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2006, May week 4, storage news archive

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Squeak! - Venture funds in storage
Squeak! - the Solid State Disks Buyers Guide
Squeak! - the Fastest Growing Storage Companies
Squeak! - the 10 biggest storage companies in 2008?
Squeak! - the Top 10 Storage Software Companies
article:- Serial Attached SCSI - is it worth the wait?
article:- Sanitization Methods for Cleaning Up Hard Disk Drives
Squeak! - Why are Most Analysts Wrong About Solid State Disks?
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Southborough, MA - May 31, 2006 - Double-Take Software today announced the acquisition of their strategic partner, Sunbelt System Software headquartered in Paris, France, with offices in the UK, Germany, Sweden and Belgium. The acquisition will extend the customer base of Double-Take Software by leveraging Sunbelt's footprint across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. The two companies started their partnership in July, 1998. ...Sunbelt profile, ...Double-Take profile, UK storage VARs

Editor's comments:- this is the second such merger (of a software principal with its international distributor) announced today, see SteelEye news below.



MILPITAS, CA - May 31, 2006 - Adaptec, Inc. today announced two additions to its HostRAID SAS controller family. With integrated software-based data protection, mini SAS connectors, and a low-profile form factor, the Adaptec SAS 44300 (4 serial ports, $250 MSRP) and 58300 (8 serial ports, $360MSRP) are entry-level solutions. Adaptec's HostRAID provides RAID data protection through software which is more cost-effective for entry-level server and workstation environments. Adaptec HostRAID includes RAID levels 1, 0, and 10 that leverage data mirroring and striping to achieve a variety of performance and fault tolerant data protection options. ...Adaptec profile, RAID controllers, article by Adaptec:- the Benefits of Serial Attached SCSI for External Subsystems


Tokyo, Japan - May 31, 2006 - SteelEye Technology, Inc. today announced that it has signed an agreement to merge with and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ten Art-ni. Ten Art-ni is a five year business partner of SteelEye. To be known as SteelEye in Europe and the Americas and as Ten Art-ni throughout Asia, the company has 220 employees and locations in Palo Alto CA (North American headquarters), Columbia SC (R&D), Raleigh NC (R&D), Cambridge UK (European headquarters) and Tokyo Japan (Asia and World headquarters). SteelEye's flagship product, LifeKeeper, provides LAN and WAN-based, end-to-end data and application protection and enables companies of all sizes to ensure continuous availability of business-critical applications, servers and data. ...SteelEye profile, Storage Software, Acquired companies, Storage VARs in Japan


Sunnyvale, CA - May 30, 2006 - Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. today announced the Mag EraSURE Professional Value desktop degausser. The product is an effective, economical solution for industries that require fast and secure removal of magnetically recorded data from hard disk drives, removable disks and backup tapes. The Fujitsu Mag EraSURE family of products utilizes a rare earth permanent magnet to degauss magnetically recorded information. Data becomes permanently unrecoverable by commercial means once exposed to the powerful magnet in the device. In addition to purging recorded information on the storage device, including servo and calibration data, the degausser also destroys most read/write heads.

A key feature of the Fujitsu Mag EraSURE is its user friendly operation. Users simply insert the drive into the degausser and push the button; the device handles the rest. It can operate 24x7 with no-wait duty cycle and accepts a wide variety of media:- hard disk drives - up to 3.5" and 1.6" height and floppy, Zip, Rev and Jazz media. Also backup tapes:- SDLT, DLT, LTO/LTO2, DAT, TRAVAN, AIT, QIC, 8mm. The Mag EraSURE P2V is priced at $13,500. ...Fujitsu profile, Disk Sanitizers


Houston, TX - May 30, 2006 -Texas Memory Systems today announced it has earned certified status in Microsoft's Partner Program. "Only companies that have demonstrated high levels of customer service, proved their experience and attained advanced certification receive the designation of Microsoft Certified Partner," said Allison Watson, vice president of the Worldwide Partner Sales and Marketing Group at Microsoft Corp. "Today, Microsoft recognizes Texas Memory Systems for its skills and expertise in providing customer satisfaction with Microsoft products and technology." ...Texas Memory Systems profile


