INRANGE Technologies Announces FICON and Fibre Channel Technology for ESCONStorage Network Directors
Unique Technology Migrated From Industry's Leading Fibre Channel Director
Brings New Technology Migration Path to Mainframe Users
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- INRANGE Technologies (Nasdaq: INRG), the leader in high-end, scalable storage networking solutions, today announced the ability for fibre channel and FICON storage networks to coexist with legacy ESCON storage through a single storage area network (SAN) director. This unique storage networking capability is provided with the release of the IN-VSN(TM) Fibre Channel Port Adapter (FCPA) for CD/9000(R) ESCON Directors.
UNIQUE TECHNOLOGY COEXISTENCE
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), up to 70% of the world's corporate data exists on legacy mainframe systems, most of which use storage networks based on the IBM ESCON storage protocol. Once the most advanced interconnect available, ESCON is migrating to IBM's new FICON interconnect, which blends ESCON control with the new technology of fibre channel storage networking. IBM has begun FICON channel shipments that are expected to be the replacement technology for these very large ESCON-based systems. This technology 'refresh' means that thousands of customers that have ESCON storage networks are faced with a total replacement of those networks, if unable to upgrade to the new technologies.
"Our commitment has always been to work with our customers to increase adoption rate of new technologies and to recognize faster ROI on technological developments," said Charles Foley, EVP and CTO of INRANGE Technologies. "Our FCPA development was targeted squarely at this issue - protect the operational investment in the existing databases, while facilitating movement to new FICON and fibre channel technologies." Using the IN-VSN FCPA feature, up to 128 new FICON and fibre channel ports can be added to existing or new INRANGE CD/9000 256 port capacity ESCON directors, even while ESCON storage and servers are attached. This allows for a coexistence of all three storage network types in a single director footprint, providing a more seamless migration path to these new technologies. No other vendor has announced product or plans for this type of technology.
MIGRATION TO THE FUTURE
IBM began shipping FICON channels in their S/390 in 1998, and more recently these channels are included in the new IBM zSeries of servers announced in October. With FICON channel rates of 100MB/s compared to the ESCON rate of 17MB/s, and distance limitations eased from 3km to 100km, these enterprise systems are now capable of larger, faster I/O networks to support exploding e-business infrastructures. "Large users of ESCON networks experiencing connectivity, addressing and distance limitations can improve performance by migrating to the FICON environment that incorporates the signaling and transmission speeds of Fibre Channel," said James Opfer, Principal Analyst of Gartner/Dataquest. "This migration won't come overnight, however. ESCON and FICON devices will coexist with simultaneous mainframe support. Network products that support this coexistence have an important role to play." Further benefit can be derived by simultaneous support of fibre channel attached servers and storage, allowing a true single point for storage management in the data center.
"The market recognition of our FC/9000 Fibre Channel Director has surpassed our earlier expectations, and fuels strong growth for INRANGE," stated Greg Grodhaus, President and CEO of INRANGE Technologies Corporation. "Long term, leveraging competency and technology from one customer set to another is a key part of our business strategy. The FCPA release is a solid example of this commitment to both our traditional S/390 customers, and the fast-growing list of open systems customers that have joined our ranks since we released the FC/9000 Fibre Channel Director in the first quarter of 2000."
Availability of the IN-VSN FCPA for the CD/9000 is scheduled for January 2001. All current installed systems and newly shipped systems can take advantage of this upgrade/feature.
About INRANGE Technologies (www.inrange.com)
INRANGE Technologies designs, manufactures, markets and services networking and switching products for storage, data and telecommunications networks. Our products provide fast and reliable connections among networks of computers and related devices and are used in global 2000 businesses and other enterprises that operate large-scale and heterogeneous systems where open connectivity, reliability, and continuous availability are critical. Our products are designed to be compatible with various vendors' products and multiple communication standards and protocols.
INRANGE, the INRANGE logo, and CD/9000 are registered trademarks of INRANGE Technologies Corporation. IN-VSN and FC/9000 are trademarks of INRANGE Technologies Corporation. All other trademarks and product names are the property of their respective owners. |
