Dell Finds a Bright Spot in Demand for Storage Aug 28, 2009
ISCSI is a transport protocol that allows blocks of data to be carried over an IP network without the need for specialized networking interconnects, like Fibre Channel ... Compared to Fibre Channel, iSCSI can be cheaper and less complex to roll out, which makes it attractive to companies worried about managing costs. (BusinessWeek)
EMC, NetApp Embrace Virtual Data Centers Aug 26, 2009
To meet that growing need, EMC is adding new features like virtualization-aware EMC Navisphere Manager software, 10Gb and 8Gb Fibre Channel connectivity, and new data protection and replication capabilities through EMC RecoverPoint and Replication Manager software. EMC partner Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) will offer the new Clariion features and Dell added that will also be a new feature of the arrays. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
EMC Expands Midrange Storage Leadership In VMware Environments Aug 25, 2009
10Gb/s iSCSI and 8Gb/s Fibre Channel (FC) native UltraFlex(TM) connectivity options ... Ensure "future ready," easy integration of technologies, such as Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), planned for next year, which complements EMC's current Connectrix FCoE switch solutions. (PR Newswire)
Tip: How to Buy a Blade Server Aug 21, 2009
Is there a different level for Fibre Channel (FC) users. Request a vendor compatibility/interoperability matrix. (Search Storage)
HP and Oracle Make Your Data Work Harder Aug 19, 2009
"The HP Oracle Database Machine is a new approach to data warehousing that leverages 20 Gb/s Voltaire InfiniBand as the server-to-storage interconnect instead of Fibre Channel, resulting in extreme performance gains," said Asaf Somekh, vice president of marketing at Voltaire. "It is designed to replace legacy data warehouse systems and help businesses that rely on massive amounts of data to process it faster and more efficiently. The HP Oracle Database Machine can also connect to legacy storage... (EnterpriseStorageForum)
InfiniBand Marches On Without Cisco Aug 15, 2009
Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) may have abandoned the market in favor of Fibre Channel over Ethernet () and 10GbE, but the rest of the InfiniBand market appears to be carrying on just fine without the networking giant, according to industry analysts and other vendors. "Although InfiniBand remains a small industry compared to the Ethernet juggernaut, it continues to grow aggressively, and this year it is growing beyond projections," said Jeff Boles, senior analyst and director of validation... (EnterpriseStorageForum)
NetApp Offers First FCoE-based Storage Arrays Aug 13, 2009
NetApp today became the first data storage vendor to offer native Fibre Channel over Ethernet () connectivity in its storage systems with the addition of QLogic's Converged Network Adapter () into its FAS and V-Series devices ... Patrick Rogers, NetApp's vice president of solutions marketing, sees that number doubling again over the next year and he sees Ethernet-based storage eventually Fibre Channel. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
QLogic Gains Fibre Channel Adapter Market Share During First Half 2009, Strengthens Leadership Position Aug 13, 2009
New Report from Dell'Oro Group Confirms QLogic is Broadening its Lead in Fibre Channel Adapter Market ... Aug. 13, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After closing out 2008 with its fifth consecutive year of market share leadership, QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq: - ), a leading supplier of high performance network infrastructure solutions, today announced that it completed the first half of 2009 with an expanded market share lead in storage area network (SAN) Fibre Channel adapters, according to the latest data... (Primezone Releases)
NetApp First to Market with FCoE Storage Arrays Aug 12, 2009
NetApp sees Fibre Channel over Ethernet as a way for users to build out Ethernet infrastructures while preserving their FC investments and the company sees itself as well-positioned for the trend with its IP-based storage pedigree. NetApp and its FCoE partners a list that also includes Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) see FCoE beginning to catch on with storage users. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
STEC Launches Next Generation Enterprise Class 4Gb Fibre Channel (FC) Solid State Drive (SSD) Aug 12, 2009
STEC's Latest 3rd Generation Native 4Gb Fibre Channel (FC) ZeusIOPS SSD Set to Deliver Enhanced Data Reliability and Elevates the Performance from Previous Generations ... The progression in technology will expand the already successful Fibre Channel series of the ZeusIOPS within the enterprise storage markets. (Primezone Releases)
Determining the number of drives in a RAID group Aug 8, 2009