ARMONK, NY - May 25, 2006 - IBM announced System Storage SAN Volume Controller 4.1 Enhancements to IBM's storage virtualization software (used by over 2,000 customers) include:-
  • improved long-distance asynchronous remote replication at nearly unlimited distances.
  • support for additional systems - including Hitachi TagmaStore and OpenVMS. Also supported are new disk systems from IBM, HP, and Network Appliance, bringing the total number of environments supported to nearly 80.
IBM SVC 4.1 will be available on June 23, 2006 with combined hardware and software list pricing starting at $42,500. ...IBM profile, Storage Software


Sunnyvale, Calif. - May 24, 2006 - Network Appliance, Inc. today reported results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2006. Revenues for the fourth fiscal quarter were $598 million, an increase of 32% compared to the same period a year ago and an increase of 11% compared to $ 537.0 million in the prior quarter. For the fourth fiscal quarter, GAAP net income was $59.2 million. Revenues for fiscal year 2006 totaled $2.07 billion, an increase of 29% compared to revenues of $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2005. For fiscal year 2006, GAAP net income increased 18% to $266.5 million. ...Network Appliance profile, Squeak! - the Fastest Growing Storage Companies


Seattle, Wash. - May 23, 2006 - Alacritech Inc today announced its single- and multi-port Alacritech Accelerators are now available with support for the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack. Alacritech's SEN2000 line of TCP/IP Offload Engine Network Interface Cards (TNICs) and SES2000 line of iSCSI controllers provide the industry's highest port density for the TCP Chimney Offload architecture introduced in the Scalable Networking Pack. Installed on Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Alacritech Accelerators work with the Scalable Networking Pack to reduce CPU overhead and memory bandwidth utilization associated with networking by offloading TCP/IP processing and data delivery to specialized hardware on the Accelerator. ...Alacritech profile, NAS


SEOUL, Korea - May 23, 2006 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. launched the world's first high volume consumer PCs embedded with a 32GB flash-based solid state disk. The Samsung Q1 (900MHz processor, 7" screen) and the Q30 (1.2GHz processor, 12" screen) will be available in the Korean market in a few weeks. The retail price for the Q1-SSD will be KRW2.3 million (US$2,430), while the Q30-SSD will sell for KRW3.5 million (US$3,700).

These mobile computing devices are the ideal solution for professionals and executives who are constantly on the move. The SSD reads 300% faster (53MB/s) and writes 150% quicker (28MB/s) than normal hard drives. As a result, multiple application programs can operate simultaneously and large volumes of data can be edited and reproduced more efficiently. The Microsoft Windows XP operating system will boot up 25-50% faster on the SSD than on other drives.

The Q1-SSD will show video or still photos as well as play audio without having to be booted up first. DMB TV receivers are embedded in both PCs, which will bring extra enjoyment to users during this summer's World Cup competition.

"PC models based on solid state disks have numerous advantages over traditional hard disk-based models. These include faster booting, greater durability, quieter operation, and increased battery life. These new models are only the beginning. Samsung will continue to lead the market, introducing new portable PC models that bring these benefits to both consumers and enterprise users." said Kim Hounsoo, Executive Vice President of the Computing Division of Samsung Electronics. ...Samsung profile, article:- Charting the Rise of the Solid State Disk Market

Editor's comments:- this market changing use for SSDs was described in our SSD market penetration model published last year - which described all the main applications and trigger points for the SSD market along with their user value propositions.



MILPITAS, CA - May 23, 2006 - Adaptec, Inc. today announced that its RAID technology has been optimized and tested for compatibility with the new Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors. In extensive testing, Adaptec SCSI, SATA II and Serial Attached SCSI controller technology has been proven to increase I/O subsystem performance on systems built with the new Intel processor. ...Adaptec profile


Dallas - May 23, 2006 - QLogic Corp. today announced a new portfolio of products at Fusion 2006. These include:- the SANbox 5000 96-Port Stackable Switch, SANbox 6000 Intelligent Storage Router, SANbox 8000 Storage Services Platform, SANbox 9000 Multi-Layer, Multi-Protocol Switch and InfiniPath InfiniBand Host Channel Adapter. InfiniPath supports more than 10 million messages per second, which is 6 times faster than any other cluster interconnect. ...QLogic profile, Fusion 2006, SAN


