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Technology Stocks : Son of SAN - Storage Networking Technologies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: w2j2 who wrote (2755)	2/12/2001 5:23:14 PM
From: J Fieb	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4808

wj., Kumar and HG must be cousins....both FUBAR. Am more confident every day and glad we hang out on SI, these boards always are useful at hard times like this when "analysts" add layers of fog instead of try to lift it.. "The fibre channel industry has shrunk too far to be a major force again," Kumar wrote. "The next big wave of storage industry growth will accompany the next fundamental technology advancement, which is likely going to be deployment of IP-based storage." But either way the stack is on the HBA. When I read the pedigree of that QLGC aquisition LMG, it said a lot. These guys could have inked a deal with almost anyone they wanted (IMHO) Procom's NetForce NAS device reliable but costly By Francis Chu, eWEEK July 3, 2000 12:00 AM ET Procom Technology Inc.'s latest midrange NAS offering, the NetForce 1500, boasts large storage capacity and hardware redundancy, making it a highly available file sharing system for Unix and Windows networking environments in ISP, Web hosting and e-business applications. However, it's not the speediest -- or least expensive -- solution. Shipping since the middle of last month, the NetForce 1500 configuration that eWeek Labs tested hosts a 700MHz Intel Corp. Pentium III processor, 256MB of RAM, a Gigabit Ethernet adapter and 10 36GB Ultra Wide SCSI hard drives -- for a hefty price of $37,000. Procom offers the NetForce 1500 in several configurations, with prices ranging from $20,000 to the high $30,000s. The price per gigabyte of storage is fairly high compared with low-end network-attached storage devices such as Quantum Corp.'s Snap Server, but the Snap Server lacks the NetForce 1500's scalability, redundancy and hot-swapping capabilities. The Procom product's three redundant power supplies and two cooling fans will reduce downtime for ISP (Internet service provider) applications. However, performance was sluggish in tests. The NetForce 1500 runs on a proprietary FreeBSD-based operating system and uses the Network File System and SMB/CIFS (Server Message Block and Common Internet File System) file sharing protocols to share files in Unix and Windows networks. The NetForce 1500 is compatible with Unix and Windows security models, which allows it to provide sharing privileges and storage quotas. The NetForce 1500 has a maximum storage capacity of 252GB with two Logical Unit Number volumes configured with RAID 5 redundancy. We found it odd that the maximum disk configuration allows for only an eight-disk RAID 5 volume, but Procom officials said that this limitation is necessary to ensure the highest level of redundancy. Extra disks can be configured as hot spares. The NetForce 1500 uses a Mylex Corp. dual-channel PCI RAID controller with a 32MB cache and battery backup. The Mylex controller has external connectors for hooking up tape backup devices. Up and running We found the initial setup of the NetForce 1500 fairly straightforward. The IP address can be quickly assigned using the LCD screen and buttons on the front panel. The NetForce 1500 can also take advantage of dynamic IP addresses using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. The LCD screen displays CPU utilization during operation, a nice feature. Network connectivity and failure warning lights are clearly displayed on the front panel. Administration of the NetForce 1500 is done via a Web browser. We used Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer 5.0 to set up networking parameters and configure the RAID. Due to the Java Script and virtual memory requirements of Web administration, only IE 5.0 and Netscape Communications Corp.'s Navigator 4.7 or later browsers are supported. Tests showed the Web administration to be sluggish and prone to errors during configuration, and we often had to refresh the screen to see the buttons or to confirm setting changes. In tests using Ziff Davis Media Inc.'s NetBench 6.0 benchmark, which measures file server performance, the NetForce 1500 delivered a maximum throughput of 63M bps. This performance is mediocre on the file server performance scale, although it topped low-end NAS devices such as Quantum's Snap Server and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s SureStore HD Server 4000. Network Appliance Inc.'s F760-series NAS filer has higher throughput and storage capacity than the NetForce 1500 but costs more than three times as much. In terms of scalability, the NetForce 1500 can be upgraded with higher-capacity hard drives when they become available. Four PCI slots are available for NIC additions. Technician Francis Chu can be con tacted at francis_chu@ziffdavis.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- eWEEK Labs // Executive summary: NetForce 1500 Procom's NetForce 1500 NAS device can add hefty file storage capability to Unix and Windows networking environments. Although its performance is subpar, the NetForce 1500's scalability and high redundancy make it a worthwhile addition for ISP, Web hosting and e-business applications where high availability is important. SHORT-TERM BUSINESS IMPACT // Because the NetForce 1500 comes preconfigured out of the box, initial implementation is fairly fast. LONG-TERM BUSINESS IMPACT // With many redundancy features, the NetForce 1500 can ensure high availability and a low cost of ownership in the long haul. Pros: Large storage capacity; scalable; redundant and hot-swappable power supply and cooling fans. Cons: Mediocre performance; sluggish Web-based administration. USABILITY B CAPABILITY B PERFORMANCE C INTEROPERABILITY B MANAGEABILITY C When I read the pedigree of that QLGC aquisition LMG, it said a lot. These guys could have inked a deal with almost anyone they wanted (IMHO)

