OK so Xiotec has an integrated switch, who do they get it from????
techweb.com
Live Data Backups -- Xiotech Solution Keeps Servers Online
Martin J. Garvey
There's never a good time for companies with round-the-clock operations to
take their systems down to back up data. A solution from Xiotech Corp. now
helps IT managers cost-effectively run backups while keeping busy servers
online.
Xiotech accomplishes this by com- bining standard storage components and
advanced clustering technology. The vendor last week released RediCopy
online backup software for its Magnitude storage system, which shipped this
fall; the hardware includes 64 UltraSCSI disk drives, a RAID controller, and
a Fibre Channel switch. When users and systems are online, copies of active
data are moved at speeds of up to 1 Gbyte per minute; the switch then moves
the copies to a free server for backups to take place.
For Viant Corp., regularly taking systems offline for many hours to back up
two to three terabytes of data is impossible. "We work 24 hours a day and
there is no [reasonable] backup window that could handle our data," says
Bruce Forest, director of media and entertainment for the New York Internet
consulting firm. With the Xiotech product, Forest says the employees on his
music video Web development team can back up data during the day, while
they're live on the system.
An eight-server license for RediCopy is priced at $16,000; similar products,
such as EMC Corp.'s Timefinder, sell for closer to $100,000. RediCopy,
available now, also lets managers perform online year 2000 testing, NetWare
upgrades, and other jobs that usually require system downtime.
"Xiotech allows customers to shift dynamically from one level of availability to
another," says Farid Neema, a senior analyst with Peripheral Concepts. The
ability to deliver such a pragmatic solution, says Neema, can help Xiotech-a
3-year old company with $6 million in revenue-make a name for itself in a
crowded market.
techweb.com
More Power, Capacity And Choice
Ellis Booker, Chuck Moozakis and Mitch Wagner
Sometimes you do get what you ask for. Such is the case for IT managers
who, this year, got their requests for more robust storage, reliable servers and
operating system choices.
Clearly, 1998 was a continuation of the now-familiar trend in which data piled
up at unprecedented rates in companies, thanks in large part to Internet
services and applications. In fact, disk storage requirements more than
doubled in the past 12 months at large companies, according to Forrester
Research Inc.
In response, storage suppliers used 1998 to lay the groundwork for what
could mark the largest transformation of storage architecture since the advent
of RAID: storage area networks (SANs).
These networks, linked via high-speed Fibre Channel and operating parallel to
the main data network, took some major steps forward this year. Just about
every major storage vendor previewed its SAN plans and many suppliers
began rolling out products. Included in these products are essential features to
promote interoperability and management. Some suppliers introduced "SANs
in a box," complete with pretested applications, hardware and connectivity.
At the same time, 1998 saw a rapid acceleration in the trend by vendors to
provide consulting and installation support. Compaq's purchase of Digital
Equipment was motivated in large part by Digital's huge support division.
EMC Corp., Silicon Graphics Inc., StorageTek Corp. and Sun
Microsystems, among others, also substantially beefed up their support
organizations to help IT managers navigate through more complex storage
options.
Storage management apps and devices also became smarter. Storage
resource management became important for keeping tabs on myriad devices.
Vendors not only delivered resource apps, but leading network management
vendors such as IBM-which wrapped its ADSM storage management
package into its Tivoli management app-Computer Associates and
Hewlett-Packard also added policy and event triggers to their storage
management products.
techweb.com
10. SANs Give Storage Its Own Pipes
The SAN bandwagon is loaded up and ready to go. IT managers now have
the pieces they need to deploy storage area networks in their operations.
Indeed, more than two-thirds of data administrators at large companies say
they are considering installing storage area networks (SANs) within the next
12 months, according to Forrester Research data.
SANs are winning attention because they eliminate the I/O bottleneck created
by traditional server-attached storage. Instead, data from multiple servers is
funneled directly to a separate network of storage devices via high-speed
Fibre Channel pipes. That's an attractive proposition to data-inundated IT
managers-particularly those under the gun to make information more
accessible to users.
Vendors, meanwhile, believe SANs will be an attractive addition to their
bottom line. To that end, they trotted out a pile of SAN-related strategies
throughout the year, capped by the November announcement by networking
vendor 3Com that it would venture into the storage marketplace with a SAN
initiative of its own.
For the most part, vendors went beyond the hardware and software
necessary to oversee complex SAN designs. Instead, suppliers attempted to
ease IT managers' storage nightmares by certifying the interoperability of
applications and hardware comprising their SAN product lines, thus providing
a guaranteed "SAN in a can."
Interoperability was backed up by sales, service and support. Companies
such as Compaq, EMC Corp. and StorageTek Corp., among others, beefed
up and consolidated their service networks using SANs as a means to offer
customized support plans.
At the same time, network management vendors such as Computer
Associates, Hewlett-Packard and Tivoli Systems Inc. laid the groundwork to
dovetail their policy- and event-fueled management applications with SAN
management packages.
The FC wave took a while to gather strength, but now We are starting to see just how large it will become!! |