Most storage arrays are going to have Fibre Channel interfaces on the front end (some offer InfiniBand), and can be FC, SATA or SAS on the disk end. They support RAID unless the array is JBOD (Just a Bunch Of Disks). (Search Storage)
Tutorial on solid-state disk (SSD) devices Aug 8, 2009
In July, Solid Data Systems announced a 1 TB SSD array, called StorageSpire, that uses Fibre Channel to connect the SSDs. The StorageSpire array supports up to eight 4 GB Fibre Channel connections and multipath failover for higher reliability. (Search Storage)
IBM Taps New Storage Tech to Cut Recovery Costs Aug 4, 2009
IBM performs inline deduplication using a memory-resident index, and its VTL () is configured with Fibre Channel storage, which will aid in boosting performance. " Nemechek also touted IBM's data integrity features, saying the company offers the only non-hashed solution, performing a bit-for-bit comparison. He said IBM's dedupe line, from Diligent last year, just had its "best quarter ever," as Big Blue benefited from the "confusion" over Data Domain's fate. This story originally appeared on .... (SmallBusinessComputing)
Network Storage Aug 1, 2009
com Article Published July 22, 2009 Big Blue deepens its commitment to Fibre Channel over Ethernet and converged data center networks with its latest networking deals. By Greg Schulz - enterprisestorageforum. (LinuxPlanet)
Cisco Gives SANs, IBM Mainframes a Performance Boost Jul 28, 2009
Asked if the new features are enough to reverse recent market share losses to storage switch market leader Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD), Bob Nusbaum, Cisco's MDS software product line manager, said he likes his company's chances particularly as the market shifts toward converged data center networks and Fibre Channel over Ethernet () ... "I like our position and knowledge and integration. "Don't sell us short in the Fibre Channel space," he added. "We are still working hard to innovate. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
IBM to Resell Cisco, Brocade FCoE Switches Jul 23, 2009
IBM (NYSE: IBM) has deepened its commitment to the emerging Fibre Channel over Ethernet standard with switch deals with Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) and Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) ... IBM also announced that it will resell Cisco's switches, which support lossless 10GbE, Fibre Channel and FCoE. The switches will be available in September. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
IBM Announces Agreements with Leading Network Companies to Support Increasingly Interconnected IT Infrastructures Jul 22, 2009
Brocade -- IBM has introduced the IBM Converged Switch B32 and 10Gb Converged Network Adapter (CNA) for IBM System x, its first Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) offerings, manufactured by Brocade. This expands upon the long-standing Fibre Channel and recently announced Ethernet solution OEM agreement between both companies ... Cisco -- IBM has expanded its long-standing relationship with Cisco through a new agreement enabling its Systems & Technology Group sellers and partners to resell the... (PR Newswire)
Taking a Second Look at Apple Xserve Jul 10, 2009
XSan 2 requires a Fibre Channel (FC) SAN network and a metadata controller that typically runs on Xserve. While Apple continues to provide storage software, it is no longer in the storage hardware business. (Datamation)
More Webcasts Jul 5, 2009
This Webcast Produced for HP The storage landscape is headed for dramatic change, thanks to new technologies like Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), pNFS, object-based storage and SAS that will affect everything from NAS and SANs to disk drives. Get the knowledge you need to make the most of your storage environment, now and in the future. (IntranetJournal)
What are the differences between SATA II vs. SATA I? Jul 2, 2009
Although this is far less than the number of drives that can be connected using Fibre Channel or Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), this will make it much easier to build disk enclosures using SATA drives ... However, these improvements don't mean that enterprises will forget about SCSI and Fibre Channel and run into the arms of SATA. SCSI, Fibre Channel and soon SAS will still be the main candidates for mission-critical storage ... Online referred to the data center that operated 24/7 and usually... (Search Storage)
Broadcom Raises Bid for Emulex, Sets Deadline Jul 1, 2009
Broadcom cited "the convergence of Ethernet and Fibre Channel" as a reason for the merger. and the new standard for Fibre Channel over Ethernet () could soon make converged data center networks a reality. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
SGI Returns with New Data Storage Arrays Jun 30, 2009
