21 July 1999-HEWLETT-PACKARD: HP launches "Tachyon tested SAN solutions" interoperability program (C)1994-99 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
* New Program Aimed at Speeding Availability of Interoperable Storage Area Networks
Hewlett-Packard Company today announced that its High-speed I/O Business Unit, a leading supplier of Fibre Channel host adapters and protocol controller ICs, launched a program that helps system OEMs and system integrators to create interoperable solutions for the fast-growing storage area network (SAN) market. Backed by a dedicated test lab, the Tachyon Tested SAN Solutions interoperability program will test HP's Tachyon PCI Fibre Channel host adapters with a wide range of hubs, switches, storage routers, storage arrays, tape libraries and other host adapters to insure successful interoperability. The resulting group of compatible SAN products can be leveraged by system OEMs and system integrators to build SAN solutions.
The initial phase of the program will focus on interoperability at the SAN-component level. Subsequent phases will focus on interoperability within specific applications, such as LAN-free backup, remote data mirroring and storage consolidation. Test partners will provide their products to the HP Tachyon Interoperability Lab where engineers will administer a series of rigorous tests designed to detect compatibility problems. SAN components that successfully interoperate with HP's Tachyon host adapters will be designated "Tachyon Tested" and can display the HP "Tachyon Tested" logo on marketing collateral. HP will maintain a list of all "Tachyon Tested" products and test partners on its Fibre Channel components Web site at hp.com.
"HP is taking a leading role in advancing SAN interoperability with the 'Tachyon Tested' program," said Julian Elliott, general manager of HP's High-speed I/O Business Unit. "Backed by HP's legendary stress-testing capabilities, this program will be a preeminent measure of Fibre Channel interoperability. 'Tachyon Tested' components will give system OEMs a rock-solid foundation on which to build SAN applications, and this should translate to a time-to-market advantage."
Test-partner Response
"Ancor is completely committed to interoperability initiatives such as HP's Tachyon Tested program," said Carla Kennedy, vice president of marketing for Ancor. "As a leading switch provider, Ancor provides the fabric for storage area networks, and end users have told us the fabric must truly be heterogeneous. HP is taking a leadership position to lay the groundwork to meet end users' demands."
"BROCADE is eager to include its newest family of Fibre Channel fabric switches and software, the BROCADE SilkWorm 2000 products, in the HP Tachyon Interoperability Lab," said Peter Tarrant, vice president of marketing and business development at Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. "BROCADE's participation in HP's Tachyon Interoperability Lab further enforces our commitment to drive interoperability and open standards with our scalable SilkWorm 2000 Fibre Channel fabric solutions for SANs."
"Data General is focused on making proven, open SAN solutions available today," said Joanne Masingill, vice president of CLARiiON marketing at Data General. "To encourage the continued development and deployment of open SAN solutions, our CLARiiON full Fibre Channel storage arrays will be the first technology evaluated in the Tachyon Tested program. Our CLARiiON storage solutions deliver open, full Fibre Channel storage -- the enabling technology of an open SAN environment -- in a modular and flexible design that allows storage to be easily deployed and tailor fit."
"Interoperability testing is crucial to the creation and implementation of effective SAN solutions," said Jim Moore, president and chief operating officer of Crossroads Systems, Inc. "HP's testing program ensures that each SAN component will deliver the performance and interoperability benefits that companies require when implementing SAN solutions."
"HP's Enterprise Storage Business Unit, a leading storage provider, benefits from a SAN-component-level interoperability lab such as the one the HP Tachyon group is putting in place," said Tom Rallens, product marketing section manager for HP's Enterprise Storage Business Unit. "It provides us with interoperable SAN building blocks that will ultimately reduce the amount of testing in our interoperability labs and get us to market faster."
"As a supporter and developer of SAN products, we're very glad to see HP developing such a dedicated program to address the needs of system OEMs and system integrators," said Scott McIntyre, business line manager for storage networking at Legato Systems. "We believe SAN will be at the core of future storage-management solutions, and we're proud to be providing our products to HP's interoperability lab to continue the advancement of SAN-based applications."
"As a leading provider of 'Open, Intelligent and Integrated' SANs, StorageTek is in full support of HP's interoperability program," said Joan Wrabetz, vice president and general manager of SAN Operations at StorageTek. "StorageTek's VISTA Interoperability Lab, established earlier this year, and the HP Tachyon Interoperability Lab announced today serve to drive the industry toward complete SAN interoperability, ultimately bringing the most reliable and flexible SAN solutions to customers."
"Initiatives such as HP's Tachyon Tested program create a level of pre-tested compatibility that allows the VERITAS Software SAN Solutions Team to focus on the testing of storage application configurations rather than on base Fibre Channel compatibility issues," said Bill North, director of Storage Network Programs at VERITAS Software. "We need to know that all SAN hardware components have been pre-tested so we can concentrate our energy on the features, performance and functionality of our applications in a SAN environment."
"As a leading provider of Fibre Channel connectivity devices and software, Vixel is committed to the continued growth of fully tested and interoperable solutions," said Stan Reese, vice president of product development for Vixel Corporation. "HP's Tachyon Interoperability Lab represents another milestone in delivering high-performance and reliable SAN solutions to our mutual customers for their data-intensive and mission-critical applications." |
