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storage news - January 2005 - week 1includes these SSD stories:- BiTMICRO ships Hot Swappable Ultra320 SCSI SSD, M-Systems's 4th generation DiskOnChip uses 90nm nand flash with 20x the write performance of MLC NOR |
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| Seagate Disk
Shown in Prototype Speech Recorder LAS VEGAS - January 6, 2005 - Seagate Technology and SANYO Technosound Co., Ltd. today revealed a prototype hard disc digital voice recorder from SANYO that employs Seagate's 5GB, 1-inch ST1 Series hard drive. SANYO's digital voice recorder provides up to 346 hours of recording time and has a compact body weighing only 93 grams. Plus, this voice recorder also serves as a music player and functions extremely well as a data storage device. This new prototype digital voice recorder is displayed at the SANYO booth this week at the world's largest consumer electronics show, CES, in Las Vegas, Nevada. ...Seagate profile Editor's comments:- my wife uses a couple of digital dictating machines when she's conducting interviews for her doctorate research on Inhibitors and Enablers in High Tech Marketing. Some other researchers we know use these gadgets to capture the text of academic conferences. So there is a real need for longer speech capture than available in current flash based devices. The only question mark I would have is whether noise from the disk drive would feed through to the speech captured - especially when the device is placed on a resonating hard desk top in high gain mode. Silent running is one of the advantages of solid state disks - whether that's for use in servers on submarines or simple speech capture. Korea's Daegu City Deploys DataCore's SANsymphony FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - January 6, 2005 - Daegu City, the third largest city in Korea with a population of over 2.5 million citizens, has installed DataCore's SANsymphony to manage and consolidate its storage network of Hitachi and Samsung storage arrays. Daegu City, driven by new government regulations, needed to quickly implement a storage-based disaster recovery solution. However, they soon found that their existing storage arrays did not offer common storage services, such as point-in-time snapshot copies and remote IP mirroring, that would work with dissimilar types of storage from different vendors. Each existing vendor actually proposed a swap-out approach so that all storage would be the same to avoid the interoperability issues involved. While this solution would benefit the winning vendor, this was not what Daegu wanted. Not only would it add substantial cost to buy new storage arrays, it would add a great deal of time and disruption to replace the existing systems already in place. Daegu City decided there must be a better way to get the job done while maintaining the use of their existing storage investment. After researching the marketplace, they turned to DataCore's SANsymphony. "As a direct result of SANsymphony, I now have in place a storage networking architecture with the flexibility to employ different models of Hitachi storage and Samsung disk arrays and make them all coexist and work together, " stated IT manager, Hea-Chan Park. "With DataCore we got the 'best of both worlds', we maximized our existing investment, and we achieved an affordable IP-based network solution." Daegu's main computing center hosts a large number of Sun Microsystems and Intel based servers to run city government and public service applications. Beyond cost and investment protection, a major objective was to reliably protect the city's data storage by mirroring critical operational data to a dissimilar storage array at the disaster backup site located over 20 km (12 miles) away. ...DataCore profile M-Systems Launches DiskOnChip G4 SUNNYVALE, Calif - January 5, 2005 - M-Systems today unveiled DiskOnChip G4, the next generation memory solution for mainstream multimedia-rich handsets. Multi-level cell (MLC) NAND-based DiskOnChip G4 is designed to deliver the best cost structure in its category and is expected to have triple the write performance of DiskOnChip G3 and over 20 times that of MLC NOR, and a read performance that will prove to be the best among NAND devices. The cost advantages of 128 megabyte (1 gigabit) and 256 megabyte (2 gigabit) DiskOnChip G4 are achieved through the product's single die design and use of 90 nanometer process MLC NAND flash. Like DiskOnChip G3 and H-Series products, DiskOnChip G4 is based on M-Systems' proven and patented x2 and TrueFFS technologies - enabling the reliable implementation of cost-effective MLC NAND. Its single die design incorporates both the flash media, and a thin controller for legacy interface support. 