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To: GuinnessGuy who wrote (17345)	2/6/2000 8:05:00 PM
From: buck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 54805

RE: CRDS aren't they really just bridges?) I was worried about semantics. To me, one man's router is another man's bridge is another man's gateway. You could call them protocol convertors, but I don't think you'd get away with that for long. <g> I use the term ROUTER for the following reasons: - In an OSI sense, these boxes are routers, not bridges. Bridges operate at layer 2, or the media layer, of the OSI model. This makes switches and hubs more akin to bridges, just as in the Ethernet world. Routers operate at layer 3 of the OSI model, or the network layer. This involves making decisions about packets based on more than their (FC) source and destination. - Routers also open up the entire packet, for the purpose of making decisions about what to do with that packet (again, based on the Cisco/Ethernet model.) This leads to more applications that can be written into the existing software, based on the contents of the entire frame or packet or IO unit. CRDS and Pathlight both claim to do this. I think that this is what enables server-free backup. - CRDS uses it. - Pathlight uses it. Native Fibre Channel Devices Indeed, native FC has been around since Seagate put the first FC interface on a hard drive. EMC, IBM, MTIC, Clariion (and many more) all have native RAID interfaces that are FC. Native FC tapes are not here yet, except for one mfr., STK (who, BTW, just lost their CEO and are in the middle of an re-entrenchment...one I believe they will emerge from with some strong momentum behind them.) Others are on the way, like Super DLT and LTO and probably Exabyte's next Mammoth. Will they obviate the need for CRDS products? I don't believe they'll obviate the need for their FC<>ATM, and their IB<>whatever products. I also don't believe that they'll obviate the need for FC<>SCSI, because all of the SCSI devices out there today won't turn into FC devices when the new ones roll off the production line. Based on 13 years in the IT service business, I know that IT managers like to squeeze every last penny out of a piece of hardware. If an $nK box can extend the life of an existing $nnK tape drive, tape library, or RAID device for a year or two, they're all over it. Even if they have to re-deploy said device to less-than-enterprise part of their business, there is a place for a "routed" drive or library. I don't think FC drives are less expensive from a tape standpoint. FC componenets cost considerably more than SCSI. Even if they did cost the same, I think it would be a wash, as it's one parts bin against another at mfg time. I think customer acceptance of FC tape drives will be what drives this market, as it does all markets. One compelling reason TODAY for a customer NOT to go to FC tapes is the per-port cost of hubs and switches. Each tape drive must attach to a port on a switch/hub. At 10 drives per library unit (STK 9714, for example), that's almost half of a current Brocade or Ancor switch, leaving 14 for host and other device attachments. That's a lot of money for a tape drive that runs at 20% of the port speed. Clearly, as hub/switch port costs go down, this argument becomes less compelling. But who's to say that CRDS doesn't have a FC<>FC router somewhere in their engineering group? Hence...I don't think your assumptions are correct, in toto. Some of them are bound to come true, due to the progress of the technology and the continued market acceptance of FC. But I think that CRDS has done a pretty good job of positioning for the future with their ATM and IB products. Hope I got all your questions. Please keep poking holes, as I'm interested in this, my first GG.