GENROCO, Inc. (GENROCO) (OTC Bulletin Board: "GRCI") installed the first ever
Storage Area Network (SAN) with Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) clients having direct
file system access to Fibre Channel (FC) disks without intermediate servers at
Compaq Computer Corporation's (NYSE: "CPQ") European CustomSystems Group offices
here this week.
The installation was done for a demonstration at the semi-annual meeting of the
European High Performance Network Forum ( hnf.org ) hosted by Compaq
and for ongoing development and testing by the firm -- the largest global
supplier of computer systems.
SANs are networks that rely on FC for high throughput and extensive, direct
connectivity between clients and storage devices. SANs help take the load off
servers, which have the burden of transferring data to and from storage media as
well as to the clients on a LAN. FC switches typically furnish the backbone for
all connected FC-enabled computer or data nodes. Using distributed lock
management software, SANs permit storage to be shared among all clients in
environments running a mix of proprietary operating systems such as UNIX and
Windows NT.
The chief drawback of current SAN implementations is that they do not enable
systems on GigE LANs or OC48 WANs to have the same direct access to FC storage
as would FC-attached clients. GENROCO's revolutionary Network Independent SAN
technology allows clients on any network, including GigE, OC48, HIPPI, etc., to
behave like FC clients and have direct access to FC storage using standard file
systems and access methods. The Company offers software drivers for most
networks supported on Compaq Tru64 UNIX, Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, Hewlett-Packard
HP-UX, SGI IRIX, open Linux, and Windows 2000 based computer systems.
"Our objective is to make it possible to seamlessly connect OC48 WAN links
and/or Gigabit Ethernet networks incorporating Alteon, Extreme, and other such
switches to Fibre Channel fabrics consisting of Brocade, Ancor, and similar FC
switches with any clients operating exactly as if they were on the FC SAN,
declared Carl Pick, Chairman and CEO of GENROCO. "Users don't want to be told
what platforms or networks to build their enterprises around!"
The installation in Annecy consisted of three Compaq Alpha computers, one with a
GigE Network Interface Card (NIC), one with a HIPPI NIC, and another with both
GigE and HIPPI NICs, each running Compaq's Tru64 UNIX 4.0F operating system. The
systems created, read, and wrote file systems and files on two Compaq HSG-80
Fibre Channel disk arrays with only a GENROCO multi-protocol switch between
them.
"GENROCO's demonstration shows that the frontier of the SAN can be expanded
greatly beyond local Fibre Channel only access," said Arie van Praag of CERN,
HNF Europe President. "The dream of direct connection among SANs, LANs, and WANs
is now a commercial reality. This know-how will be of great benefit in
collecting data in future experiments at CERN."
Engineers at CERN, the European Center for High Energy Physics, have been
involved in the development of GENROCO's GiGE and OC48 technology and plan to
host a major exhibition of WANs linked to SANs this fall.
GENROCO plans to make deliveries of multi-protocol switches to Several other
international Compaq and partner sites during March.
About GENROCO
GENROCO, Inc. is a 25-year-old, engineering and marketing company that
specializes in providing I/O solutions for users of high performance, network
independent storage area networks (SANs). By offering cross-platform support for
its patented technology, the Company is able to deliver unique, extraordinarily
high bandwidth, low host overhead products for these markets. GENROCO enjoys a
global customer base that includes Compaq, Fujitsu, SGI, Sun, the US Departments
of Defense and Energy, CERN, and other research institutions.
Additional information about GENROCO can be found at genroco.com . |