1.8 Volt DiskOnChip G4, with its deep power-down mode, offers extremely low power consumption, critical in helping to extend battery life. "Currently, six out of seven tier-one handset manufacturers have integrated M-Systems' high-capacity, high-density DiskOnChip flash disk within their products to support multimedia applications," said David Tolub, general manager of M-Systems' mobile division. "Semico expects 56 million smartphones and PDAs to sell in 2005, rising to 74 million in 2006," said Jim Handy of Semico Research. "Many of the multimedia-rich handsets today already have memory capacities of 64 megabytes and many are starting the shift to 128 megabytes. By offering DiskOnChip capacities of 128 and 256 megabytes, M-Systems shows its intent to scale with this trend while including features that help to offset the difficulties of designing MLC NAND into a mobile system." ...M-Systems profile, SSDs on a chip - directory Sony Doubles Flash Memory Capacity for Pros CES, LAS VEGAS (Booth #N109) - January 5, 2005 - Sony is doubling the capacity of its flash media product line with the introduction of 4GB Memory Stick PRO (High Speed) media. The new 4GB media is expected to become a valuable tool for users who need to store and easily transfer large quantities of digital content, such as high-resolution digital photos and video clips. The high-capacity media features increased durability with a standard operating temperature range of -13°F to +185°F, swift data transfer speeds and compatibility with a wide selection of currently available Memory Stick PRO devices. The 4GB Memory Stick PRO (High Speed) media will be available in March for about $900. ...Sony profile, Flash Memory Microsoft Launches Killer App for Mobile Storage CES, LAS VEGAS - January 5, 2005 - Microsoft Corp. today made three announcements about how it will significantly increase the flow of digital video to Windows Mobile based devices, such as Portable Media Centers and select Smartphones and Pocket PCs. The announcements highlighted a collaboration with TiVo Inc. to deliver recorded television to Portable Media Centers and Smartphones and Pocket PCs equipped with Windows Media Player 10 Mobile; an alliance with MTV Networks to deliver digital programming; and the unveiling of MSN Video Downloads, one of the first portable TV services, which will make TV shows and other video clips available to Windows Mobile-based portable devices from more than a dozen sources including FOX Sports, CNBC, MSNBC and Food Network. MSN Video Downloads is designed to keep people better entertained and informed no matter where they are. With content such as sports highlights, news headlines, children's programming, music videos, independent films and comedy shows, MSN Video Downloads is the first online video download service dedicated to portable entertainment. Starting tomorrow, consumers can participate in a preview of the service and access videos from more than a dozen partners. A one-year premium membership to the MSN Video Downloads service with access to all available videos costs $19.95. In addition, people can access a limited amount of free content without a paid membership. "This is a great example of the strengths Microsoft brings to making more digital entertainment accessible to more people," Warren said. "Microsoft is uniquely positioned to work with content providers to deliver secure videos, has the best platform for transferring that content from the computer, and the best devices to enjoy video on the go. We hope other video providers see this as the first step to creating a new delivery channel for their programming." ...Microsoft profile, Removable disk drives Editor's comments:- this killer application will accelerate the growth in demand for mobile storage intensive devices. In the 1980s wordprocessors were the killer app which fueled the growth of the PC market, and in the 1990s enterprise connection to the Internet was the killer app which fueled the growth in Sun's SPARC servers. OPTWARE's New HVD Signals Sayonara to DVDs YOKOHAMA, Japan - January 5, 2005 - Optware Corp today jointly announced that the standards body Ecma has approved the creation of a new technical committee to undertake standardization of Holographic Information Storage Systems, initially based on Optware's proprietary Collinear Technologies. TC44 will begin its work on four new projects proposed by Optware and its partners including:- information interchange on Holographic Versatile Disc (HVD) Cartridges which will have 200 Gbytes capacity. ...Optware profile, Storage Media, DVD drives New CE-ATA Storage Interface Building Steam CES, Las Vegas - January 5, 2005 - Intel said today that CE-ATA, the storage interface for next-generation handhelds and portable consumer electronics devices, has reached a number of milestones that underscore progress made with the specification and the industry since the initiative was launched last September. The most recent development, announced at CES, is an arrangement between the CE-ATA Promoter Group and the MultiMediaCard Association, the organization that promotes the worldwide adoption of a compact, removable standard for storing and retrieving digital information in small, low-power devices. The two groups will collaborate to ensure that the technologies they support are complimentary and address the needs of the storage industry in providing an interface that is ideally suited to portable consumer applications. ...Intel profile, Industry trade associations Survey Reports on WAN-based Business Continuity MINNEAPOLIS - January 5, 2005 - A recent survey, sponsored and commissioned by NetEx revealed that business continuity and disaster recovery initiatives are being hindered by WAN throughput, and that throwing more bandwidth at the problem does not fix the issues. The survey based on responses from 170 IT managers in enterprise environments, asked about problems with WAN-based business continuity and disaster recovery solutions. Soliciting the opinions of end users with a cross-section of NAS, array, server, appliance and intelligent switch-based approaches, the survey focused on topics relating to throughput, transport mechanisms and implementation payback periods. Notable findings include:
Editor's comments:- it may seem counterintuitive that increasing bandwidth and potential throughput doesn't always increase actual throughput - but the problem has been familiar since the 1980s to computer architects concerned with real time performance. The simplistic way to increase throughput is to increase buffer size, packet length etc - but that means that the data needed for a real-time response may be buried within a long data packet and unavailable until after the response is required. The result can be retries and delays which give worse performance than a lower bandwitch less optimised transport system. The answer is a software stack and hardware which looks at the end to end requirements for the transport and applications - but emulates the compatibility needs of the software APIs. Arkeia Chooses Sun Veteran for Business Development CARLSBAD, Calif. - January 5, 2005 - Arkeia Corp today announced that Dave Elliott has been appointed to the newly created position as director of business development, responsible for partnerships and OEM business in North America, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Prior to joining Arkeia, Elliott was responsible for strategic development at Iomega where he drove partnerships with enterprise software companies. Before that, he oversaw business development for Blue Martini Software, and led the team that forged technology partnerships with IBM, HP, Sun Microsystems, TIBCO and SAS Institute. Elliott has also held marketing management positions with Sun Microsystems, and consulted with technology companies on strategy and marketing while with management consultant A.T. Kearney (EDS). Dave holds an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business and a BA in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. "Arkeia has a dominant and defensible position in a fast growing market: data protection for Linux systems," said Elliott. "Customers such as Lockheed Martin, Bacardi and NASA already rely on Arkeia products, and I am thrilled to be part of the aggressive Arkeia team." ...Arkeia profile Storage Security and Compliance Resolutions Editor:- January 5, 2005 - a new article, written by Calum Macleod at Cyber-Ark Software is published today on STORAGEsearch on the subject of New Year Resolutions related to storage security and compliance. Surviving your own storage security disaster can be a harrowing experience. Not all disasters are avoidable. But you can learn from the mistakes of others. This article, which lists many bloopers, will make you think about new year resolutions connected with storage data security and compliance. ...read the article, ...Cyber-Ark Software profile, Storage Security, Data Recovery InPhase Demos Prototype Holographic Storage Drive LONGMONT, CO - January 4, 2005 - InPhase Technologies today announced a breakthrough in data storage with the world's first prototype of a holographic storage drive. The prototype is the foundation for InPhase's family of Tapestry holographic drives, with data capacities that range from 200 GB to 1.6 TB on a single disk. The completion of the prototype was enabled by InPhase's development of key recording techniques and holographic media, the commercial availability of critical components, strong partnerships with leading storage innovators, and government funding. "The InPhase prototype drive serves as the mile marker on the path to commercialization of holographic storage. This technology offers the highest density and performance of any optical system and will assume a prominent role in the storage landscape," said Nelson Diaz, president and CEO of InPhase Technologies. The prototype arranges more than one million bits of data into a single page, which is recorded with a single flash of a 407 nm laser beam. Multiple pages of data, referred to as a book, are recorded in one spot on the disk providing approximately 12 MB of data in a single book location. ...InPhase Technologies profile IBM Opens Channel to Adaptec-branded RAID MILPITAS, Calif. - January 4, 2005 - Adaptec, Inc. today announced it is expanding its relationship with IBM to deliver Adaptec-branded RAID controllers and connectivity products for IBM's eServer iSeries and pSeries servers directly through the IBM channel. Under the terms of the agreement, Adaptec will sell Adaptec-branded technology through IBM to its channel partners. ...Adaptec profile, RAID controller cards Apple Ships Xsan File System CUPERTINO, California - January 4, 2005 - Apple today announced it has begun shipping Xsan, a high performance, enterprise class SAN file system priced at $999 per client and per server. Xsan combines breakthrough performance with Apple's legendary ease of use. Xsan is a 64-bit cluster file system for Mac OS X that enables organizations to consolidate storage resources and provide multiple computers with concurrent file-level read/write access to shared volumes over Fibre Channel. It is certified with Apple's suite of professional applications. For the first time on Mac OS X, up to 64 video professionals can simultaneously access a single storage volume that supports multiple high-bandwidth video streams for efficient workflow in video and film editing, broadcast, visual effects and