellante. "This software is not here today and that's important."
The software – EMC's Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) technology – is expected to debut later this year, according to EMC. It is touted as a feature that will automatically move data to appropriate tiers of storage within the Virtual Matrix Architecture. This is especially significant as EMC tries to speed the adoption of solid-state disk (SSD) drives as "tier zero" storage for frequently accessed data in high performance applications.
"The problem folks are having is they really don't have an automated way to move data between T1 and T2. So if EMC can give them a way to do that all within a single architecture from Tier 0 down to Tier 3 with high capacity SATA that gets interesting. But again, the software to do this is not here today, the [Virtual Matrix Architecture announcement] is the first step," says Vellante.
The industry reaction is sure to come fast and furious as the details of V-Max reverberate through the storage landscape. Stay with InfoStor's coverage of the announcement as Editor-in-Chief Dave Simpson adds his two cents to the discussion.
We have also posted a V-Max Lab Review from Enterprise Strategy Group to our ESG Lab Validation section found here.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
SNW: Day two recap
Brocade is now shipping an FCoE switch and adapters to OEMs, Symantec has added DR testing software to its product line via a partnership and solid-state specialist Fusion-io just bagged close to $50 million funding.
Day two of Storage Networking World was uneventful from a news perspective, but we were able to track down some industry insiders and SNIA members to explain some of this week's announcements.
First up, a keynote from Symantec's new CEO, Enrique Salem, during which he said:
"Stop buying storage."
Not a surprising statement when you consider it came from a software company, but Salem says data reduction technologies and better management can defray the cost of additional hardware through better utilization.
"In many companies there are differences in storage hardware, and often islands of storage. One department might have plenty of free storage while another is adding arrays," Salem told a standing-room crowd this morning. "You need to identify and reclaim what you've bought but aren't using. Find that orphan storage, and bring it home. The hardware vendors will tell you they can show you how your existing storage is being used. Remember, their ultimate goal is to sell you more hardware."
Salem says storage resource management (SRM), thin provisioning, data de-duplication, and intelligent archiving can all bring those orphans home.
On the cloud storage front, I was able to sit down with Storage Networking Industry Association Chairman Emeritus and member of the Board of Directors Vincent Franceschini to discuss the Association's formation of a Technical Work Group (TWG) for cloud storage.
"It has become very clear that we need to clarify the definitions and terminology surrounding cloud storage," said Franceschini. "We believe we can help the market overall by delivering reference models to describe different solutions and cloud frameworks."
He also said industry collaboration is a must if cloud storage is going to be a viable option for enterprise storage in the future.
"We are going to be collaborating with other industry groups. There is no way it is going to work if [cloud platforms] are not integrated," he said.
The SNIA has also set up a Google group in an effort to maintain a "public face" on the Cloud Storage TWG's work.
Day two of Storage Networking World was uneventful from a news perspective, but we were able to track down some industry insiders and SNIA members to explain some of this week's announcements.
First up, a keynote from Symantec's new CEO, Enrique Salem, during which he said:
"Stop buying storage."
Not a surprising statement when you consider it came from a software company, but Salem says data reduction technologies and better management can defray the cost of additional hardware through better utilization.
"In many companies there are differences in storage hardware, and often islands of storage. One department might have plenty of free storage while another is adding arrays," Salem told a standing-room crowd this morning. "You need to identify and reclaim what you've bought but aren't using. Find that orphan storage, and bring it home. The hardware vendors will tell you they can show you how your existing storage is being used. Remember, their ultimate goal is to sell you more hardware."
Salem says storage resource management (SRM), thin provisioning, data de-duplication, and intelligent archiving can all bring those orphans home.
On the cloud storage front, I was able to sit down with Storage Networking Industry Association Chairman Emeritus and member of the Board of Directors Vincent Franceschini to discuss the Association's formation of a Technical Work Group (TWG) for cloud storage.
"It has become very clear that we need to clarify the definitions and terminology surrounding cloud storage," said Franceschini. "We believe we can help the market overall by delivering reference models to describe different solutions and cloud frameworks."
He also said industry collaboration is a must if cloud storage is going to be a viable option for enterprise storage in the future.
