Networking hardware

Unified Comms for the smaller business

Bob Tarzey from Quocirca looks at how smaller businesses can benefit from deploying unified communications Continue Reading

By

• Bob Tarzey

Intel Silicon Photonics

Intel steps up its interest in using optical fibres for high speed interconnects in processor-based systems, developing a prototype silicon-based semiconductor laser to support 50Gbit/s optical links in computers. Continue Reading

By

• Computer Weekly Staff

Business case for the Connected Enterprise

Clive Longbottom, founder of analyst house, Quocirca, asssses the business benefits of extending the corporate network to support collaborative applications. Continue Reading

By

• Clive Longbottom

European Space Agency gets IP Wan to handle satellite images

The European Space Agency is using an IP wide area network from Interoute to link up its 13 sites with bandwidth of between 1.5Mbps and 500Mbps. This picture gallery shows examples of the satellite images stored and secured on the network. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NHS North Somerset PCT revamps telecoms

NHS North Somerset PCT improves communication at its new health centre with a flexible communications system supplier by Virgin Media Business. Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Photos: Avatar Tree of Life in Hyde Park

Visitors to Hyde Park were greeted with a high-tech model of the Tree of Souls from James Cameron’s film Avatar last weekend. Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Photos: The role of technology in the Chile aid effort

When a natural disaster strikes, one of the first things to go down is the communications network. These pictures illustrate how technology is helping in the aid effort. Continue Reading

By

• Rebecca Thomson, Computer Weekly

Top 10 UK locations for broadband speed

Here are the top 10 UK towns and cities in terms of average broadband speeds, according to Top10-broadband.co.uk. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Photos: IT saving lives in Iraqi warzone

Nearly six and a half years ago, IT engineers were among the first of the armed forces to arrive in Iraq when the war started. This month they will be some of the last to leave, after spending several months winding down and collapsing the information systems that so many people’s lives depended on during fighting. Continue Reading

By

• Rebecca Thomson, Computer Weekly

Norwich Union signs £300m deal with Cable & Wireless

Aviva Insurance Group, which owns Norwich Union, has signed a six-year IT outsourcing contract worth £300m with Cable & Wireless.

The company will...

 Continue Reading

By

• John-Paul Kamath

Career management: How to get headhunted

Following my interview with Microsoft COO Kevin Turner about how IT staff can reach the top and earn more, we've had a couple of e-mails on how to get headhunted. If there is a single watchword for ... Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

EDITORIAL: It's time for a Net Neutrality debate

Australia should sort out its position on Net Neutrality before the National Broadband Network is built, not afterwards, writes TechTarget ANZ Editor Simon Sharwood. Continue Reading

By

• Simon Sharwood

Integrating San and Nas

Sas and Nas systems are very different types of storage, with different features that serve different business needs. Here are eight best practices for integrating San and Nas. Continue Reading

Users leaving Fibre Channel for iSCSI Sans find pros, cons

Users who recently updated aging Fibre Channel equipment with new iSCSI San products have found ease of use can be a double-edged sword. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Adaptec reports losses

Adaptec's revenue was down year over year, as well as sequentially; DataDirect says the InfiniBand business is booming. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

ISCSI storage gets performance makeover

Suppliers, including Ibrix, Mellanox, Alacritech and EqualLogic, are offering juiced-up new iSCSI configurations, while 3PAR, CipherMax and NeoScale boost data security products. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

EMC's Tucci vows to keep up with new features

EMC CEO says storage giant is widening its technology net to match innovations of smaller competitors. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

NetApp releases $3K iSCSI SAN

NetApp pushes further down-market with the release of the S300, the latest SMB iSCSI SAN in its StoreVault line. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Product Roundup: ISCSI

Here's a look at some of the vendors and products that make up the iSCSI market. Continue Reading

Fibre Channel over Ethernet takes its next step

At Storage Networking World, QLogic, NetApp and startup Nuova demo Fibre Channel over Ethernet, but the race to 10 Gigabit Ethernet is far from over. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

