Windows IT Pro Storage UPDATE--NetApp Ups the Ante in Midrange Storage--June 13, 2005

Don't let overzealous antispam software block your copy of Storage UPDATE--add [email protected] to your list of allowed senders and contacts.

This email newsletter comes to you free and is supported by the following advertisers, which offer products and services in which you might be interested. Please take a moment to visit these advertisers' Web sites and show your support for Storage UPDATE.

SEE THE AWARD-WINNING JOHN CLEESE VIDEO ON DATA BACKUP
"THE INSTITUTE FOR BACKUP TRAUMA"
Co-Starring Michael Dorn
http://www.backuptrauma.com/

Ensuring Protection and Availability for Microsoft Exchange
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Whitepapers/nsisoftware/exchangeprotection/index.cfm?code=stormid_613

1. Commentary
- NetApp Ups the Ante in Midrange Storage
- Calling All Windows IT Pro Innovators! Enter Windows IT Pro's Innovators Contest.
- Chat with Mike Otey about SBS SP1

2. From the Community
- Why Is My Tape Drive in a Coma?

3. New and Improved
- Spectra Logic Offers Budget-Conscious Version of Spectra 2K Tape Library
- Texas Memory Systems Adds Redundant RAM to Solid-State Storage
- Tell Us About a Hot Product and Get a T-Shirt!

4. Windows IT Pro Resources

==== Sponsor: SEE THE AWARD-WINNING JOHN CLEESE VIDEO ON DATA BACKUP "THE INSTITUTE FOR BACKUP TRAUMA" Co-Starring Michael Dorn ====

Get ready for side-splitting hilarity as comic genius JOHN CLEESE makes lighthearted fun of data backup. See the award-winning online video, "THE INSTITUTE FOR BACKUP TRAUMA" in which Dr. Harold Twain Weck (Cleese) takes you on a tour of his new institute dedicated to the treatment and prevention of the tragedy called Backup Trauma. "The Institute For Backup Trauma" takes a comical look at the challenges of data backup, and demonstrates the latest cures pioneered at the Institute for the physical and psychological effects of Backup Trauma. Don't miss this award-winning online video spectacular!
http://www.backuptrauma.com/

==== 1. Commentary: NetApp Ups the Ante in Midrange Storage ====
by David Chernicoff, [email protected]

Last week, Network Appliance (NetApp) turned up the heat in its competition for midrange storage customers when it released two new storage systems that NetApp believes will redefine the value/performance model for midrange storage.

NetApp claims that the newest members of the NetApp FAS3000 product line ( http://www.netapp.com/products/filer/fas3000_ds.html )--the FAS3020 and FAS3050--will deliver up to twice the price/performance of the previous generation of NetApp's FAS storage line, and according to a VeriTest study, up to five times the performance of the comparable CLARiiON CX500 RAID 5 storage system from industry leader EMC. Note that NetApp uses its own RAID-DP (RAID Double Parity) technology instead of traditional RAID 5/RAID 10 data protection. RAID-DP is a double-parity data protection scheme that NetApp believes provides better protection and performance on large disk volumes. You can find technical details about RAID-DP at http://www.netapp.com/tech_library/3298.html .

NetApp tells us that its customer base is demanding greater storage virtualization capabilities (to improve utilization of storage devices), better storage management, and a lower buy-in price. The new products meet these needs by providing two new V-Series storage virtualization engines, the NetApp V3020 and V3050; complete integration with the NetApp Data ONTAP 7G software; and the option to use Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives as primary storage--all in a very high-density package (up to 84TB and 336 disks). Given the price and capacity deltas between SATA and SCSI/Fibre Channel hard drives, customers can achieve significant economies by using SATA disks. Users who prefer more traditional storage at this level can opt for Fibre Channel drives. However, NetApp's position is that it can deliver this primary SATA storage without sacrificing the safety and integrity of the data stored on the FAS3000 devices. Other than the new Series 3000 storage products, the only other NetApp device to support this SATA option is the FAS960, part of the NetApp Filer Family ( http://www.netapp.com/products/filer/enterprise-filers.html ).

NetApp asserts that the V3020 and V3050 storage virtualization engines offer major performance improvements over earlier virtualization products. When used with the Data ONTAP 7G software, the new V-Series products will let customers integrate storage devices from competitors such as IBM, HP, Sun Microsystems, and Hitachi Data Systems, so that the NetApp product line can be integrated into an existing midrange storage enterprise with minimal disruption of existing services.