"We are going to be collaborating with other industry groups. There is no way it is going to work if [cloud platforms] are not integrated," he said.
The SNIA has also set up a Google group in an effort to maintain a "public face" on the Cloud Storage TWG's work.
Monday, April 6, 2009
SNW: Day one recap
April 06, 2009 -- The Storage Networking World (SNW) conference is under way and the InfoStor team is in Orlando to keep you up-to-date on news and announcements from the show.
A few product announcements trickled out of SNW this morning, including FalconStor Software’s release of the Backup Accelerator option for its Virtual Tape Library (VTL) product, 3PAR’s launch of a quad-controller storage array for midrange customers, the debut of cloud storage services startup Zetta, and the availability of Netgear’s newest NAS/unified storage system with a cloud storage option for SMBs.
Speaking of the cloud – and that’s all we seem to be speaking about lately – the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) today announced the creation of the Cloud Storage Technical Work Group (TWG) aimed at developing SNIA Architectures and best practices related to cloud storage technology. The initial TWG charter includes the focus to produce a set of specifications and to drive the consistency of interface standards across the various cloud storage related efforts.
The Cloud Storage TWG is also soliciting proposals for standard interfaces and is looking to engage vendors and other “Cloud industry parties” in its efforts. The group plans to release a reference model for Cloud Storage with associated terminology definitions to aid in further work on the standards. Cloud service and storage interface definitions are expected in draft form later this year and anticipated to be adopted starting in 2010.
The SNIA is also refocusing its efforts on the IP storage front. The Association announced an expansion in the charter of the SNIA IP Storage Forum, which is reflected in its new name – the SNIA Ethernet Storage Forum (ESF). The EFS has been tasked with driving the broad adoption of all Ethernet–connected storage networking solutions.
The ESF will consist of two Special Interest Groups - the iSCSI SIG and the NFS SIG. The iSCSI SIG will focus on continuing the IP Storage Forum agenda to evangelize the benefits and best practices related to iSCSI. Member companies include Compellent, Dell, HP, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, NetApp and Sun.
The new NFS SIG will be focused on NFS-based NAS solutions, particularly emerging technologies, such as pNFS. The founding members of the NFS SIG include EMC, NetApp, Panasas and Sun.
Additionally, the group also plans to form a Special Interest Group focused on the CIFS/SMB protocol and ecosystem.
Hifn made news with the launch of its BitWackr 250 and 255, which are aimed at server OEMs, Microsoft Partners and white-box server builders looking to add hardware-assisted data de-duplication and compression with thin provisioning to Windows Servers.
According to Hifn, BitWackr provides real-time, in-line de-dupe and compression, reducing the amount of data written to disk. The cards combine the company’s BitWackr block-based de-dupe software with a Hifn Express DR 250 PCI-x or 255 PCIe card that employs specialized hardware to perform data compression and de-dupe hashing operations.
The BitWackr 250 and 255 products are priced at $995 with general availability slated for the third quarter of this year.
InfoStor’s Editor-in-Chief, Dave Simpson, and I will be blogging/reporting from the conference all this week. Check out the Infostor homepage for the latest industry news & analysis from SNW Orlando. There is some news from Symantec on the horizon and Brocade has called a press conference for tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned…
A few product announcements trickled out of SNW this morning, including FalconStor Software’s release of the Backup Accelerator option for its Virtual Tape Library (VTL) product, 3PAR’s launch of a quad-controller storage array for midrange customers, the debut of cloud storage services startup Zetta, and the availability of Netgear’s newest NAS/unified storage system with a cloud storage option for SMBs.
Speaking of the cloud – and that’s all we seem to be speaking about lately – the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) today announced the creation of the Cloud Storage Technical Work Group (TWG) aimed at developing SNIA Architectures and best practices related to cloud storage technology. The initial TWG charter includes the focus to produce a set of specifications and to drive the consistency of interface standards across the various cloud storage related efforts.
The Cloud Storage TWG is also soliciting proposals for standard interfaces and is looking to engage vendors and other “Cloud industry parties” in its efforts. The group plans to release a reference model for Cloud Storage with associated terminology definitions to aid in further work on the standards. Cloud service and storage interface definitions are expected in draft form later this year and anticipated to be adopted starting in 2010.
