Windows IT Pro Storage UPDATE--The Fibre Channel-SATA Hybrid--August 1, 2005

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Basic Care And Feeding of Your Exchange Server 2003 Environment
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Whitepapers/lucid8/exchangecare/index.cfm?code=stortop_801

Gone in 30 Days: Exchange, Retention, and Regulatory Compliance
http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/sherpa/exchangecompliance/index.cfm?code=stormid_801

1. Commentary
- Fibre Channel + SATA = High-Performance, Budget-Friendly Storage

2. From the Community
- Trouble Running NTBackup on Windows 2003
- Windows IT Pro Innovators Contest Deadline Extended to September 1!

3. New and Improved
- FalconStor Offers Tape-Encryption Service
- Revinetix Introduces Disk-to-Disk Backup Appliance for SMBs
- Tell Us About a Hot Product and Get a T-Shirt!

4. Windows IT Pro Resources

==== Sponsor: Basic Care And Feeding of Your Exchange Server 2003 Environment ====

Consider the fact that you can predict most technical issues and take the appropriate action before a major problem occurs. This line of proactive thinking and planning is rarely considered in most Exchange design documents and high-availability recommendations, but it is vital information. This white paper will show you the bare and necessary facts you should know to maintain your Exchange Server 2003 environment. In addition to providing critical strategies for predicting failures and responding to failures, this white paper will share useful information for implementing proactive measures such as preventative database maintenance to ensure that your investment is well protected.
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==== 1. Commentary: Fibre Channel + SATA = High-Performance, Budget-Friendly Storage ====
by David Chernicoff, [email protected]

As a Windows IT pro, you need huge amounts of storage, but trying to meet those needs will squeeze your budget. Looking at advances in drive technology, you begin to wonder whether some of the entry-level and midrange solutions based on Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives can fill your needs. They seem to have decent performance and great capacities, at a price point that's impossible to beat, yet their performance isn't that of your existing Fibre Channel-attached storage systems and you aren't sure that you really want to introduce another connection methodology into your storage environment. So what are you going to do?

Last week, HP announced what it thinks is the perfect solution for you: Fibre Attached Technology Adapted (FATA) drives for HP's Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) family of storage products. The 400GB and 500GB FATA drives, developed for HP by Seagate Technology, deliver storage for EVA enclosures at roughly half the per-gigabyte cost of a regular Fibre Channel drive, meaning that customers who need to retain large amounts of data that's less-frequently accessed than their primary data sets can now add these FATA drives to their existing EVA enclosures. Adding the 500GB FATA drives provides a storage capacity of up to 120TB in existing StorageWorks EVA devices--up to the high-end EVA StorageWorks 8000 (http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/eva8000/index.html).

Users will be able to manage the drives and migration of data between FATA and Fibre Channel storage by using HP StorageWorks File System Extender (FSE), which is part of HP's Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) solutions and allows both policy- and rules-based data management and migration. You can use the same FSE software to provide backup and recovery options for the data it manages.

The FATA drives use a high-availability, dual-port 2GB/sec Fibre Channel interface and support native Fibre Channel protocol data integrity, optimized command queuing, error handling, and Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART) capabilities. HP expects to make the drives available to customers later this year as options for the StorageWorks EVA drive arrays. For complete details about the HP announcement, see http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2005/050725a.html.

As HP was announcing the addition of FATA technology to its storage line, EMC was announcing its new storage server, the EMC Symmetrix DMX-3, which is designed to provide massive consolidation in a single system. (For more information, see http://www.emc.com/products/systems/symmetrix/DMX_series/DMX3.jsp). EMC also said that the DMX-3 will, in 2006, support what EMC calls low-cost Fibre Channel (LC-FC) drive technology, which is equivalent to HP's FATA. Like the HP equipment, the introduction of LC-FC will let EMC's Symmetrix DMX Series storage servers run both FC and LC-FC drives in the same enclosure, giving users the same ability to run, manage, and use both types of storage. This lets customers spend money on the drives they need and the storage type they require, without having to use multiple different storage servers.

As FATA and LC-FC drives become available in quantity, you can expect other vendors to start offering these technologies, especially in the entry-level market, which has been more accepting of SATA-based storage devices. The FATA option will let these vendors offer intermediate-level storage devices without forcing their customers to jump right into the Fibre Channel world, which can be a difficult sell into the exceptionally price-sensitive small-to-midsized business (SMB) marketplace.

==== Sponsor: Gone in 30 Days: Exchange, Retention, and Regulatory Compliance ====

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http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/sherpa/exchangecompliance/index.cfm?code=stormid_801

==== 2. From the Community ====

Trouble Running NTBackup on Windows 2003

Storage/Backup/Recovery forum participant "mel51576" sometimes get an error when he attempts to perform a scheduled backup to a removable hard drive using NTBackup on a Windows Server 2003 system. If you can help, join the discussion by going to http://forums.windowsitpro.com , scrolling down to the Other Computing section, and clicking Storage/Backup/Recovery.

Windows IT Pro Innovators Contest Deadline Extended to September 1!

