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Technology Stocks : The New QLogic (ANCR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lhn5 who wrote (15850)	4/22/1998 9:52:00 AM
From: jad	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29386

EMC talks about switches from other vendors; wonder whose? EMC Boosts Support For Fibre Channel -- Vendor Plans To Offer Switches As Part Of Fibre-Based Storage Infrastructure By Martin J. Garvey EMC Corp. is stepping up its support for Fibre Channel in a move likely to stimulate adoption of the emerging technology, which promises to provide users with faster, more flexible access to storage. The enterprise storage market leader plans by year's end to offer Fibre Channel switches as part of a new fibre-based storage area network infrastructure. EMC already offers Fibre Channel interfaces for its big Symmetrix storage subsystems as a faster alternative to the more established Ethernet and SCSI technology. But today, those interfaces can be used only for point-to-point connections to individual servers or limited hub-based nets. The switches will let large numbers of servers share pools of storage systems in a standards-based network that will eventually be able to span several kilometers. That will make the infrastructure easier to administer and maintain-once Fibre Channel switching is stable, which is probably a year away, according to analysts. In theory, Fibre Channel storage networks will support storage and switches from multiple vendors, greatly simplifying users' storage environments. But Anders Lofgren, a Giga Information Group analyst, doesn't expect that will happen until next year-and that's one reason Fibre Channel will see only limited use this year. "The system vendors must deal with the management of that infrastructure," he says. EMC, in Hopkinton, Mass., plans to provide switches from its McData subsidiary and other vendors. Today, Fibre Channel provides 100 Mbps, but EMC expects that speed to double within 18 months and eventually reach 400 Mbps. EMC chairman Mike Ruettgers says a Fibre Channel network is a standards-based version of the approach EMC already uses. "We were the first ones to talk about pools of storage systems," he adds. One user agrees. "I can see EMC being a leader with the big, fast Fibre Channel pipe," says Dave Dubnick, director of IT for United States Cellular Corp. in Chicago. "They've been a leader all along." Copyright (c) 1998 CMP Media Inc.