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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hlpinout who wrote (88928)	1/18/2001 8:11:58 PM
From: hlpinout	Respond to of 97611

January 18, 2001 3:52pm Compaq Clusters TaskSmart Servers By Charles Babcock Inter@ctive Week Compaq Computer multiplied the capacity and reliability of its network-attached storage appliance Wednesday, Jan. 17, by making the TaskSmart N-Series storage server available in a cluster. Network-attached storage is typically a centralized pool of storage on a local area network, supplying arrays of managed disk drives for use by many servers and end users. It fits into an existing setting rather than requiring the addition of a high-speed storage area network devoted to storage. Compaq came out with the TaskSmart storage servers in July. The server appliance manages access to redundant arrays of independent disks amounting to 1 terabyte of storage. The clustered TaskSmart server can manage up to 10 terabytes. "There are no single points of failure" in the server appliance, said John Young, vice president of TaskSmart servers in Compaq's Industry Standard Server Group. In the event that a disk, a fiber channel switch or the server itself fails, operations are transferred over to backup elements in the cluster. The TaskSmart cluster is limited to a two-node cluster, with one node serving as backup, he said. The clustered server also supports Gigabit Ethernet for higher-speed data transfers. The TaskSmart N-Series servers have also been upgraded from 1 terabyte to 2 terabytes of storage per unit, Young said. A unit with 500 megabytes of storage is priced at $192,000. A maximum-capacity 10-terabyte unit would be priced at $960,000, Young said.

To: hlpinout who wrote (88928)	1/18/2001 8:14:19 PM
From: hlpinout	Respond to of 97611

Compaq Won't Demand Compaq-Only For New SAN Certification Top Channel Exec Says Benefits Will Drive Loyalty By Craig Zarley, CRN New Orleans 5:39 PM EST Thurs., Jan. 18, 2001 Compaq's top North American channel executive says the vendor's new Master ASE SAN Architect certification should bind its top storage resellers closer to the Compaq brand. "There will only be 50 to 100 organizations in this program; it's hard to get in," says Dan Vertrees, Compaq's vice president of partner sales and marketing for North America. "This is as high a classification as you can take. They are an extension of Compaq and we will, in essence, let them in the Compaq network, just as if they were badged Compaq people." But Vertrees says that Compaq will not attempt to enforce any Compaq-only tenets for this new elite group. "You can't force dedication," he says. Rather, "we intend to take care of their needs so they don't look anywhere else." Compaq's Master SAN architects will be able to perform the 11 services that Compaq will now require to be sold with each of its SANs, including presite testing and design, hardware installation, data migration plan and documentation, among others. All Compaq storage VARs can sell the package of 11 services as a CarePaq and receive 18 points of margin on the $24,000 package. Previously, only Compaq performed SAN installation and start-up services, Vertrees notes. "For 2001, we've opened up the portfolio significantly," he says. Mark Romanowski, vice president of services at Jade Systems, Cold Springs, N.Y., agrees. "Compaq is involving the channel beyond products, and including us in selling and delivering solutions." But some of Compaq's 450 authorized storage solution providers are concerned about Master SAN architects performing services in their SAN customers on behalf of Compaq. "What would keep them from moving into the account?" says one Midwestern Compaq storage VAR who asked not to be identified. "We're not going to wear the black-and-white shirt and carry a whistle," says Vertrees. He says Compaq instead will rely on a "tight level of trust and respect" between partners, and he expects few conflicts to arise.