SNW Preview: Data protection makes a stand

Led by EMC's integration of data deduplication and CDP into its backup software, data protection products are prominent at Storage Networking World. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo, News Director; Beth Pariseau, News Writer

LSI moves to iSCSI arrays

All of LSI's products will support iSCSI connectivity, but its higher end arrays will have to wait for native support. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Checklist for purchasing hardware-based encryption

Encryption appliances sit inline on a network and use specially designed electronics to encrypt data at line speeds, essentially eliminating the performance penalty imposed by encryption software running on a general server. While software-based encryption is typically handled as a specific event or process (e.g., encrypting data during a backup process), appliance-based encryption normally can handle any quantity of data in flight. Continue Reading

Switch upgrades and replacements

In this chapter of our guide to SAN expansion best practices, you'll learn about the physical limitations of switches, how to architect the switching infrastructure and how to find opportunities to deploy ISCSI. Continue Reading

Dot Hill plots iSCSI, RAID 6 and midrange SANs

Money-losing vendor chases new OEM business with plans for IP SANS, better data protection and new midrange system. Continue Reading

By

• Dave Raffo

San availability and reliability

This chapter outlines some of the techniques and tactics used to achieve high availability and redundancy in a San (FC or iSCSI). These can include port aggregation, trunking, and failover. Continue Reading

Storage session downloads: infrastructure track

This track looks at San and Nas issues, virtualization, distance demands, remote offices and how to build out systems. Continue Reading

NetApp, HDS tout scaled-down disk arrays

New offerings are meant to take advantage of storage growth in the midmarket, but experts say the products will still probably appeal most to existing high-end users. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Virtual appliance lets users convert DAS to iSCSI San

LeftHand Networks has released an edition of its SaniQ iSCSI San software that will convert locally attached disc to networked storage. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

IDC: High-end storage stalls in second quarter

IDC reports a lull in high-end enterprise spending in its quarterly disk tracker, with new growth lower in the market; Seagate plans encrypted 1 TB disk drive for PCs. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

IBM back in iSCSI SAN fray

IBM is looking to take on HP's MSA and EMC's AX150, as well as EqualLogic and LeftHand, with a new iSCSI SAN product OEMed from LSI. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

EMC cashes in with VMware IPO

EMC officially spins off part of its server virtualization subsidiary to the tune of $1.1B. Analysts are hoping the windfall will lead to deeper storage partnerships. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Buying Guide for NAS management software

Learn the key evaluation factors for purchasing NAS management software in this Buying Guide. Continue Reading

NAS appliance purchase considerations

NAS appliances are frequently touted for bringing convenience and simplicity to network storage. Appliances include their own dedicated disks for storage and RAID, and most NAS appliances can be upgraded with more or larger disks for additional storage space. However, NAS appliances do pose some disadvantages. Consequently, the choice of NAS appliance requires careful evaluation. Now that you've reviewed the essential issues involved in any NAS product, this guide focuses on specific considerations for dedicated NAS appliances. You'll also find a series of specifications to help make on-the-spot product comparisons between vendors. Continue Reading

NAS appliance specifications

NAS appliances are noted for their convenience, offering dedicated internal storage that is relatively straightforward to identify and manage. The biggest issue for NAS appliances is avoiding network bottlenecks and supporting expansion without having to proliferate additional appliances across the network. The product snapshots in this chapter highlight key specifications for a cross section of major NAS appliance products. Continue Reading

NAS management software specifications

Network attached storage (NAS) appliances and gateways must be configured and managed using NAS management software that allows administrators to allocate space, manage RAID and storage behaviors, perform routine maintenance, and other tasks. Management software ideally provides interoperability with a variety of NAS devices from different vendors and can automate many of the routine management tasks that would otherwise demand manual attention. The product snapshots in this chapter highlight key specifications for a cross section of major NAS management software products. Continue Reading

New iSCSI SAN/NAS box touts better performance

Agami's new low-end iSCSI SAN/NAS box is pricier than other scaled-down offerings, but has a few more high-end features. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

