The Top 10 Storage Software Companies - 2004/2005
as ranked by STORAGEsearch.com
reader statistics January 1st to December 20th 2004 |
| Rank |
Company (2003 rank) |
comments |
| 1 |
VERITAS Software (2) |
The biggest
ISV focused on storage software will
change
its name in 2005 to Symantec.
During the last year or so STORAGEsearch
has reported that many backup appliance manufacturers have started to bundle
anti-virus protection into their NAS storage systems. As disk to disk backup
will eventually become the primary method used to protect data - and as the
appliance model becomes more common - there will be a growing trend for a
significant amount of data protection functionality to occur at the embedded
level.
The only factor which has prevented Microsoft from making
more headway in the storage protection space so far has been the negative
reputation which the company has acquired due to its vulnerability to security
threats. But next year Microsoft will ship the Microsoft Data Protection
Server, a low-cost, continuous, disk-based backup and recovery solution. That
poses a threat to many
backup software
companies.
The newly merged Symantec - with an annual revenue run rate
of $3.9 billion - will be able to offer a credible alternative to storage oems
and users who want an integrated embedded NAS data protection solution which
will become a huge market. |
| 2 |
BakBone Software (1) |
BakBone's main
problems in 2004 appear to have been not with other software competitors (they
were one of the fastest
growing storage companies in 2004) but with the management of their
financial accounts.
A change of auditors, delayed filings and
restatements led to a temporary delisting on one exchange. I guess that's the
kind of problem a company hits when it's growing fast internationally and
suffering from some management churn.
In December BakBone signed up
Arrow Electronics to distribute its products in North America.
In November BakBone introduced a disaster recovery solution for the
Linux and Solaris SPARC market. BakBone's new product recovers a full system
including the operating system, applications, system settings, disk
partitioning information, and data, in hours as opposed to days. |
| 3 |
FalconStor Software (3) |
FalconStor has
been very active in promoting partners who have OEMed its iSCSI storage
server software technologies. At one point in August we misinterpreted their
signals and infered that the company was starting to market hardware. Its home
page and press releases were full of pictures and words which gave this
impression.
But FalconStor immediately clarified that they are not
making hardware themselves. They're just enthusiastic about the hardware
storage systems made by their partners and want everyone to know more about
them. |
| 4 |
Tabernus (6) |
Most of the
storage software products you read about on these pages are designed to backup,
restore or manage the findability and integrity of data. But sometimes serious
threats can be posed if the wrong people get access to the media on which your
data is stored.
In November, Tabernus, which also writes high
performance drivers for the military and storage OEMs, launched their Disk
Purge product. This allows any storage device owner to completely erase all
data from any SCSI or Fibre Channel disk drive. Tabernus' Disk Purge product is
Department of Defense certified and HIPAA compliant.
While that is a
definite must for military systems integrators it also looks like a useful tool
for anyone selling or redeploying disks or disk arrays who wants to make sure
that financial data, medical data or their new product development plans don't
get into the wrong hands when they upgrade or recycle storage hardware. |
| 5 |
EVault (4) |
Most users in
large IT sites now have plans for disk to disk backup, and this was a good year
for vendors operating in this market.
"The population using disk
in backup has grown to 62%, and is forecast to reach 76% penetration by 2005."
according to the 2004 Backup and Archiving Report from Peripheral Concepts .
In
August EVault announced that the East Bay Business Times had honored the
company by ranking it #6 in its annual ranking of the Top 50 Fastest Growing
Private Companies in the East Bay region. EVault achieved its accolade based on
its two-year percentage revenue growth rate of more than 357%.
Later...
I contacted EVault to see if they could confirm their eligibility for our own
2004 fastest growing
storage company list - which looks at growth in the most recent 12 months.
Because their web site didn't have the granularity of financial data we need.
Unfortunately I didn't get a reply from their PR. But it's not too late to do
it if they contact me. |
| 6 |
Arkeia (7) |
Arkeia is a
leading supplier of backup software to the Linux market. That was a good market
to be in in 2004.
IDC reported that Linux server revenues surpassed
$1 billion in quarterly factory revenue for the first time in 3Q04 and Linux
server unit shipments grew 32% compared to the previous quarter. With that kind
of market pull STORAGEsearch believes that privately owned Arkeia would easily
find a place in our fastest growing storage companies list. But we'll have to
wait till Arkeia goes public to get that confirmed.
In August Arkeia
announced a $4 million round of equity funding from Banque Populaire and Crédit
Lyonnais. Profitable since its founding in 1996, the closely-held company said
it will use the proceeds to fuel a worldwide expansion program from its
headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif. and Paris, France.
|
| 7 |
NSI Software (8) |
NSI Software
announced its 9th consecutive quarter of revenue growth in November. Revenue
for the quarter was up more than 118% year over year.
In January NSI
announced $15 million in funding to advance research and development
initiatives, continue its aggressive sales and marketing campaigns and further
international growth.
In March NSI announced a $5 million deal with
Sunbelt System Software which became NSI's exclusive distributor to the VAR
channel throughout Europe and the UK. |
| 8 |
Atempo (9) |
In September
Atempo announced Atempo Mailbox Manager for Microsoft Exchange. Mailbox Manager
is an ILM solution that helps companies manage the rapidly-rising volume of
email, reduce storage costs and increase productivity, while helping them comply
with growing regulatory demands to retain internal and external communications.