Munich, Germany - May 23, 2006 - Qimonda AG today announced that it is manufacturing its DDR2 FB-DIMMs in high volume. The new memories will be provided for Intel's Bensley server platforms in 533MHz and 667 MHz for densities ranging from 512MB to 4GB. Qimonda is also a key partner for major server OEMs such as Dell, HP, FSC and IBM. Qimonda aims to get around 50% market share in this server module segment at launch. According to iSuppli the share of FB-DIMMs for the OEM server market is expected to grow from 10% (in 2006) up to 68% (by 2008). ...Qimonda profile


SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif.- May 22, 2006 - Seagate Technology today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Maxtor Corporation. The combined company retains the Seagate name. The integration of former Maxtor operations into Seagate is expected to be substantially completed by early calendar 2007. Seagate estimates that approximately 50% of Maxtor's worldwide employees will be offered positions with the combined company. Adding to Seagate's own line of branded products, Seagate will retain a full range of Maxtor branded retail solutions. Maxtor is the leading brand name in the retail space and it will significantly strengthen Seagate's overall position in this burgeoning market. ...Maxtor profile, ...Seagate profile, Hard disk drives, Acquired storage companies


Oslo, Norway - May 22, 2006 - Tandberg Data ASA today announced a worldwide agreement with ProStor Systems to leverage ProStor's RDX system. RDX is a removable disk-based cartridge technology that combines the portability and long term archivability of tape with the high reliability, superior performance and instant access of hard disks at a price lower than competing tape solutions. ...ProStor Systems profile, ...Tandberg Data profile, Disk to disk backup


Geneva - May 22, 2006 - STMicroelectronics today revealed its design and manufacturing capability for hard disk drive system on a chip devices in 90nm technology. A new device - integrating the read channel, SATA interface and memory - is the first such product in the market to be manufactured in a 90nm process. Functional silicon is now being evaluated and tested. ...STMicroelectronics profile, storage chips


CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif. - May 22, 2006 - Abcron Corp announced today the addition of the PlayO Printable Double Layer DVD +R product to its series of optical media products. The PlayO Printable Double Layer DVD +R discs enable data to be recorded or read on one layer without affecting the other layer in order to enable long-time music streaming potential and up to four hours of DVD quality video or 16 hours of VHS quality video. The printable feature enables users to print vibrant, full color images directly onto the full surface of the discs and are compatible with a wide range of leading inkjet printers. ...Abcron profile


LAKE FOREST, Calif. - May 22, 2006 - Western Digital Corp. today announced that its WD NetCenter network storage system, aimed at the home market, is now available in a half-terabyte capacity. WD streamlined the steps required to install WD NetCenter on either a PC or Mac. The WD setup wizard cuts installation time to less than five minutes. EasyLink establishes the WD NetCenter as if it were a local drive on any computer connected to the network. Individuals with network access then can store, share and back up their digital content. ...Western Digital profile, NAS

Other news on this page

Double-Take Acquires Sunbelt System Software

Adaptec Announces Entry Level SAS RAID Controllers

SteelEye Completes Merger with Ten Art-ni Corp

Fujitsu Launches Tape / Disk Degausser

Texas Memory Systems Certified Microsoft Partner

IBM Announces System Storage SAN Volume Controller 4.1

Network Appliance Reports 29% Revenue Growth

Alacritech Accelerates Scalable Networking Pack

Samsung Ships Revolutionary SSD Based Notebooks

Adaptec RAID Supports New Xeon Processors

QLogic Unveils Fastest Cluster Interconnect

Qimonda Aims to Get Half of New Server RAM Market

Maxtor's Headcount Slashed by 50% in the New Seagate

Tandberg will Use ProStor's Removable Disk Technology

First 90nm System-on-Chip for Hard Disk Drives

Abcron Launches Photo Quality Printable DVDs

Western Digital's Home NAS Offers 0.5T Backup

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Nibble:-

5 Years After - 4 New Storage Interfaces - How did they Fare?

I
n 2001, STORAGEsearch.com launched 4 new directory pages dedicated to emerging storage interface technologies which had got a lot of reader attention in our news pages at that time:-
These new storage interfaces, conceived at the start of the 2001-2003 US IT market recession did not all match up to the original hopes of their proponents.