NAS gateway specifications

A NAS gateway offers file-based accesses to external storage on a disk array -- or a SAN, where users can take advantage of superior performance and reliability while maintaining a level of simplicity. Since storage is moved off of the NAS device, interoperability and connectivity are crucial issues, and virtualization is increasingly important for superior scaling and utilization of the storage resources. The product snapshots in this chapter highlight key specifications for a cross section of major NAS gateway products. Continue Reading

NAS gateway purchase considerations

NAS gateways overcome the inherent limitations of scale and flexibility by utilizing externally connected storage as external standalone disk arrays. NAS storage capacity is typically expanded by simply adding more disks to the appliance, but this only allows users to scale up to the capacity limit of the appliance. It's also common for a NAS gateway to share storage through a storage area network (SAN), allowing users to consolidate their NAS data on SAN storage and realize the benefits of high performance and redundancy. Now that you've reviewed the essential issues involved in any NAS product, this Buying Guide focuses on specific considerations for NAS gateway products. Continue Reading

Users make iSCSI Sans with USB keys

Users say that Open-E's iSCSI San software, which is delivered on a USB stick, is more affordable than prepackaged systems and has more support than free iSCSI target products. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

EMC reports Clariion surge, data archiving slump

EMC's revenues are up this quarter, attributed in part to a big boost in Clariion sales, but CEO Joe Tucci is critical of the company's execution in data archiving. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

LeftHand refreshes iSCSI SAN software

Version 7.0 of LeftHand's iSCSI SAN software contains dozens of new features, including support for four-way replication and brushed-up thin provisioning. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Windows Home Server offers low-end NAS

Microsoft has released the latest version of its Home Server software, available as low-end NAS by HP and Iomega; SunGard acquires Vericenter. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

Data migration product specifications

Part of the Tiered Storage Buying guide focusing on product specifications for data migration tools. Continue Reading

HP users mull blade storage

HP's "blade everything" strategy is starting to emerge in storage. Users at the HP Technology Forum this week mulled the possibilities for the technology. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Burton Group Catalyst Conference San Francisco 2007

SearchSecurity.com brings you the latest news, interviews, podcasts and more from the Burton Group Catalyst Conference 2007 in San Francisco. Continue Reading

Brocade gets into the HBA business

Experts say the move, based on a partnership with LSI, could lower HBA pricing across the board and be the first step toward a Brocade-developed storage virtualization product. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

SAN School: Table of contents

What is a storage area network? What are the benefits and pitfalls of installation? How can a SAN fit into your organization? These questions and more are answered SAN School. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com editors

Cisco, EMC partner on SAN encryption

Cisco will ship encryption in switches later this year integrated with EMC's RSA key management software. Users are curious but cautious about its impact on other services. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

ISCSI TCP/IP TOE card purchase considerations

A look at the specific considerations in purchasing iSCSI Continue Reading

ISCSI TCP/IP TOE card specifications

Key specifications for a cross-section of popular iSCSI TOE cards. Continue Reading

4 Gbit Fibre Channel switch purchase considerations

As SANs scale up, data centres often upgrade and expand the SAN switch infrastructure. Here's what to look for when scaling Continue Reading

4 Gbit Fibre Channel switch product specifications

Product snapshots highlighting key specifications for a cross section of popular director-class 4 Gbit and faster FC switch products. Continue Reading

Intransa launches 10 GigE IP SAN

Intransa is now shipping a standalone 10 GigE system, but it may take a while for applications and operating systems to be ready for the big pipe. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Scaling storage networks demands careful consideration

In the Fibre Channel world, scaling often means adding more and faster switch ports to extend the fabric's bandwidth and connectivity. But IP storage (mainly iSCSI) is a growing area of SAN expansion, using ubiquitous Ethernet network technology to pass storage data between storage devices. This requires the use of IP switches and routers, and can involve the deployment of iSCSI TOE host adapters to offload iSCSI traffic from the local server's CPU. This Buying Guide is intended to help clarify the principle considerations involved scaling storage networks and each chapter offers a set of buying points and product specifications that can help readers identify prospective new scaling products. Continue Reading