Email archiving became a sexy subject in 2004 as more users became
aware that restoring
backups was not the same as restoring email. That's why VERITAS acquired
KVS in August to strengthen
its email archiving toolset.
In November Atempo announced that it
had joined Sun Microsystems' iForce Partner Program. Despite having been
written off by most IT analysts in 2003 - the Sun market rebounded in 2004 and
went back into revenue growth mode. See also:-
article:- Sun, SPARC
and Solaris Highlights and Lowlights in 2004 |
| 9 |
StoreAge (5) |
In August
StoreAge released the SVM App-Pack for Windows. This comprehensive addition to
the StoreAge Storage Virtualization Manager enables administrators to quickly
add snapshot, volume management and replication capabilities to Microsoft
Windows-based server applications, such as Oracle 9i, SQL 2000 and Exchange
2000.
|
| 10 |
Computer Associates (11) |
In September
CA announced the availability of BrightStor r11.1, a new generation of
intelligent storage management solutions. Built around 13 tightly integrated
and enhanced products, BrightStor r11.1 is designed to better align storage
spending with business value - a critical objective for organizations as
storage volume continues to grow much faster than storage budgets. At launch
time BrightStor supported more than 100 storage arrays, tape libraries, SAN
switches, servers, operating systems, databases, and applications.
In October CA announced the BrightStor ARCserve Backup Enterprise
Option for Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Hardware Snap-Shot, helping
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 customers to cost-effectively implement and manage
the nearly instantaneous backup and recovery offered by hardware snap-shot
technology. CA has simplified the use of hardware snap-shot technology via
three-way integration between BrightStor ARCserve Backup, the Microsoft Volume
Shadow Copy Service, and hardware vendors' native snap-shot functionality.
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Privacy
and Security Regulations - How Do they Impact Storage Systems? - article by
ASNP
What are the legal regulations covering the type of
storage system, backup and disaster recovery and encryption mandated for
companies operating in the US?
This article answers those questions
and is a sound starting point for anyone having the duty of care and
responsibility for their corporate data. Because regulations change so quickly
it's worth considering the impact of these best practises on your own
organisation even if you think you are currently outside the scope of these
laws. That will reduce the level of panic when they creep up on you. ...read the article,,
...ASNP profile,
Backup software,
Disk to disk backup,
Optical Storage Libraries,
Tape libraries,
Web based storage | |
| . |
 |
Disk to
Disk Backup versus Tape - War or Truce? - article by Engenio
Will
disk to disk backup make tape backup obsolete? That's a question that's been
debated hotly here on STORAGEsearch for many years.
At the extreme
polarized ends of the argument are tape media makers like Sony, who in
an article here made a
case for the long term survival of tape, and at the other end of the argument
are disk to disk supporters like STORAGEsearch whose
editorial view has been
that tape doesn't have a viable role the midsize market any more. In the
middle of this argument are the moderates who say that maybe tape and D2d can
co-exist. This article by Steve Gardner at Engenio takes the middle course line
- and says why he thinks there's still a place for both. See if you agree. ...read the article,
...Engenio profile,
RAID systems,
Disk to disk backup | |
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Serial Attached SCSI - Delivering Flexibility to the
Data Center - article by LSI Logic and Maxtor
If you think
you already know SAS because you know SATA and traditional SCSI then think
again. Sometimes disruptive technologies wear an unassuming disguise. In
fiction, Clark Kent, Frodo Baggins and Buffy Summers at first seem harmless, but
we see them change into Superman, the Ring Bearer and the Slayer.
SAS
too comes cloaked in plain garb - with a physical layer which looks a lot like
SATA. But like the Incredible Hulk there are muscles rippling under that shirt -
and you would be wrong to dismiss SAS so lightly. There's a lot more inside this
interface than it says on the box as this informative article reveals. ...read the article,
...LSI Logic profile,
...Maxtor profile,
Serial Attached SCSI | |
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NAS, DAS
or SAN? - Choosing the Right Storage Technology for Your Organization -
article by Xtore
It's 4 years since we published the
Storage Architecture
Guide a classic reference written by the world's first network storage
company Auspex. The new overview article from Xtore places the main storage
connection strategies in a current context. Here's an extract.
"Another
important consideration for a medium sized business or large enterprise is
heterogeneous data sharing. With DAS, each server is running its own operating
platform, so there is no common storage in an environment that may include a mix
of Windows, Mac and Linux workstations. NAS systems can integrate into any
environment and serve files across all operating platforms. On the network, a
NAS system appears like a native file server to each of its different clients.
That means that files are saved on the NAS system, as well as retrieved from the
NAS system, in their native file formats. NAS is also based on industry standard
network protocols such as TCP/IP, FC and CIFS. " ... read the article,
...Xtore profile | |
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| Do CDs and
DVDs Have a Long Term Future as Digital Storage? - article |
|
"CDs have already been around for 20 years - so that
may seem like forever and you may think that DVDs too will still be around just
as long. But my own view is that these are merely short term stepping stones to
something else in the same way that scrolls and loose collections of paper were
a transient phase which gave way to the bound book." ...read the article | |
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