The SNIA is also refocusing its efforts on the IP storage front. The Association announced an expansion in the charter of the SNIA IP Storage Forum, which is reflected in its new name – the SNIA Ethernet Storage Forum (ESF). The EFS has been tasked with driving the broad adoption of all Ethernet–connected storage networking solutions.
The ESF will consist of two Special Interest Groups - the iSCSI SIG and the NFS SIG. The iSCSI SIG will focus on continuing the IP Storage Forum agenda to evangelize the benefits and best practices related to iSCSI. Member companies include Compellent, Dell, HP, Intel, Microsoft, NEC, NetApp and Sun.
The new NFS SIG will be focused on NFS-based NAS solutions, particularly emerging technologies, such as pNFS. The founding members of the NFS SIG include EMC, NetApp, Panasas and Sun.
Additionally, the group also plans to form a Special Interest Group focused on the CIFS/SMB protocol and ecosystem.
Hifn made news with the launch of its BitWackr 250 and 255, which are aimed at server OEMs, Microsoft Partners and white-box server builders looking to add hardware-assisted data de-duplication and compression with thin provisioning to Windows Servers.
According to Hifn, BitWackr provides real-time, in-line de-dupe and compression, reducing the amount of data written to disk. The cards combine the company’s BitWackr block-based de-dupe software with a Hifn Express DR 250 PCI-x or 255 PCIe card that employs specialized hardware to perform data compression and de-dupe hashing operations.
The BitWackr 250 and 255 products are priced at $995 with general availability slated for the third quarter of this year.
InfoStor’s Editor-in-Chief, Dave Simpson, and I will be blogging/reporting from the conference all this week. Check out the Infostor homepage for the latest industry news & analysis from SNW Orlando. There is some news from Symantec on the horizon and Brocade has called a press conference for tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned…
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Cisco's UCS: The industry reacts
March 24, 2009 -- The IT world has had about a week to digest, mull and question the ins-and-outs of Cisco's newly announced "game-changer," the Unified Computing System. And the industry certainly has questions for Cisco.
Several competitors are questioning whether Cisco's UCS – the platform that combines compute, network, storage access, and virtualization resources in a single system based on a new line of blade servers developed by Cisco – features a truly open architecture.
Brocade's CEO Mike Klayko made his opinion known yesterday in a video posted to the Brocade YouTube Channel.
Klayko does not believe large enterprise customers will put mission critical applications on a version one product, referring to Cisco's new blade servers.
Brocade has also issued an official statement to the media in response to Cisco's UCS launch. It reads:
Cisco begs to differ. Rob Lloyd, executive vice president designate, Worldwide Operations for Cisco, explained that Cisco has "built an open ecosystem of industry leaders" in support of the UCS even going as far as to refer to UCS supporters as a "dream team of capable partners."
Cisco is collaborating with a wide range of hardware and software vendors to develop systems and applications that work with the platform. Specifically, Cisco is teaming up with technology partners BMC Software, EMC, Emulex, Intel, Microsoft, NetApp, Novell, Oracle, QLogic, Red Hat, and VMware and has expanded strategic relationships with Accenture, CSC, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Wipro.
Noticeably absent from the partner list are the server vendors. However, Lloyd told media and analysts in last week's UCS conference call that Cisco does not view the UCS as a blade server.
"The UCS will be shipped and configured as a system. That's why we don't think we're competing on a blade platform, but on a new system form factor," he said.
Several competitors are questioning whether Cisco's UCS – the platform that combines compute, network, storage access, and virtualization resources in a single system based on a new line of blade servers developed by Cisco – features a truly open architecture.
Brocade's CEO Mike Klayko made his opinion known yesterday in a video posted to the Brocade YouTube Channel.
Klayko does not believe large enterprise customers will put mission critical applications on a version one product, referring to Cisco's new blade servers.
Brocade has also issued an official statement to the media in response to Cisco's UCS launch. It reads:
"A dynamic and virtualized data center holds the promise of many compelling benefits for end-users including increased server utilization, decrease in power footprint and more efficient operations in general. However, achieving this goal is a complex challenge that can be best tackled by a broad ecosystem of industry partners and not based on a proprietary, singular architecture of one company.