Storage consolidation: WAN acceleration and WAFS technology overview

One important avenue of storage consolidation is the consolidation of remote office storage; this is where WAN acceleration and WAFS technology comes into play. Continue Reading

Storage consolidation: SRM tools overview

SRM tools are an important part of storage consolidation. They allow admins to monitor the storage environment, allocate and organise available storage, and offer insights into future trends. Continue Reading

IP storage switch and router specifications

Key specifications for a cross section of popular IP storage switch and router products. Continue Reading

IP storage switch and router purchase considerations

The choice of an IP switch or router demands careful consideration of issues including port speed, segmentation, interoperability and security Continue Reading

Weekly compilation of storage news:Dell LTO-4 drive, new Sun array

Dell is first out of the gate with the new LTO-4 drive, which offers native encryption; Sun unveils new array and deepens its relationship with FalconStor. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

Storage consolidation: Disks and disk subsystems overview

Any storage consolidation effort must involve a serious consideration of disk subsystems and the specific disk types that those systems will contain Continue Reading

Storage consolidation: Weighing the pros and cons

Storage consolidation holds out the promise of more efficient storage management. But pitfalls include slower network performance and a difficult data migration process. Continue Reading

Capacity planning software specifications

Gauging storage needs over time is one of the biggest challenges faced by IT administrators, and a new generation of capacity planning tools is emerging to help forecast growth and utilisation of storage resources. Continue Reading

Emulex stands alone with FC-SATA switch

Emulex has released an embedded storage switch based on the newly approved FC-SATA standard, but it's unclear if any other companies in the industry are on the bandwagon. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

HP renews SMB storage campaign

With the launch of the new All-in-One 1200 and the shifting of executives to a new SMB business unit, HP is focused on its low-end products in an effort to boost growth. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Goldman Sachs: Interest in NetApp SAN products wanes

A survey by the investment firm shows enterprise storage buyers had a declining interest in NetApp SAN products over the last year. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Storage vendors propose FC over Ethernet standard

A group of nine storage vendors led by Emulex is proposing a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) standard . Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Enterprise switch upgrade specifications

Product snapshots highlighting key specifications for a cross section of popular enterprise-class switch products. Continue Reading

Midrange storage array specifications

Product snapshots highlighting key specifications for a cross section of midrange storage array products. Continue Reading

NetApp stokes midrange fires with new array

The FAS 3040 is a scaled down version of the 64-bit 3070 architecture; NetApp officials say more moves downmarket will follow. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Buzz builds around data reduction for primary storage

Analysts predict that in-band compression offerings from StoreWiz, newly updated this week, are the first step toward a new wave of primary storage deduplication products. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Linksys, Gateway launch low-end NAS

Cisco subsidiary Linksys and PC maker Gateway launch new NAS products for small businesses and consumers. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com

High-end storage array specifications

The key specifications for a cross section of popular high-end disk storage array products. Continue Reading

HP announces iSCSI VTL for SMBs

HP's new iSCSI VTL devices include automated backup capabilities for users with fewer than four servers. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Google offers 10 GB inbox

The search engine giant is offering an email application on a subscription basis with five times the storage capacity of the free version. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

New storage IPOs report losses

Of the 2006 "graduating class" of storage IPOs, two reported losses this week in their first quarter as public companies. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

IP storage adoption plows ahead bringing tangible benefits

According to IDC, there were 32,124 terabytes (TB) of iSCSI storage deployed worldwide in 2005. That figure had almost tripled to 97,506 TB by 2006. IDC expects that figure to triple again in 2007 to over 320,000 TB of iSCSI storage, with almost 4 million TB of iSCSI storage expected by 2010. But IP storage adoption has been far more than just a numbers game. ISCSI has been making real inroads in both small companies and large enterprises. Continue Reading

HP fills in gaps with product updates

HP announced updates to several of its products, but analysts are wondering what its ultimate strategy will be for storage virtualisation. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Hybrid drives hit NAS boxes

