Andahl name is gone now it's all Fujitsu. Fujitsu is/was a QLGC 10%customer and also BRCD county....
Moderator: Please join our Real Time Vendor Connection with Wayne Giroux, Storage Strategist at Fujitsu Technology Solutions. Wayne will be discussing the advantages of an integrated SAN and what kind of SAN will put your data to work for you. We will be starting in the next 5 minutes. Please type your initial questions at the bottom of the screen.
Moderator: Welcome to our Real Time Vendor Connection with Wayne Giroux, Storage Strategist at Fujitsu Technology Solutions. Our topic today is The Advantages of an Integrated SAN and what kind of SAN will put your data to work for you. Please post your questions now.
swhitehead965751: What will we be discussing today, Wayne?
Wayne_Giroux: I thought we'd talk a little about integrated Storage Area Networks, and also about the Fujitsu Technology Solutions offerings for them. We can also touch on LAN-less and server-less backup solutions and even tape drives if people are interested.
sjacobs510513: Tell us a little more about Fujitsu Technology Solutions.
Wayne_Giroux: Fujitsu Technology Solutions was launched this month. The company's mission is to provide open systems server and storage solutions that meet the needs of the largest and most progressive users of information technology in the world. We draw on the skills and experience of Fujitsu and its partner companies in providing what we believe is a deep understanding and experience in data center environments. We're headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Wayne_Giroux: Fujitsu offers servers supporting Solaris, Windows and Linux environments
Wayne_Giroux: And as well the appropriate storage for each environment
Wayne_Giroux: We are especially proud of the GSS 4900 Modular Storage System with its integrated SAN
swhitehead965751: I was looking at your Web site and saw a lot about the GSS 4900. I know it's a modular storage system, but what else can you say about it in a few words?
Wayne_Giroux: The GSS 4900 is a fully integrated open systems modular storage system, the most powerful and scalable in the market today. It can deliver more than 24,000 IO/sec with throughput exceeding 1 GB/Sec. It is fully scalable from 100GB to 64TB per system, with host connectivity expandable from 4 to 48 connections.
willia4l127874: Do you offer 3rd mirror copy's, snaps and remote mirroring? If so, is it on the san or controlled by software?
Wayne_Giroux: Fujitsu partners with Legato for our mirroring strategy, but we also work effectively with many other implementations available ... many analysts (such as Evaluator Group) have taken a strong position with us that this is the best and most effective way of addressing the requirement in an open systems environment ... we do believe however there is a place for both firmware and software implementations, and other Fujitsu products do offer that
ggould398748: Why do you provide an integrated SAN with the GSS 4900?
Wayne_Giroux: An I-SAN reduces the cost and complexity of Storage Area Network exploitation. The customer can install the GSS 4900 and realize the benefits of a Storage Area Network almost immediately. As the customer's business grows and the SAN has to expand, a full enterprise SAN infrastructure can be implemented alongside the GSS 4900. That's in addition to the normal SAN benefits of connectivity, distance, performance, and scalability!
jcb50292969: How difficult would it be to hook your integrated SAN to my S/390 STK silo?
Wayne_Giroux: The I-SAN is a fully functional SAN with all the implied capabilities. If you have existing tape management capability to connect to a Silo via a SAN it will work. If you need a complete solution we can help you with that as well. Some of the tape management software could reside on the AFE if that was appropriate (Advanced Function Engine). So the basic answer is: Similar to any other SAN implementation except it is simpler as you know all the components work ... in particular LANless or Serverless back up if that is part of your strategy
hbuchan449584: What are some of the solution areas that the GSS 4900 would function in?
Wayne_Giroux: There are quite a few - in addition to serverless and LAN-less backup, there's also streaming media, disaster fail over, high availability, and business continuance. I can say a little more about some of those if anyone's interested. More generally, the GSS would be an asset to any company that has a growing storage need and that wants to implement LAN-Less and Server-Less backup. Systems that can't afford the down time to do backups and restores - e-business would be one example.
ggould109399: What are the benefits of having integrated storage management software within a SAN?
Wayne_Giroux: Using the storage management software in the AFE, customers can speed up SAN implementation and reap storage management benefits. There's a big reduction in complexity, risks and costs.
anns254438: How does an I-SAN differ from a NAS device?
Wayne_Giroux: Network Attached Storage connects typically over ethernet networks, and uses IP protocols to access data. A SAN uses standard SCSI commands to directly access storage as if it was directly attached. NAS uses for instance NSF and CIFS (Windows) protocols for accessing (and sharing) data.
fmcintyre486742: Why do you use Brocade Fabric switch for your I-San instead of other switches? I know some use McData Directors.