To: w2j2 who wrote (2755)	2/14/2001 8:41:18 AM
From: J Fieb	Respond to of 4808

wj., THe Question, is what to buy, and there are some fine names to choose from now. Here's SmartMoney on the subject... CISCO (NASDAQ:CSCO - news), DELL (NASDAQ:DELL - news), APPLIED MATERIALS (NASDAQ:AMAT - news) — the list of technology companies failing to meet expectations grows longer each week. One of the last holdouts, Cisco now seems to have been too optimistic for too long. When the reckoning came last week, the market reaction was harsh. It wasn't that Cisco's earnings were so bad — in fact, they were still up by 50% — but the sense that if even a Cisco could falter, then no one was immune. It was a psychological setback as much as a financial one. If you've been reading these columns, you know that I view such periods of widespread gloom as opportunities. Just two weeks ago, I was selling into what looked like nearly a 25% rally from the Nasdaq low in December. By the end of the week, my own portfolio had slipped slightly into negative territory. Since my cash levels have increased, I'm easing into a buying mood again, especially since one of my favorite sectors — data storage — has been pummeled. Anyone who orders a product on the Internet and sees their billing address spring up instantly can easily imagine the growing demand for data storage and retrieval. Still, as dot-com ventures fail left and right, it's obvious that demand for this sort of thing doesn't look as huge as it did a few months ago. These stocks should be off their highs, and they are. More recently, customers have been slowing or canceling orders, the proximate cause for Monday's sell-off in the jittery sector. Analysts are now falling over themselves reducing projections. But so far as I know, no one seriously disputes that storage will continue to be one of the most rapidly growing sectors in technology, with products that could someday swallow the computer itself. The obvious company to own in this area is EMC (New York:EMC), which has been one of the best performers on the Nasdaq during the past few years. At a recent price of $54, it's now off 48% from its 52-week high. EMC has lately been rising and (mostly) falling based on perceptions of its rivalry with upstart Network Appliance (NASDAQ:NTAP - news). At a recent price of $39, Network Appliance, too, is far off its high of $152.75. EMC and Network Appliance are the subject of a recent SmartMoney.com article. ``Let Sleeping Giants Lie,'' which will tell you all you need to know about Storage Area Networks (SAN) and Network Attached Storage (NAS). But I can make this simple for you. Why gamble on who will eventually ``win'' this race? Did IBM (New York:IBM) turn out to be the only successful computer company? At these prices, you can afford to own both companies. In December, EMC unveiled a new product that merges NAS and SAN technologies into a single component. Last week, Network Appliance reported earnings that beat estimates and described very rosy prospects for the coming year. Monday, it unveiled a new line of products and announced improved connectivity to networks using a high-end fiber channel protocol. In other words, competition is alive and well in data storage. In a growing market, this kind of innovation benefits customers, increases demand, and ultimately will reward both companies and their shareholders. So while the analysts fret and the companies' stocks fall, I intend to build my positions. To those lurkers on the sidelines. Now may not be a bad time to get some data storage stocks of your choice.

To: w2j2 who wrote (2755)	2/14/2001 3:17:11 PM
From: J Fieb	Respond to of 4808

wj., SSB, just started coverage of a lot of this sector just a few months ago, with some very lofty numbers. No subtle tweaking for them..... Salomon reduced their price targets on several companies: (SCMR) Sycamore Networks to $30 from $90 (VRTS) Veritas Software to $90 from $154 (BRCD) Brocade Communications to $72 from $130 (JNIC) JNI Corp to $24 from $35 (QLGC) QLogic to $77 from $140 (EMLX) Emulex to $60 from $115 (JDSU) JDS Uniphase to $55 from $75 If true, they are a big part of the problem by not knowing what anything is really worth. Their poor clients who bought on their recommendations a few months ago must be pulling their hair out. I am glad that I depend on no one and make my own decisions. If this is the best a First class financial house can do.....sigh.