DNF will be making hybrid drives available in all of its storage products, but it doesn't recommend them for IP SANs. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Brocade unveils McData integration roadmap

McData's directors and FICON routers will remain separate product lines for now; McData's SAN management software will replace Brocade's Fabric Manager. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Symantec makes major update to Enterprise Vault

Symantec adds automated data classification and integration with security products in Version 7.0 of its Enterprise Vault archiving tool; EMC reports record earnings for the fourth quarter. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

iSCSI SANs grow in midmarket, enterprise

Because transporting "SCSI over IP" leverages ubiquitous Ethernet networks, that translates to lower cost, easier maintenance and simpler management, which makes SAN deployment more attractive for SMEs. Continue Reading

EqualLogic CEO says IPO on the way

EqualLogic's CEO talks about the company's plans to go public, its intent to add 10 GigE to its products and why he thinks not all iSCSI products are created equal. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

EMC, NetApp execs debate future of iSCSI

A discussion between an EMC and NetApp executive, via their blogs, has users and analysts debating: Will the "Year of iSCSI" ever really happen? Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Is an SMB environment too small for a SAN?

Almost any size business can benefit from some type of SAN -- or "network storage"; whether it's NAS, iSCSI-based IP storage or FC storage... Continue Reading

What is the difference between InfiniBand, SAS and iSCSI and where does each technology fit?

InfiniBand is an interface; just like Fibre Channel (FC) or Ethernet. As an interface, InfiniBand carries different protocols... Continue Reading

What is the difference between SAN routing, channel extension and virtualization?

Some folks see SAN routing as just segmentation; some see it as protocol conversion; some see it as distance enablement. SAN routing really embraces all those... Continue Reading

When should I use a SAN vs. NAS or iSCSI?

It's often a matter of block vs. file... Continue Reading

How does IP storage differ from iSCSI, NAS and Fibre Channel?

Generically, IP storage involves any storage functionality that is leveraging TCP/IP as a network transport... Continue Reading

What's the difference between SONET/SDH, DWDM and OCx -- Why not just use TCP?

We live in a virtual world where most of us have network access in our homes -- the Internet -- which is a virtual network... Continue Reading

Why don't we have clustered FC block storage?

Is it odd that the industry has made such serious strides toward incorporating clustering concepts in both file-based storage and IP -based storage, but not Fibre Channel storage? Continue Reading

Top 10 storage stories of 2006

SAN and NAS converged and shook up the industry, iSCSI went mission-critical, users conquered tiered storage and more. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Top 10 storage acquisitions of 2006

Industry consolidation was fast and furious this year. We rank the deals by quality, not quantity. Continue Reading

By

• Jo Maitland, News Director and Beth Pariseau, News Writer

Hot technologies for 2007

"Storage" magazine's editors reviewed technology developments, product introductions and storage standards to come up with this short list of must-have technologies for 2007. Continue Reading

Storage Decisions Session Downloads (NYC 2006)

Take a look at the sessions that floored at the Storage Decisions conference in New York City, September 27-29, 2006. Continue Reading

Hitachi, BlueArc announce OEM partnership

What had been rumored to be an acquisition has turned out to be an OEM deal, but HDS has also made an investment in BlueArc, indicating an acquisition could be the next step. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Storage Decisions in the wild, wild west

Dedupe, iSCSI, backup, virtualisation and cowboys in Stetson hats -- Storage Decisions Las Vegas 2006 had it all. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Staff

Dell, Microsoft tout joint NAS product

The new NX1950 product is vastly more expensive than its counterparts from HP and NetApp, but it scales higher, supports clusters and has redundant controllers. Continue Reading

By

• Beth Pariseau, Senior News Writer

Symantec blames piracy for Veritas licensing snafu

Weekly compilation of storage news: Symantec says that software counterfeiting is throwing a wrench in tech support ; FRCP rules take effect. Continue Reading

By

• SearchStorage.com Editors

Skills gap grips India's budding storage market

India is the second fastest growth market for storage technology in Asia Pacific after China, according to IDC, but a skills shortage could hamper growth, experts say. Continue Reading