SATA has been the most successful.

It has been a multi billion dollar market for several years. In 2006 over 300 million hard disk drives will have SATA interfaces. SATA has also made its appearance in solid state disks, DVD drives and tape drives.

iSCSI had an optimistic, much hyped but false start.

The market in 2006 is 2 to 3 years behind the market size which was originally predicted for this. In the early days of the iSCSI market optimistic projections from IDC led vendors to expect that iSCSI would be a $1 billion market in 2004. Those early projections for 2004 iSCSI revenue were ten times too high. We may have to wait till 2007 before the iSCSI market reaches the magic billion dollar size. The main reasons for iSCSI's slow take-off were:- slowness in the standard development process, early products which didn't work properly, and then finally, waiting for Microsoft to wake up and grasp the significance of the storage market. Looking to the future, the market is now hotting up. Recent iSCSI benchmarks on 10Gbps Ethernet have quoted faster IOPs than Fibre-channel SANs. Vendors are promising that iSCSI will be faster than FC without the setup complexity.

Serial Attached SCSI - It took 4 years for SAS products and systems to start reaching end-users.

Hitachi shipped the first 15K RPM SAS hard drives a year ago (May 2005) and most leading server manufacturers had launched SAS based servers by the end of 2005. But I get the impression that most users are underwhelmed by the performance promise that SAS based systems offer. The main reason is that the fastest SATA disks overlap in performance with mid range SAS drives. So the benefits from adopting SAS only appeal to a small segment of the market.

Another reason for the small size of the SAS market may be that parallel SCSI had become a niche for RISC based servers running various flavors of Unix. So although users of Sun's SPARC servers, for example, have seen an upward shift in performance from the new SAS drives, the Unix part of the server market has been overtaken by Windows based servers using Intel Architecture processors. Most I.A. server makers were natural early adopters of the Intel rooted SATA interface. In contrast, most RISC servers never supported PATA, and those product lines had to wait a few more years for the software compatible Serial SCSI disks to emerge.

InfiniBand has been a graveyard for many startups which came into being to support this technology. Of the 4 interface standards which started at about the same time the InfiniBand market is today the smallest in revenue and in growth potential.

The original idea behind InfiniBand was that it would offer an industry standard alternative to the many high speed proprietary busses which server manufacturers used to cluster their most powerful servers. The server recession in 2001-2003 slowed down the pace of new server developments and provided a disincentive for manufacturers to end of life their most profitable products. In the past 4 years two other factors have reduced the potential market size for InfiniBand.

The availability of processor chips with multiple central processing units on the same chip has reduced the need for motherboard to motherboard memory access of the type provided by a factor of two, four or eight - for different chip implementations. Furthermore the availability of 10Gbps Ethernet, and the possibility of 20GbE provides a workable alternative in many applications which would have looked like natural slots for InfiniBand just a few years ago.

Although InfiniBand has reached the stage where there are many working products - the shape of the market is a small number of end-users who consume a large number (thousands each) of InfiniBand ports. It is doubtful that this will become a high volume market unless something radically changes in the architecture of server systems. If that change happens - you'll be the first to know as it gets reported in these news pages.

Summary - The storage market has changed a lot since these new storage interfaces were hatched in 2001. The new interfaces have survived a recession and it's likely that they will all still be around in some upgraded form till the end of the decade. They were designed to meet the needs of computer networks in which the main form of online storage is hard disk based. In the next few years we'll start to see a shift away from rotating mechanical storage (hard disks, DVDs and tapes) towards faster, more reliable solid state storage. Solid state disks currently use interfaces which are hand-me-downs from the magnetic storage era. The next generation of new storage interfaces which may start life in 2011 will be completely different. Watch this space.

You can get more detailed information about all the above markets, vendors, history, applications etc by clicking on the links above.

See also:- 10 Years After - (featuring Alvin Lee on lead guitar).
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