Wayne_Giroux: We chose Brocade because it's the acknowledged industry leader in Fibre Channel Switches. It has the largest market-share and the largest number of installed customers. It provides the best configuration flexibility, functions and cost effectiveness. So obviously they were worth using! However we do believe McData Directors can be the right choice in certain large SAN environments. Fujitsu is a reseller of McData Directors too.
lucas_mearian339592: Can you explain in simple terms what an integrated SAN is?
Wayne_Giroux: The i-SAN is a fully integrated pre-tested Storage Area Network under the covers. It addresses the issues of interoperability and extensive testing that is typically a challenge in implementing SANs. We can be assured that every component works together including associated HBAs and software. Additionally, advanced hi payback SAN applications such as LANless back up are options that have also been integrated and pre-tested (running on the AFE).
aseguin851704: What are the advantages of using an integrated SAN?
Wayne_Giroux: There are lots of advantages, but the biggest one is that with an integrated SAN you have a complete tested package rather than disparate components. The SAN is composed of multiple functional layers spread throughout the elements of the storage network. These elements include the servers, storage systems, and fibre channel interconnects. If you were designing a non-integrated SAN, you have to make sure all those elements talk to each other - which can be a tedious and costly process. With an integrated SAN, it's already orchestrated to work together.
richardkobak887863: What details must be provided in order to get an idea of the cost of implementing an integrated SAN?
Wayne_Giroux: The major questions would be how many servers you want to attach to how much storage and what platforms (and how many platforms) you want to support ... the answers will drive the size of the i-SAN and the amount and configuration of the storage ... additionally ... you need to know if there are other things you would like to do such as attach to tape or put in LANless back up.
Moderator: Lots of good questions from all participants so far...keep 'em coming as we continue to bring you insight from Wayne Giroux, discussing advantages of an integrated SAN and what kind of SAN will put your data to work for you.
ggould109399: Can you say a little more about the LAN-less and Server-less backup solutions that you offer in the GSS 4900? Like, whom do you partner with?
Wayne_Giroux: We're a strategic partner of Legato Systems. The GSS 4900 implements the Legato LAN-less and Server-less backup solutions with the NetWorker and the Celestra Power products in the AFEs. We plan to offer more storage management software in the future.
hbuchan449584: Does Fujitsu Technology Solutions also have a Network Attached Storage offering?
Wayne_Giroux: Absolutely. The F840 Enterprise Filer Server that we offer enables simultaneous file sharing of UNIX, Windows, and Web data by users and application servers from across a corporate network. The filers are excellent appliance building blocks for scalable storage networks, and their feature sets are well suited for enterprise, Internet, and technical applications.
fhancock336979: How many of these do you have running in production?
Wayne_Giroux: The GSS 4900 is brand new (announced July 2000) and is ramping up as quickly as we can. Lead times three weeks now ... we have many installed (though less than a hundred at this point) in numerous of our best accounts
anns254438: So the I-SAN, and your product in particular, is not a "one size fits all?"
Wayne_Giroux: The industry is moving towards full fabric support and the i-SAN is specifically designed to make that easy. The GSS 4900 is fully scalable (from 4 to 48 connections) and should be able to address any requirement.
willia4l127874: Are your arrays scsi internal or FC?
Wayne_Giroux: The GSS 4900 is a full fibre implementation and 100% optical.
dstfl216865: Are your products able to implement plumbing types other than FC?
Wayne_Giroux: By plumbing other than FC do you mean parallel SCSI or ethernet? The GSS4900 is purely a fibre channel implementation, and can be implemented with or without the i-SAN (i.e. direct attach or attach to a user's SAN)
willia4l127874: Does your I-SAN products support FC-AL and Switched Fabric on the same San?
Wayne_Giroux: Brocade provides Quickloop to support FC-AL devices and therefore can simulate FC-AL if required.
willia4l127874: How does the I-San Management software work? Does it integrate only with your products, or can it be used on other storage platforms?
Wayne_Giroux: The i-SAN software has several flavors. The basic switch management is based on Brocade manager and will work with other Brocade devices. Functions such as LANless backup (based on Networker) and Serverless backup (based on Celestra) should work with any storage attached to the same SAN (either i-SAN or customer SAN) though obviously we have done the complete pre-tested integration with our own storage devices ... anything certified by Legato should work.
aseguin851704: If I use GSS 4900 I-SAN, can I still have my own enterprise SAN infrastructure?