In contrast, Brocade is already helping customers address these challenges by integrating our networking solutions with a range of mature computing, management and storage technologies from some of the strongest companies in the world. These partnerships are leveraging open interfaces/standards, co-developed technology, and products that are available today, which will lower costs and maximize return on investment for customers."
BLADE Network Technologies president and CEO Vikram Mehta also took aim at Cisco in a recent blog entry where he lists 10 reasons why Cisco's Unified Computing strategy is nothing more than a way to lock customers into a proprietary world while locking out vendors like HP and IBM.In contrast, Brocade is already helping customers address these challenges by integrating our networking solutions with a range of mature computing, management and storage technologies from some of the strongest companies in the world. These partnerships are leveraging open interfaces/standards, co-developed technology, and products that are available today, which will lower costs and maximize return on investment for customers."
Cisco begs to differ. Rob Lloyd, executive vice president designate, Worldwide Operations for Cisco, explained that Cisco has "built an open ecosystem of industry leaders" in support of the UCS even going as far as to refer to UCS supporters as a "dream team of capable partners."
Cisco is collaborating with a wide range of hardware and software vendors to develop systems and applications that work with the platform. Specifically, Cisco is teaming up with technology partners BMC Software, EMC, Emulex, Intel, Microsoft, NetApp, Novell, Oracle, QLogic, Red Hat, and VMware and has expanded strategic relationships with Accenture, CSC, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and Wipro.
Noticeably absent from the partner list are the server vendors. However, Lloyd told media and analysts in last week's UCS conference call that Cisco does not view the UCS as a blade server.
"The UCS will be shipped and configured as a system. That's why we don't think we're competing on a blade platform, but on a new system form factor," he said.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Is 2009 the year of unified fabrics?
Tight budgets invite tough decisions. Some storage projects will undoubtedly be shelved this year as end users look to drive cost out of the data center. As a part of those consolidation efforts, network fabrics could get a makeover.
Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) analyst Bob Laliberte believes all organizations are in uncharted economic territory and 2009 will clearly be a challenging year for IT budgets.
However, according to his research, the majority of organizations surveyed by ESG expect that their storage spending will increase slightly in 2009.
ESG estimates that storage capital spending will grow at a modest rate of 2.9% from 2008 to 2009, outpacing most expectations of overall IT spending growth. Spending increases will be centered among the largest, most data-intensive organizations and will be tied to specific business initiatives such as Web 2.0 projects, improved business intelligence, and globalization.
If the main players in the push for unified networking technologies are to be believed, the economic climate creates a big opportunity for unified networking technologies. Both Brocade and Cisco say they are seeing success with their newest products as users are well on their way to adopting the core platforms necessary for supporting the unified fabrics of the future.
"Our DCX Backbone is the fastest ramping and most widely successful product line we've ever had," said Brocade's senior director of product marketing, Marty Lans.
Though Brocade doesn't break out specific numbers for public consumption, the company cites internal metrics and general market acceptance as the measure of success for the DCX. The company bases its claims on the number of units shipped and port density.
Cisco is also enjoying success as it positions the capabilities of its Nexus platform as necessary for virtual data centers.
"The implementation of a unified fabric infrastructure allows for combining storage and data traffic on a single, unified Ethernet network. As virtualization becomes a stronger design influence in the data center, these features become a requirement to support virtual environments," said Cisco's Dante Malagrino, director of product marketing for data center emerging technology.
Cisco touts more than 250 customers for its new flagship product, the Nexus 7000, which began shipping in January of 2008.
According to Laliberte, server virtualization is also driving the need for faster, more advanced storage networking technologies.
"Our research indicates that all networked storage is increasing, Fibre Channel SAN, iSCSI SAN and NAS. With multiple virtual machines there is a need for additional throughput," he said.
Laliberte thinks the concept of consolidated fabrics will continue to gain acceptance this year.
"As long as organizations continue to consolidate data centers and infrastructure – the ability to consolidate FC directors onto a backbone should resonate – saves on power, cooling and space and the new virtual fabric technology ensures secure segmentation of the SAN," he said.
Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) analyst Bob Laliberte believes all organizations are in uncharted economic territory and 2009 will clearly be a challenging year for IT budgets.
However, according to his research, the majority of organizations surveyed by ESG expect that their storage spending will increase slightly in 2009.
ESG estimates that storage capital spending will grow at a modest rate of 2.9% from 2008 to 2009, outpacing most expectations of overall IT spending growth. Spending increases will be centered among the largest, most data-intensive organizations and will be tied to specific business initiatives such as Web 2.0 projects, improved business intelligence, and globalization.
If the main players in the push for unified networking technologies are to be believed, the economic climate creates a big opportunity for unified networking technologies. Both Brocade and Cisco say they are seeing success with their newest products as users are well on their way to adopting the core platforms necessary for supporting the unified fabrics of the future.
"Our DCX Backbone is the fastest ramping and most widely successful product line we've ever had," said Brocade's senior director of product marketing, Marty Lans.
Though Brocade doesn't break out specific numbers for public consumption, the company cites internal metrics and general market acceptance as the measure of success for the DCX. The company bases its claims on the number of units shipped and port density.
Cisco is also enjoying success as it positions the capabilities of its Nexus platform as necessary for virtual data centers.
"The implementation of a unified fabric infrastructure allows for combining storage and data traffic on a single, unified Ethernet network. As virtualization becomes a stronger design influence in the data center, these features become a requirement to support virtual environments," said Cisco's Dante Malagrino, director of product marketing for data center emerging technology.
Cisco touts more than 250 customers for its new flagship product, the Nexus 7000, which began shipping in January of 2008.
According to Laliberte, server virtualization is also driving the need for faster, more advanced storage networking technologies.
"Our research indicates that all networked storage is increasing, Fibre Channel SAN, iSCSI SAN and NAS. With multiple virtual machines there is a need for additional throughput," he said.
Laliberte thinks the concept of consolidated fabrics will continue to gain acceptance this year.
"As long as organizations continue to consolidate data centers and infrastructure – the ability to consolidate FC directors onto a backbone should resonate – saves on power, cooling and space and the new virtual fabric technology ensures secure segmentation of the SAN," he said.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Survey says…
It’s that time of year again. Major product announcements are scarce as we head into the holiday season, but the storage vendors are attempting to fill the December news void with a series of surveys that gauge the challenges facing end users in 2009.
How do you stack up against your peers when it comes to storage planning for next year?
Enterprise users
Virtual tape library (VTL) and de-duplication vendor SEPATON recently conducted a survey of IT pros in U.S.-based corporations to get a feel for what challenges they will face around data protection, business objectives and technology requirements for enterprise data centers in 2009.
Of the 145 respondents – all from enterprise companies with at least 1,000 employees and a minimum of 50TB of primary data to protect – 52% say their data protection is insufficient, citing a “lack of budget to keep pace with technology” as the cause.
The research also reveals that backup is still the scourge of many enterprise organizations. Fifty-three percent of respondents need more than 20 hours to complete a full backup, while 37% say they need more than 24 hours to complete a full backup.
According to the SEPATON survey, users are planning to turn to new technologies such as data de-duplication in order to maintain service levels and regulatory compliance.
More than 90% of respondents are either using de-dupe now or want to use it. Of those who do not have de-dupe, 55% are allocating dollars for the technology in 2009.
In addition, a majority of the respondents are using physical tape, but fewer than 50% expect to be using tape one year from now as they increase their use of disk-based technologies like disk-to-disk, VTL appliances, or VTL gateways.
SMBs
Backup pains aren’t just a problem for big IT shops. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) also rate backup as a top priority and an all-around pain in the neck, according to a recent study commissioned by Symantec and conducted by Rubicon Consulting.
Backup ranks as the second-highest computing priority for SMBs, after defense against viruses and other malware, according to responses IT decision-makers at several hundred small businesses (with fewer than 250 employees).
Ninety-two percent of companies poled have deployed some form of data backup technology, yet 50% of those respondents have lost data. Of the companies that lost data, roughly a third have lost sales, 20% have lost customers and 25% say the data loss caused severe disruptions to the company.
