Controller spec means cheaper disk arrays
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But it's all a Dell plot, say high-end rivals. The Storage Bridge Bay (SBB) working group (www.sbb.org) is to release version one of the SBB spec next week. This defines standard electromechanics for the controller modules that go into stuff such as disk arrays.â¦
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Acting immediately on its recent EqualLogic acquisition, Dell announced a new line of network storage products on Monday that the company claims are easy to install and manage.Targeted at SMBs, the Dell EqualLogic PS5000 Series of arrays includes controllers, disks, and chassis with 16-bay enclosures that are scalable to store up to 192TB of data and execute up to 60,000 transactions at once, said Brad Anderson, senior vice president of Dell's business product group, at an event in San Francisco.The product can be plugged into existing IT infrastructure and be up and running rapidly, in some cases under an hour, Anderson said. It is also compatible with existing EqualLogic systems.The arrays operate over a SAN using the iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface) interconnect protocol to transfer data and manage networked storage.Because storage disks can be attached on the fly, system administrators don't have to plan the amount of storage needed, saving money and resources in the long run, said Praveen Asthana, director of enterprise storage at Dell.On installation, software that comes with the arrays senses network topology, conducts a system health check and ensures that components are fully functional before serving up storage on a network. Software included with the array manages virtualized storage environments to provide optimized performance, including load balancing by shifting storage loads between arrays and by provisioning data to prevent poor utilization of disks.With remote replication capabilities over IP networks, the software enables continuous access to data, protecting potential data loss from disaster or system failures, Anderson said.Few SMBs have storage specialists on staff to set up and manage storage, so it makes sense for them to adopt iSCSI arrays to consolidate disparate storage environments that users can dip into for data access, said Mike Karp, senior analyst at Enterprise Management Associates. Familiar technologies like IP communication and the iSCSI interconnect protocol make iSCSI SAN products easy to install and operate, Karp said.In addition, the arrays make it easier for users to squeeze maximum value from network storage, he said.The initial products will come in three models. The EqualLogic PS5000E iSCSI Array supports up to 16 SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) II drives with up to 1T byte of storage per drive. The Dell EqualLogic PS5000XV and EqualLogic PS5000X iSCSI arrays support up to 16 SAS (serial-attached SCSI) drives with varying storage capacities.Pricing for the storage devices begins at $19,000, which includes the management software, Dell said. They are available immediately through channel partners.The new arrays come just five days after Dell completed the $1.4 billion acquisition of network storage vendor EqualLogic. The acquisition was part of Dell's new strategy to expand hardware and IT services to large enterprises and SMBs.EqualLogic has offered solid iSCSI arrays with virtualization management capabilities in the past and the new product is no different, Karp said. With Dell, EqualLogic products will be largely distributed -- though it may take a few months until Dell's staff is fully trained to support the products.Dell is already offering iSCSI-based storage products to SMBs through its partnership with EMC. It is a good revenue stream for Dell, and the company will not turn it off to exclusively sell EqualLogic products, Karp said. Dell will find a balance to sell both products, he said.
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Seagate&#39;s native SATA interface technology with Native Command Queuing (NCQ) allows the Barracuda 7200.8 to match the performance of 10,000-rpm SATA drives without sacrificing capacity
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(InfoWorld) - Storage appliance maker EqualLogicÂ says its newest product improves performance by doing a better job of balancing the data load between storage arrays in a network. EqualLogic Tuesday introduced the PS3900XV, the third model in the PS3000 line that debuted in September 2006. The product is a SAS (serial attached SCSIS) array and is designed to store data from high-demand applications such as OracleÂ or MicrosoftÂ SQL databases or the Microsoft Exchange messaging and collaboration platform. SCSI stands for small computer system interface, an industry protocol for transferring data between computers. Like the previous PS3800VX the 3900 operates at up to 15,000 rpm but features larger storage capacity, 4.8TB, versus 2.3TB for the 3800. EqualLogic says its SCSI storage array can support more end users but still require less storage capacity based on the FC (Fibre Channel) protocol for transferring data, which is faster and has higher capacity than SCSI, said John Joseph, vice president of marketing for EqualLogic. "There is a lot of concern in the industry about 1GB [SCSI] Ethernet and how it competes against 4GB FC. Well, the wire is not the bottleneck," said Joseph. EqualLogic says it moves data faster across its storage arrays by automatically balancing the load between storage devices. "We are able to load balance the workload ... without the user ever having to click on a window to reconfigure or rebalance or retune or do anything manually," he said. GartnerÂ forecasts that SCSI unit shipments will surpass those of FC in 2008 and continue to grow faster. Even though FC offers better performance than SCSI, SCSI is cheaper and is a more well known protocol, said Stanley Zaffos, vice president and research director for Gartner. SCSI unit growth will be strongest in the SMB market as these companies' storage needs grow, said Zaffos. According to 2006 research from IDC, EqualLogic holds a 19 percent market share for SCSI disks based on units shipped, second only to Network Appliance. It also competes with storage startups like LeftHand Networks and Nexsan Technologies. The PS3900XV, which begins shipping in March, carries a list price of $67,000, although Joseph said it will be more expensive in international markets.
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SEPTEMBER 03, 2004  - IBM today announced a pair of entry-level and midrange disk arrays, including a scaled-down reincarnation of an iSCSI-based device that the company dropped two years ago.
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Meritline has a 2.5" hard drive enclosure, perfect for spare notebook drives, for just $10.99 shipped.
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Fujitsu on Tuesday announced its latest lineup of Serial ATA hard drives for notebook computers, which feature perpendicular recording technology. Although the additions come in capacities far below Fujitsu's 300GB monster -- 80GB, 120GB and 160GB -- spindle speed has been bumped to 7200 RPM.
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80GB external hard drive is on offer at a 50% reduction.
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TechWeb - The worldwide external controller-based disk storage market grew in the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year, but the growth was enjoyed by a handful of major vendors at the expense of their smaller peers. Gartner Dataquest on Thursday published a part of its second quarter research results showing the market for external controller-based disk storage, which includes hardware but no software or services, rose 4.3 percent over the same quarter of 2005 to reach a total of $3.6 billion. ...
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Blog: CompactFlash Association looks to memory card boost transfer rates and capacity standard with the faster Serial ATA interface.
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Western Digital has created an array that uses two 500GB hard disk drives striped together with RAID Level 0 for better performance.
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Maxtor brand is for low-end hard drives, while Seagate will be for high end.
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The system offers an alternative to iSCSI and Fibre Channel RAID arrays, but offers support for RAID Level 0, 1, 5 and 10 configured storage systems.
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I can imagine the mass deployment of virtualized storage controllers. The heyday of RAID controllers is coming to an end. It has me thinking about the mass consumption of virtualization, which leads me to another thought: the mass deployment of embedded virtualized processes.
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(Source: Diskeeper) Does fragmentation affect SANs, NAS, and RAID? Many people think it doesn't - but that perception is incorrect. Disk arrays improve I/O performance, but they aren't invulnerable to fragmentation. Read this white paper and discover the technical issues concerning fragmentation, SANs, NAS, and RAID
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I see you all out there, smirking and revving your RAID controllers. "What could possibly replace RAID controllers?" you ask rhetorically. As if nothing could ever replace RAID -- ever.
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Plain kit, sweet file system Rackable Systems this week made an unusual acquisition for a no nonsense server vendor. It bought flashy storage software maker Terrascale for $38m in cash.â¦