EMC (NYSE: EMC) and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) are among the other data storage vendors offering 8-gig Fibre Channel connections in their midrange arrays. Other features in the new SGI systems include both -5 and RAID-6 options, journaled fast drive rebuild for rapid recovery and Active/Active storage managers with failover. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Broadcom Raises All-Cash Tender Offer for Emulex to $11.00 Per Share Jun 30, 2009
Together, the talented employees of our two companies could accelerate the convergence of Ethernet and Fibre Channel. Broadcom's technology, scale, track record of execution, and highly successful history of acquisitions, along with Emulex's considerable strengths today would make a terrific combination for our combined employees and our customers. (PR Newswire)
Falling 10GbE Prices Spell Doom for Fibre Channel Jun 30, 2009
I believe that this price drop, combined with and other market forces, means the slow death of Fibre Channel has begun ... The idea was to increase the market for Fibre Channel by putting Fibre Channel chipsets on higher-end motherboards ... First, drives became denser than Fibre Channel drives, their reliability increased, and their cost dropped compared to Fibre Channel drives. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
How to determine the protocol for your SAN Jun 25, 2009
You can find ways to get the first for free by using MPIO for iSCSI or failover drivers from your Fibre Channel host bus adapter (HBA) vendor ... If you are simply provisioning files, there's no need to incur the cost of Fibre Channel ... Ideally, leveraging both iSCSI and Fibre Channel is the best option. (Search Storage)
Green storage best practices control costs, increase energy efficiency Jun 25, 2009
A study by EMC Corp. last year indicated that storing a terabyte of data on a 7,200 rpm 1 TB SATA drive is 94% more efficient than storing it on a 15,000 rpm 73 GB Fibre Channel (FC) drive. This provides an added incentive to ensure that storage service levels and tiers are properly aligned based on application and data value. (Search Storage)
SGI Targets Mid-Market With New Storage Play Jun 24, 2009
The array features 8Gbit Fibre Channel connectivity on the back-end now and should have InfiniBand connectivity by the end of the year. None of it is proprietary SGI stew, like its interconnect architecture, it's all industry standard interfaces, no special SGI file system needed. (SmallBusinessComputing)
RAID levels defined Jun 17, 2009
Characteristics: Disk striping with rotating parity using dual-parity drives intended to reduce data availability exposure during a disk drive rebuild, particularly when using larger capacity Fibre Channel and SATA disk drives. The issue with RAID 6, and any multidrive parity scheme, is performance overheard for parity calculations when writing data or rebuilding from a failed disk drive. (Search Storage)
Emulex Comments On Broadcom's Self-Serving and Misleading Statements Jun 5, 2009
"At the June 3 conference, Mr. McGregor stated that Broadcom's only alternatives outside an acquisition of an established Fibre Channel market participant are either to do nothing, or organically build a Fibre Channel offering and then try to harden it if an OEM agrees to use it. However, Mr. McGregor admitted that doing nothing could result in significant lost opportunity across 'five' to 'ten years' and building something would at minimum require 'dilutive' spending on R&D over a number of... (Primezone Releases)
IBM Embraces FCoE, Converged Data Center Networks Jun 2, 2009
IBM (NYSE: IBM) will use Fibre Channel over Ethernet () adapter technology from Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) and QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) as it equips its servers for converged data center networks. IBM will use -based from Brocade and QLogic in its System x servers and QLogic mezzanine CNAs in IBM BladeCenter offerings, the company has confirmed. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
QLogic Single Chip Converged Network Adapters Power New IBM FCoE-enabled Blade Servers May 26, 2009
May 26, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Continuing to execute along a fast-paced trajectory to expand its industry lead in intelligent converged networking technologies, QLogic Corp. (NasdaqGS: - ), a leading supplier of high performance network infrastructure solutions, today announced IBM (NYSE: - ) is the first tier-one system vendor to integrate QLogic's new single chip 8100 Series converged network adapters (CNAs) for native Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity in IBM's mainstream... (Primezone Releases)
SANs to become increasingly object based May 24, 2009
Data storage arrays -- Likelihood 85% Ultra-high-density data storage arrays will pack more storage into a smaller, greener footprint; arrays will have multiple interfaces (IP, enhanced IP, Fibre Channel, Fibre Channel over Ethernet) to connect with converged fabrics; some will be incorporated for high IOPS data. Switches -- Likelihood 70% Multiprotocol switches will be common, and switches will have greater intelligence, which will be used for management. (Search Storage)
