Microsoft and NAS: The Plot Thickens
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Microsoft and NAS: The Plot Thickens
Issue: Apr 2002
The TotalStorage 200 NAS box from IBM has received a Hardware Compatibility Listing (HCL) from Microsoft's Windows Hardware Quality Labs. The listing covers Windows operating systems, SQL Server 2000 database management systems, and Exchange 5.5 mail servers.
TotalStorage 200 can hold up to 3.5TB of raw storage and has an entry-level price of $11,000. In a written statement, Roland Hagan, vice president of IBM's storage networking division, IBM Storage Systems Group, said the certification "indicates the growing importance of NAS solutions in database environments, such as SQL Server 2000, as well as in traditional e-mail solutions."
It is exactly that growing importance that has fueled a simmering controversy over Microsoft's willingness to certify NAS technology for anything more than file serving (see "Getting Exchange to work with NAS", p. 32, March 2002). Microsoft has recently reiterated that it will not, for example, certify NAS technology for use with Exchange 2000 unless the device has a block interface. Also at issue is Microsoft's willingness to certify devices that don't use their Server Appliance Kit version of Windows as the filer operating system.
Kevin Judd, NAS product manager at Procom Technology Inc., Irvine, CA, charges that certification "has never been available to anyone except those that use the Windows engine." Procom's filers, like many other NAS vendors, has its own operating system. Microsoft has certified a Procom product, but only the Duet SAN backend to Procom's NetForce 3000 box.
A Network Appliance spokesman points out that "Microsoft has not implemented an HCL NAS category or test suite for vendors, regardless of whether they run the Windows operating system or their own." Users attempting to identify certified systems on the HCL have to wade through categories like "RAID systems" or "servers" to find them.
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