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3Com looks to be the first of the major networkers to announce SAN support, Data General adds another significant partner to a list that includes Dell.
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3Com to make move to storage area networking
zdnet.com
By Carmen Nobel, PC Week Online
October 27, 1998 4:56 PM ET
3Com Corp. next week will announce plans to be the first major networking vendor to enter the lucrative market of storage area networking.
The company is partnering with MTI Technology Corp., Legato Systems Inc. and Data General Corp.'s Clariion division to develop several SAN products in the next few years.
Key products will include Fibre Channel-based network interface cards, hubs and switches as well as storage management products based on 3Com's Transcend network management software, according to 3Com officials in Santa Clara, Calif.
Currently, most disk array and server vendors license their interconnect products from much smaller companies such as Gadzooks Inc.
The company has a four-phase SAN strategy, officials said. First comes the "Plumbing and Partners" phase, which includes a StorageConnect branded host adapter as well as a hub, both of which will include SNMP support. Those products are due early next year, officials said.
The second phase will see Transcend Network Manager software for SANs, which is expected late next year.
A few years after that, Phase 3 will see efforts to integrate the LAN, WAN and SAN -- so that users can access the SAN directly through their LAN. The last phase will include policy management of SANs, officials said.
Industry leaders said the next few years should be ripe with mergers and acquisitions as large companies such as 3Com make inroads on the storage market.
"There will be a few surviving independents that are able to compete," said Peter Gibbs, director of marketing at Clariion, in Westboro, Mass. "For the next year or so, we're going to see various consolidations until the dust settles."
3Com can be reached at www.3com.com. |