There's still time to submit an entry in the Windows IT Pro Innovators Contest! If you're a Windows IT pro who has used your technical know-how to devise a creative, innovative solution to a business problem, you could qualify to win a Windows IT Pro Innovators Award. Grand Prizes include one conference pass, airfare, and hotel for Exchange and Windows Connections in San Diego in late October 2005, one VIP subscription to Windows IT Pro, and more! Click here to enter!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/AWARDS/innovators_2005.cfm

==== 3. New and Improved ====
by Anne Grubb, [email protected]

FalconStor Offers Tape-Encryption Service

Network storage software vendor FalconStor Software announced a Secure Tape Transport Service (STTS) for its VirtualTape Library (VTL) solution. This encryption and decryption service, which is based on the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), lets FalconStor VTL customers encrypt virtual tapes and export them to physical tapes to protect data against unauthorized access and information theft should tapes be accidentally misplaced or stolen. FalconStor VTL's encryption and decryption mechanism is fully integrated with the solution's tape export/import subsystem and is 100 percent transparent to third-party backup software applications. For more information about the product, contact FalconStor on the Web:
http://www.falconstor.com

Revinetix Introduces Disk-to-Disk Backup Appliance for SMBs

Revinetix has released the new Sentio series of disk-based RAID 5 network backup appliances, tailored to the needs of small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs) that have 5 to 500 users. The Sentio appliances include all the software and hot-swappable Serial ATA (SATA) disks required to back up an entire network and can replace tape-based backup systems. The Sentio backup software lets you back up all systems on a network, including those connected via a VPN. The Sentio appliances currently support storage capacities up to 8TB (compressed) of data storage (4TB raw capacity). For more information about the product, contact Revinetix on the Web:
http://www.revinetix.com

Tell Us About a Hot Product and Get a T-Shirt!

Have you used a product that changed your IT experience by saving you time or easing your daily burden? Tell us about the product, and we'll send you a T-shirt if we write about the product in a future Windows IT Pro What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions with information about how the product has helped you to [email protected].

==== 4. Windows IT Pro Resources ====

Check out these links to a wealth of Windows IT Pro resources: white papers, eBooks, Web seminars, conferences, and other events.

==== Resources and Events ====
(brought to you by Windows IT Pro)

Windows Connections 2005 Conference, October 31-November 3, 2005, San Diego, CA

Microsoft, Windows, and Exchange Server experts present over 60 in-depth sessions with real-world solutions you can take back and apply today. Don't miss Mark Minasi's insightful keynote presentation "Windows Server R2, Longhorn and Beyond" and your chance to win a Harley-Davidson motorcycle! Call 800-505-1201 for more information.
http://www.winconnections.com

Continuous or Real-Time Backup Systems--Are They Right For You?

Continuous or real-time backup systems help avoid the danger of losing data if your system fails after the point of backup by providing real-time protection. In this free Web seminar, learn how to integrate them with your existing backup infrastructure, how to apply continuous protection technologies to your Windows-based servers, and more. Register now and learn how you can reduce your downtime with continuous data protection!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/continuousbackup/index.cfm?code=0803emailannc

New Cities Added--SQL Server 2005 Roadshow in a City Near You

Get the facts about migrating to SQL Server 2005. SQL Server experts will present real-world information about administration, development, and business intelligence to help you implement a best-practices migration to SQL Server 2005 and improve your database-computing environment. Attend and receive a 1-year membership to PASS and 1-year subscription to SQL Server Magazine. Register now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/roadshows/sqlserverusa/index.cfm?code=0803emailannc

Deadline Extended - 2005 Windows IT Pro Innovators Contest!

If you've used Windows technology in creative ways to devise specific, beneficial solutions to problems your business has faced, we want you! Now's your change to get the recognition you deserve. Enter the 2005 Windows IT Pro Innovators Contest now! You could win a complimentary conference pass to Exchange Connections and Windows Connections in San Diego in late October 2005.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/awards/innovators_2005.cfm

Sort Through Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA Legislation, and More--Quicker And Easier!

In this free Web seminar, get the tips you've been looking for to save time and money in achieving IT security and regulatory compliance. Find out how you can simplify these manually intensive, compliance-related tasks that reduce IT efficiency. Turn these mandates into automated and cost-effective solutions. Register now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/regulatorycompliance/index.cfm?code=0803emailannc

==== Featured White Paper ====

Enabling Mobile Sales: Putting CRM in Your Pocket

In this free white paper, find out how you can enable the latest handheld devices and smartphones to deliver scalable, real-time access to enterprise systems on today's high-bandwidth data networks--complete with enterprise-class security and NTLM authentication. Don't wait--get your free copy now and improve sales productivity and customer responsiveness by using a faster, more convenient, wireless solution.
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==== Announcements ====
(from Windows IT Pro and its partners)

Windows IT Pro Gives IT Professionals What They Need

The August issue is a must have! Subscribe now and find out the best ways to plan for Longhorn, what you need to know about VBScripts, and how to make sense of SQL Server. If you order today, you'll also gain exclusive access to the entire Windows IT Pro online article database (over 9000 articles) and save 44% off the cover price!
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Try a Sample Issue of Exchange & Outlook Administrator!

If you haven't seen Exchange & Outlook Administrator, you're missing out on key information that will go a long way toward preventing serious messaging problems and downtime. Request a sample issue today, and discover tools and solutions you won't find anywhere else to help you migrate, optimize, administer, back up, recover, and secure Exchange and Outlook. Order now!
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==== Sponsored Links ====

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Argent versus MOM 2005

Experts Pick the Best Windows Monitoring Solution
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