RAID: It's alive May 24, 2009
What you will learn: is still relevant today, possibly even more than in the past. However, it has become a transparent, standard feature that isn't often discussed. (Search Storage)
Could Solid State Spell the End for Hard Drives? May 15, 2009
Fibre Channel Could Go First ... "I'd say that Fibre Channel drives are first in the firing line," said Peters. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Ten Ways to Save on Data Storage Costs May 9, 2009
This reduces the need for Fibre Channel disks and speeds performance for the most mission-critical applications ... "Migrate data from Fibre Channel, small computer system interface () or SAS storage to less expensive SATA," he said. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Implementing virtualization May 7, 2009
Match the intelligence of your Fibre Channel (FC) storage-area network (SAN) infrastructure to your levels of server and storage virtualization. Using VMware Inc.'s VMotion, virtual servers may move to different server hardware. (Search Storage)
Broadcom pushes ahead with $764 million Emulex bid May 6, 2009
is seen as a move to bolster the company's prospects at a time when data centers are trying to save money by consolidating today's separate network and storage traffic over future merged Fibre Channel over Ethernet networks, and system makers are trying to save costs by buying networking boards with a complete software stack. Broadcom is the leader in the market for Ethernet chips for servers at the Gbit generation, but it has no shipping Fibre Channel chips or software or board-level products. (EETimes)
Emulex Gives Broadcom the Cold Shoulder May 5, 2009
Emulex said it has achieved "numerous design wins" for its and convergence management framework, including five "tier one" 10Gb/s Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC) placements, three 10Gb/s iSCSI CNA placements and four 10Gb/s Fibre Channel over Ethernet () CNA placements. Those moves have doubled its market reach, Emulex said. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
What's Selling In the Data Storage Market? May 2, 2009
In the EMC vision, flash becomes the first tier, Fibre Channel disk is tier two and becomes tier 3, a model that other vendors are also promoting ... Tape, Fibre Channel hang on ... Quantum and EMC, of course, made their money on old-school storage platforms such as tape and Fibre Channel. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Reduce network complexity with FCoE May 1, 2009
(FCoE) enables companies to retain an existing Fibre Channel infrastructure, keep existing FC management tools in place, provide the same level of performance (with Data Center Ethernet) and lower costs ... Typically, the networking team is responsible for IP switches, while the storage team is responsible for Fibre Channel. (Search Storage)
IBM Says Brocade Deal Not Aimed at Cisco Apr 28, 2009
The IBM-Brocade deal will also include Fibre Channel over Ethernet () switches and , said Ian Whiting, Brocade's senior vice president of worldwide sales ... Other enhancements will include 8Gbps Fibre Channel adapters and greater capacity of up to 448 disk drives in a single system. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Server Virtualization and iSCSI Keep Small Business Running Apr 28, 2009
"This isn't new technology, but in the past it was too expensive for small businesses to afford because it used to be done with Fibre Channel only," said Parlee, who said that pricing would run in the $100,000 range for the SAN alone. For about $97,000, Washington Archives purchased five servers and a switch, software licenses from Microsoft and DataCore, and a few other items, including Moose Logic professional services. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Broadcom Makes Hostile Bid for Emulex Apr 28, 2009
Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) today made an unsolicited bid to acquire Emulex (NYSE: ELX) in a play for the emerging Fibre Channel over Ethernet () market ... Broadcom CEO Scott McGregor said in a statement that "A combination of Broadcom and Emulex addresses our customers' growing need to apply the economics of Ethernet to the Fibre Channel storage space to achieve low-cost network converged solutions. The logical evolution of the enterprise network is for a transition to a converged fabric... (EnterpriseStorageForum)
2009 NAB Show Exhibitor Profiles Apr 18, 2009
ATTO solutions are based on providing a high level of connectivity to all storage interfaces including SCSI, SATA, Internet SCSI (iSCSI), Gigabit Ethernet, SAS and Fibre Channel. ATTO distributes its products worldwide directly to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), systems integrators, VARs and authorized distributors. (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