motion graphics creation. Xsan is ideal for demanding professional video workflows as well as storage consolidation for business, government, education and high performance computing. Advanced features such as metadata controller failover and Fibre Channel multipathing ensure high availability; file-level locking allows multiple systems to read and write concurrently to the same volume which is ideal for complex workflows; and sophisticated volume management results in more efficient use of storage resources. Setup, admin and monitoring is built into Xsan which provides volume management, SAN file system configuration and remote monitoring in one integrated, easy-to-use application. User quotas and access controls allow administrators to restrict storage usage and file access for maximum data security. ...Apple profile, SAN BiTMICRO Ships Hot Swappable Ultra320 SCSI SSD Fremont, CA - January 4, 2005 - BiTMICRO Networks announced the delivery of an 80-pin version of its Ultra320 SCSI solid state flash disk drive. This latest Ultra320 variant features the Single Connector Attachment (SCA-2) interface. Under this standard, the regular 68-pin data connector, 4-pin power connector, and various configuration jumpers on a hard disk are all replaced by a single 80-pin connector. The SCA-2 system facilitates hot swapping, which means that failed hard drives can be easily removed from the disk array and replaced with new ones without powering down the system. The maintenance of DAS in critical enterprise applications such as servers, network storage, high-end workstations, and RAID storage is simplified to a large extent when hot swap capability is combined with its impressive MTBF of 2 million hours. Hot swappability, reliability and high-speed performance are also some of the key features which make the 80-pin E-Disk 3S320E solid state disk highly suitable for military deployments. With simplified repair and maintenance as well as reduced downtime, overall system availability in the battlefield is ensured. ...BiTMICRO Networks profile, HA / FT enterprise SSDs STORAGEsearch Reader Shifts in December Editor:- January 4, 2005 - Looking at the changing interests of STORAGEsearch readers has historically been a reliable way to predict which new storage technologies are on their way up or down. There was little change in the top 20 subjects viewed by readers in December, although NAS replaced Solid state disks (SSDs) in the #1 slot. SSDs had previously been #1 for 10 straight months in a row. There was little change in the top 10 storage articles read by readers. A new article by Engenio called SATA Raids the Datacenter entered the top 10. On the companies front - the fastest mover in the top 50 companies was Memtech which moved up from #33 to #8. The full listings can be seen on the Market research page. StorageTek Announces Reseller Agreement with Cisco LOUISVILLE, Colo. - January 4, 2005 - StorageTek today announced that it will resell the Cisco MDS 9000 Family of Multilayer Intelligent directors and fabric switches and related SMARTnet services and support. The Cisco offerings are available to customers worldwide as part of StorageTek's advanced portfolio of storage networking solutions and services. In addition, Cisco has been named to StorageTek's TekSelect partner program. The award-winning Cisco MDS 9000 Family is a comprehensive line of SAN switches and directors for storage networks of all sizes and architectures. ...Cisco profile, ...StorageTek profile NORTHERN Joins Fujitsu Siemens Partner Program TAMPA, FL - January 4, 2005 - NORTHERN today announces that is has joined the Fujitsu Siemens Global Alliance Partner Program. Northern Storage Suite is a complete SRM package that provides a unique solution to a widely shared problem: managing storage resources efficiently, reliably, and cost-effectively. ...Northern profile Agere's Chip Set Targets Portable Consumer Disks ALLENTOWN, Pa. - January 3, 2005 - Targeting demand for high-capacity storage in portable consumer electronics, Agere Systems today announced a complete chip set for developing small-form-factor disk drives. For the first time, disk drive manufacturers have access to a full set of ICs tailored to the power savings, small size and low cost required to create storage devices for music players, digital cameras, mobile phones, PDAs, notebook PCs and other consumer electronics products. Agere's TrueStore consumer electronics chip set includes read-channel, preamplifier, motor controller and hard disk controller solutions - the essential silicon required for developing high-performance miniature disk drive form factors from 1.8 inches down to 0.85 inches. Agere is also leveraging these electronics to design highly integrated systems-on-a-chip that support multiple CE-oriented host interfaces in a drive, including multimedia card, compact flash and the new CE-ATA specification. The market for small-form-factor disk drives represents the biggest growth opportunity of any storage segment. Industry analyst firm TrendFocus expects that 1.8-, 1.0- and 0.85-inch drive shipments will grow from 2.6 million units in 2003 to 100 million units in 2008 for a compound annual growth rate of more than 125%. ...Agere Systems profile | |||||||||||||||||
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| storage history (1949 till last week) | STORAGEsearch | SPARC Product Directory | ACSL - the publisher |
