The Next Storage Revolution
There is hope for GRCI yet....there's no mention of GRCI, but they do play in the same sandbox (they're the real little kid, who keeps to himself in the corner)
Steve
The Next Storage Revolution
Is the storage industry poised for revolution?
There is little question that the market for storage technology and related services is growing at a phenomenal rate. Despite the recent pullback in the value of many storage-related stocks, the race to bring business information online continues unabated. Combine such insatiable demand with the continued decline in the raw cost of storage and you have some of the ingredients for an information systems explosion.
To date, however, development in the storage industry has been relatively slow, steady, and evolutionary. It's included faster and wider buses, higher density and more reliable drives, better volume and file system management. These are, of course, all positive developments.
What's slowed the development of storage technology? A lack of interoperability among storage vendors has been one problem. The vertically integrated nature of the industry has been another. Like the computer industry before the introduction of the PC and the networking industry prior to the widespread adoption of Internet Protocol, the storage industry has all of the characteristics of a vertically integrated industry dominated by a small number of large incumbent vendors.
There are signs that the pace of innovation is accelerating within the storage systems arena. More than a few companies are poised to drive physical layer compatibility between switching and storage device vendors. Standardization work holds the promise of bringing interoperability. A real sense of urgency has been instilled throughout much of the storage industry as traditional and startup data networking companies strive to bring storage-awareness to the IP world through efforts such as iSCSI and FC-IP. There is little doubt that the worlds of data and storage networking are on a collision course and that the pace is quickening.
A brief look at the history of data networking may shed light on the future course of storage networking. For example, proprietary technology, such as SNA from IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM - message board), formed the beginning of the data networking industry. Then came basic LAN connectivity. Ethernet followed, driving a new level of interoperability amongst vendors. Bridging and routing came next. Then came performance Layer 2 switching from companies like Kalpana, which was purchased by Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO - message board).
The widespread adoption of IP as the protocol of choice allowed widespread interoperability and sparked a wave of higher-layer innovation that continues today. Layer 3 switching came later, spawning companies such as Extreme Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: EXTR - message board) and Foundry Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: FDRY - message board). Juniper Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR - message board) gave us silicon-based routing. Later, companies such as Redback Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: RBAK - message board), Shasta (bought by Nortel Networks Corp. [NYSE/Toronto: NT]), Alteon (Nortel), and Arrowpoint (Cisco) continued the trend by adding higher-layer application services to the data path.
Many will remember that Cisco's router dominance was threatened in the early 90s by LAN switching. Cisco chose to aggressively embrace this new technology even though it threatened to cannibalize revenue in its core router business. It became a leader wherever IP standards advanced, becoming a market leader in both markets. This strategy stands in stark contrast to many former data networking leaders -- Vitalink, IBM, Novell, to name a few -- which failed to aggressively embrace disruptive technology.
Similar pieces appear to be falling into place for the next stage of storage networking growth, as standards emerge. We find this sector moving toward horizontal integration and compatible components. Customers will rejoice as the pace of innovation quickens and they slide down the price/performance curve, enjoying the greater manageability of their systems along the way.
Jim Goetz is a partner at Accel Partners, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital firm. Prior to joining Accel in March 2000, Jim was Vice President and General Manager of the VitalSoft division at Lucent. Disclosure: Arrowpoint, Foundry, Redback, and Veritas are Accel portfolio companies.
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