Enhance Technology, Inc. Takes the 2009 NAB Show by Storm with New Products, Green Initiatives and Exciting Partnerships Apr 18, 2009
The UltraStor RS16 FS is a new generation of dual Fibre Channel 4Gbps storage systems that deliver top-of-the-line performance boosted by powerful 64-bit hardware architecture. Besides superior I/O performance capabilities for the most demanding environments, the RS16 FS also enables flexible scalability through the built-in SAS expansion ports and simple manageability through Enhance Technologys WebGUI remote storage management via web browsers. (Multichannel News)
What you need to know before implementing NAS clusters Apr 16, 2009
What are the storage options in terms of SAS, SATA and Fibre Channel drives, or solid state drives, for the solution. How disruptive will it be to add new storage or replace existing storage. (Search Storage)
EMC Ties Symmetrix to VMware Apr 14, 2009
It offers , Fibre Channel, and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. For now, it's limited to an eight-controller configuration, but the system can potentially scale to hundreds of controllers, "hundreds of thousands of virtual servers, hundreds of thousands of terabytes, tens of millions of IOPS," all in a single virtual matrix, EMC says. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Cloud Computing Poses E-Discovery, Legal Risks Apr 11, 2009
Fibre Channel over Ethernet () was a big topic at the conference, as users were eager to learn about the new data storage technology that is expected to hit the market as soon as late this year. Skip Jones, chair of the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA), called FCoE a "common sense technology" that "takes two successful technologies the most popular wire in the world, Ethernet, and the most prevalent storage networking technology, , and puts them together for a solution that provides... (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Brocade Sees 16-Gig in Fibre Channel's Future Apr 8, 2009
Brocade Communications (NASDAQ: BRCD) sees 16 Gigabit per second Fibre Channel coming even as some data storage industry pundits say Fibre Channel over Ethernet could replace Fibre Channel (see ). Marty Lans, Brocade's senior director of product marketing, said the company sees 16Gbps arriving late next year, even though adoption is expected to be underway by then. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Emulex Publishes Convergenomics -- The Guide to Network Convergence Solutions Apr 7, 2009
News Facts: * Today, Emulex Corporation (NYSE: - ) published Convergenomics(tm) -- The Guide to Network Convergence Solutions, a comprehensive introduction to network convergence based on Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), which includes: -- An assessment of the challenges facing the data center and the business case for FCoE -- Use cases and applications that will be addressed with the first wave of FCoE deployments -- An overview of the technology evolution and standards activities leading to... (Primezone Releases)
Emulex Recognized by IT Professionals as Leader in Fibre Channel Over Ethernet Adapter Market According to IT Brand Pulse Report Apr 7, 2009
-- Emulex Corporation (NYSE: - ) today announced key findings from the March 2009 IT Brand Pulse(tm) FCoE Adapter Leader Survey detailing the opinions of 149 IT professionals on the Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Adapter market ... -- In general, the report showcased strong IT support for Emulex Converged Network Adapters (CNAs) in terms of bringing new products to market, with one IT professional responding, "Emulex does a better job with new technology." -- Emulex's LightPulse(r) FCoE CNAs... (Primezone Releases)
QLogic Sees FCoE Coming Soon Apr 1, 2009
QLogic (NASDAQ: QLGC) sees Fibre Channel over Ethernet () products arriving on the data storage market in the next six to nine months and claims it's a year ahead of its competitors in helping develop them. QLogic today unveiled a single-chip FCoE converged network adapter (CNA) that the company says has been sampling since December. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Rocks Don't Need to Be Backed Up Mar 28, 2009
Commentary: What a 4,000-year-old Egyptian obelisk can teach us about data backup, archiving and preservation of our history and why it's critical that we get started now (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Absolute Analysis Enables Engineers with New Integrated Test Tool for Real-Time Delay Simulation, Modification, Analysis, and Verification Mar 25, 2009
Faster trace upload times have been added for larger data captures, along with protocol database updates for Fibre Channel, Ethernet and CPRI (Common Public Radio Interface Standard ... New Protocol Support, Features, Upgrades, and Documentation for Absolute Investigator : 10Gbps Fibre Channel CPRI support Protocol database updates for Fibre Channel, Ethernet and CPRI Updated sanAlytics ... Absolute Investigator Impairment Test/Delay Line Features: Supports Fibre Channel and Ethernet protocols,... (Yahoo News -- Press Releases)