Some of the results were disconcerting, given how destructive data loss can be to SMBs. Approximately 25% of SMBs don’t backup their PCs at all and 13% do only informal backups where employees decide the frequency and which files are protected, according to Rubicon. Additionally, about 20% of SMBs conduct no server backups.
CIOs
Hewlett-Packard (HP) recently revealed the results of its own commissioned survey of chief information officers (CIOs) conducted by Hansa |GCR.
The Web survey of 600 technology decision-makers from medium-sized organizations to enterprises across the globe shows that 84% of tech organizations plan to “transform” their data centers in the next 12 months as they look to lower operating costs and reduce business risks through technology.
So-called "data center transformation" projects typically include consolidation, virtualization and business continuity initiatives.
According to the study, 31% of respondents say reducing cost is a top priority for ’09, while 29% plan to enhance data security. The decision-makers also say that technology needs – not business needs – are prompting these investments.
The survey also shows that 95% of organizations are implementing or planning for data center consolidation next year, while 93% and 91% are embarking on business continuity and virtualization projects, respectively.
The research may be sponsored by vendors, but, for the most part, it is in line with a lot of the third party research covered on InfoStor.com. Stay tuned as we track these predictions over the next several months.
How do you stack up against your peers when it comes to storage planning for next year?
Enterprise users
Virtual tape library (VTL) and de-duplication vendor SEPATON recently conducted a survey of IT pros in U.S.-based corporations to get a feel for what challenges they will face around data protection, business objectives and technology requirements for enterprise data centers in 2009.
Of the 145 respondents – all from enterprise companies with at least 1,000 employees and a minimum of 50TB of primary data to protect – 52% say their data protection is insufficient, citing a “lack of budget to keep pace with technology” as the cause.
The research also reveals that backup is still the scourge of many enterprise organizations. Fifty-three percent of respondents need more than 20 hours to complete a full backup, while 37% say they need more than 24 hours to complete a full backup.
According to the SEPATON survey, users are planning to turn to new technologies such as data de-duplication in order to maintain service levels and regulatory compliance.
More than 90% of respondents are either using de-dupe now or want to use it. Of those who do not have de-dupe, 55% are allocating dollars for the technology in 2009.
In addition, a majority of the respondents are using physical tape, but fewer than 50% expect to be using tape one year from now as they increase their use of disk-based technologies like disk-to-disk, VTL appliances, or VTL gateways.
SMBs
Backup pains aren’t just a problem for big IT shops. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) also rate backup as a top priority and an all-around pain in the neck, according to a recent study commissioned by Symantec and conducted by Rubicon Consulting.
Backup ranks as the second-highest computing priority for SMBs, after defense against viruses and other malware, according to responses IT decision-makers at several hundred small businesses (with fewer than 250 employees).
Ninety-two percent of companies poled have deployed some form of data backup technology, yet 50% of those respondents have lost data. Of the companies that lost data, roughly a third have lost sales, 20% have lost customers and 25% say the data loss caused severe disruptions to the company.
Some of the results were disconcerting, given how destructive data loss can be to SMBs. Approximately 25% of SMBs don’t backup their PCs at all and 13% do only informal backups where employees decide the frequency and which files are protected, according to Rubicon. Additionally, about 20% of SMBs conduct no server backups.
CIOs
Hewlett-Packard (HP) recently revealed the results of its own commissioned survey of chief information officers (CIOs) conducted by Hansa |GCR.
The Web survey of 600 technology decision-makers from medium-sized organizations to enterprises across the globe shows that 84% of tech organizations plan to “transform” their data centers in the next 12 months as they look to lower operating costs and reduce business risks through technology.
So-called "data center transformation" projects typically include consolidation, virtualization and business continuity initiatives.
According to the study, 31% of respondents say reducing cost is a top priority for ’09, while 29% plan to enhance data security. The decision-makers also say that technology needs – not business needs – are prompting these investments.
The survey also shows that 95% of organizations are implementing or planning for data center consolidation next year, while 93% and 91% are embarking on business continuity and virtualization projects, respectively.
The research may be sponsored by vendors, but, for the most part, it is in line with a lot of the third party research covered on InfoStor.com. Stay tuned as we track these predictions over the next several months.
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