IBM "Storage Tank" to Arrive in 2003

According to IBM, Storage Tank will be the industry's first file system optimized for accessing, saving, sharing, and managing files on storage networks. "\[IBM is\] working to remove barriers to data access with an evolutionary software technology roadmap that will help customers plan and transition to highly intelligent and cost-effective storage networks," said Linda Sanford, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Storage Systems Group.

Along with Storage Tank development, IBM is also developing a Linux-based virtualization engine and standards-based management interfaces. The virtualization engine will provide virtualization software designed to reduce storage cost of ownership by helping systems administrators take better advantage of existing storage resources. The management interfaces will be based on the Storage Networking Industry Association's (SNIA's) software model.