Wayne_Giroux: Yes. The GSS 4900 I-SAN is fully compatible with Brocade Fabric Switches, and it can be easily integrated into a full Enterprise SAN infrastructure made up of Brocade Fabric Switches. Over time the industry is moving towards interoperability between switch vendors.
lucas_mearian339592: How does serverless back up work?
Wayne_Giroux: Within the standards being developed for SANs there is the capability of doing copies of data within the SAN without the application server being involved ... typically referred to as the SCSI III copy command ... this command may be in another server or in a SAN device such as a switch or a hub ... we take advantage of this to implement serverless backup thus off loading both the application server and the LAN (available near the beginning 2001). Application integrity is addressed through Celestra agents on each application server. The data movement however is handled within the SAN.
fmcintyre486742: Also - what exactly do you mean by storage management software located within the SAN ?
Wayne_Giroux: Here's how it works. The GSS 4900 can be packaged with servers called Advanced Functions Engines (AFEs) with pre-loaded storage management software that facilitates storage management solutions such as LAN-Less and Server-less backups. These AFE(s) are connected to the GSS 4900 I-SAN and pre-configured as a total integrated solution.
jasong1182303: With what customers have you implemented successful storage solutions?
Wayne_Giroux: We have implemented successful storage solutions in a wide variety of customers of all sizes ... our heritage has been working with the largest enterprises in the world (Global 2000) on business critical requirements for both servers and storage in all operating systems environments... I don't have specific permission to mention customer names, but you will find us in the largest enterprises around the world.
ggould398748: What about the technology in the GSS 4900?
Wayne_Giroux: The GSS 4900 comes with an integrated SAN or I-SAN, pre-configured and pre-tested. This means customers can realize the full benefits of Storage Area Networking quickly without spending time, resources, and investments in building a SAN infrastructure.
willia4l127874: What is the capacity and connections options?
Wayne_Giroux: The GSS 4900 has from 4 to 48 fibre connections... if attached via a customer SAN of course this may be greatly expanded ... you may go from 100GB to 64TB for a system ... it can deliver more than 24,000 I/O per second and throughput exceeding 1 GB/sec.
Moderator: We will continue to talk questions until 2 PM EST. If Wayne does not get to your question, it will be posted with the answer in the Transcript. The transcript will be posted on this website within 48 hours after our Real Time Vendor Connection.
willia4l127874: Why should I use a I-san over other San products on the market? What advantages do you have over other competitors like EMC?
Wayne_Giroux: The biggest advantage of using the i-SAN option is speed of implementation and lowered possibility of risk ... if a customer has made the considerable investment in understanding and implementing SANs then it may well be best for him to integrate into his custom SAN which we can easily do ... there are no other competitors offering a fully functional, fully integrated, pre-tested, hi function operational i-SAN.
dstfl216865: Do you use a caching scheme, and if so, how is it protected from disasters?
Wayne_Giroux: The GSS 4900 uses cache and offers complete mirroring capability ... Fujitsu (previously Amdahl)'s heritage has been in high availability and we would not offer an implementation without fault tolerance. The cache of course is also battery backed up.
lucas_mearian339592: How could SSPs benefit from using the GSS 4900?
Wayne_Giroux: One of the major challenges of an SSP is scalability and the ability to support many platforms ... also speed of implementation... the GSS 4900 is ideal for this ... many consider it the best open systems storage available today.
agelerman252609: How can we find out more information about you? What is your web site?
Wayne_Giroux: You may find us at fujitsu-technology.com
willia4l127874: Can you connect/chain several i-sans in a cluster?
Wayne_Giroux: Yes we can cascade the switch in i-SANs ... and we fully support clusters.
richardkobak887863: Can you give a ballpark dollar figure on a mid-size GSS 4900, with pre loaded storage management software?
Wayne_Giroux: i.e. 24 hosts, 32 TBs, without LANless backup somewhere around 1.4 million (that's a quick rough calculation - contact raymond_hooper@fujitsu-technology.com or raymond_hooper@amdahl.com for add'l info and details).
Wayne_Giroux: I want to thank everyone for their attendance... we will answer any unanswered questions in the transcript that will be associated with this web cast.
Moderator: This concludes our Real Time Vendor Connection with Wayne Giroux from Fujitsu Technology Solutions. We would like to thank Wayne and our audience for a great time. The transcript of this Real Time Vendor Connection will be posted on this site within 48 hours.
Q, can't you do something abut this perception problem?
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