Dell Offers Solid State Drives, New EMC Storage Array Mar 25, 2009
The NX4 combines Fibre Channel, iSCSI and connectivity, but Vigil said Dell's focus will be as a NAS offering because of the strength of its EqualLogic line. Vigil said the array "demonstrates the continuing commitment to the EMC alliance.". (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Gennum Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Tundra Semiconductor Mar 20, 2009
Furthermore, by leveraging Gennum's advanced high-speed interconnect IP, Gennum believes it can more quickly bring to market new products that support industry-pervasive protocols such as PCI Express, Serial ATA/SAS, USB, DisplayPort, HDMI, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, SONET and RapidIO. As data rates extend to 40 Gb/s and 100 Gb/s and beyond, Gennum believes that it is well positioned for the long term, giving customers a compelling roadmap of high-performance solutions with signal... (PR Newswire)
Analysis: Why IBM should buy Juniper, not Sun Mar 19, 2009
It has the ability to deliver on that vision with its clout in ASICs and merged networks such as Fibre Channel over Ethernet. This will play well with massive and highly integrated data centers from Internet giants such as Amazon. (EETimes)
HP Takes NonStop Servers Down to 'Entry Level' Mar 18, 2009
For those customers that don't need the huge capacity of a C7000, the NS2000 offers a 32U rack with up to eight processors and up to 16GB of RAM per processor, plus all of the usual connectors (Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), Fibre Channel, gigabit Ethernet). This especially applies to customers of the older Tandem servers, which are expensive to maintain. (SmallBusinessComputing)
EMC, NetApp Could Gain From Cisco's Server Plans Mar 17, 2009
The new systems, which unite servers, networks and storage in a single platform, could provide a big boost for the emerging Fibre Channel over Ethernet () standard and for data storage giant EMC (NYSE: EMC), whose VMware (NYSE: VMW) subsidiary is central to Cisco's new offering. In addition to VMware, EMC's Smarts and ControlCenter server, network and storage management tools are also part of the collaboration. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Comment: Cisco clarifies its cloud vision Mar 14, 2009
The idea was to put all data center traffic on one set of wires rather than separate Fibre Channel storage nets, Ethernet nets and Infiniband server clusters. This movement gave birth to Fibre Channel over Ethernet. (EETimes)
Despite Economy, Storage Bargains Hard to Find Mar 13, 2009
Schulz, for instance, mentions that 4Gb Fibre Channel (FC) products have become more affordable, thanks to the arrival of 8Gb and Fibre Channel over Ethernet () lurking just around the corner. He has also noticed a price drop in 10Gb Ethernet ports as well as many midrange storage systems, including those using high-performance or disk drives. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Stratus fits fault-tolerance into VMware environment Mar 10, 2009
When taken together, ftServer and VMware can offer 5 9s of availability while also lowering cost and complexity by reducing the number of servers, software licenses, Fibre Channel switches, and high-availability networks that customers' need, Lane claims. "No, that is not too good to be true," said Laura DiDio, principal analyst at research and consulting firm Information Technology Intelligence Corp. (ITIC). (InfoWorld)
Data Storage Plays Supporting Role for Server Virtualization Mar 10, 2009
Although SMBs were a small sample of respondents, among them seems to be the leading alternative to Fibre Channel for small shops ... Consider Ethernet first, then Fibre Channel. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
Manage iSCSI Sprawl With iSNS Servers Mar 7, 2009
The iSNS protocol can also act as a central management point for Fibre Channel (FC) SANs that use the protocol, allowing for centralized management of both traditional FC and IP SANs ... Third, the State Change Notification service turns an IP network into a more state-full and aware network, akin to Fibre Channel. (EnterpriseStorageForum)
A case for 8 GB Fibre Channel Mar 5, 2009
Since 4 GB Fibre Channel (FC) was introduced, there have been significant changes in data centers, including server virtualization, a focus on power and cooling, and the rapid acceptance of solid-state disk (SSD) ... This is a Fibre Channel enabler that allows multiple N_Port IDs to share a single physical N_Port ... In generations past, there were incremental upgrades to drive technology -- 10K rpm drives to 15K rpm drives, for example, to take advantage of the faster generation of Fibre... (Search Storage)