In the wake of various industry studies showing that data growth--and managing that growth--are the biggest challenges that storage users face, the new NetApp products take solid aim at the problem by offering comprehensive storage management and virtualization capabilities that extend beyond NetApp's own platform and including the value-priced SATA hard-drive lines as a primary storage location. As hard-drive manufacturers focus much of their attention on increasing SATA drives' capacities and improving their reliability and performance, bringing these drives, and their associated cost benefits, into the high-end storage market is clearly a path that should be considered--not only by buyers who need to focus first on buy-in cost, but also by those looking to provide the greatest overall benefit to their storage environment.

Calling All Windows IT Pro Innovators!

Have you developed a solution that uses Windows technology to solve a business problem in an innovative way? Enter your solution in the Windows IT Pro Innovators Contest! Grand-prize winners will receive a host of great prizes and a write-up in the November 2005 issue. Contest ends July 1, 2005.

To enter, click here:
http://www.windowsitpro.com/AWARDS/innovators_2005.cfm

Chat with Mike Otey about SBS SP1

Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) has a new service pack. Windows IT Pro's Mike Otey will answer your questions about SBS SP1 in a chat on June 15 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time. For details, visit the Microsoft chat site at http://www.microsoft.com/communities/chats/default.mspx

==== Sponsor: Ensuring Protection and Availability for Microsoft Exchange ====

Protecting data has always been important. Given the heightened awareness around national security and protecting important human and physical assets, having solutions that are cost-effective, hardware independent, and scalable is something every IT manager should seriously consider. Download this free whitepaper to find out more about a complete data protection and disaster recovery solution from NSI Software.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Whitepapers/nsisoftware/exchangeprotection/index.cfm?code=stormid_613

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

Why Is My Tape Drive in a Coma?

Forum participant "tach18k" has an external Dell 110v backup drive that stopped working without providing any error messages or other clues to the problem's cause, other than a "pending" message. If you have an inkling of what might be causing the problem, join the discussion in the windowsitpro.com Other Computing-Storage/Backup/Recovery forum at http://www.windowsitpro.com/forums

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

Spectra Logic Offers Budget-Conscious Version of Spectra 2K Tape Library

Spectra Logic has created a cost-minimized version of its popular Spectra 2K tape library to give customers what the vendor claims is the first true automated library that's competitive with the price of a single drive. The new library, called the Spectra 2K with AIT-3, uses Sony's AIT-3 drive technology and provides 3.9TB of compressed capacity and a transfer rate of more than 112GB per hour at a starting price of $3495. Customers can use any backup software with the Spectra 2K, including the NT Backup utility that's included with Windows, to run unattended, automatic backups. For more information, contact Spectra Logic on the Web:
http://www.spectralogic.com

Texas Memory Systems Adds Redundant RAM to Solid-State Storage

Texas Memory Systems has announced the availability of redundant RAM ("RAID-ed" memory) technology for its RamSan-325 solid-state storage systems. Texas Memory Systems' RamSan solid-state storage products use memory chips instead of magnetic disks to read and write data. The redundant RAM enhances the existing error correcting code (ECC), which corrects single-bit errors, by using the IBM Chipkill technology to correct multibit failures up to and including a total chip failure. The redundant RAM supplements the RamSan-325's existing high-availability features, which include redundant and hot-swappable power supplies, redundant batteries, and a four-disk RAID with hot-swappable backup hard disk drives that stores data that's flushed from memory. For more information, contact Texas Memory Systems on the Web:
http://www.texmemsys.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)

True High Availability – Going Beyond Backup and Data Replication

In this free Web seminar, discover the various categories of high availability and disaster recovery solutions available and the pros and cons of each. You'll learn what solutions help you take preemptive, corrective action without resorting to a full system failover, or in extreme cases, that perform a non-disruptive, automatic switchover to a secondary server. Register Now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/truehighavailability/index.cfm?code=0615emailannc

Get Ready for SQL Server 2005 Roadshow in Europe

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. Receive a 1-year membership to PASS and 1-year subscription to SQL Server Magazine. Register now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/roadshows/sqlservereurope/index.cfm?code=0615emailannc

Streamline Desktop Deployments

Managing desktop software configurations doesn't have to be a manual process, resulting in unplanned costs, deployment delays, and client confusion. In this free Web seminar, find out how to manage the software package preparation process and increase your desktop reliability, user satisfaction, and IT cost effectiveness. You'll learn how to simplify the deployment and configuration process, starting with the new-application request, review, and approval process and progressing through software packaging and deployment.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/SoftwarePackagingWorkflow/index.cfm?code=0615emailannc

Safeguard Your Exchange Servers – Plus Receive A FREE eBook

Managing storage growth, providing application resiliency, and handling small errors and problems before they grow are all important aspects of boosting your Exchange uptime. In this free Web seminar discover, how storage and application management techniques for Exchange can be used to improve the resiliency and performance of your Exchange infrastructure. Register now and get your free eBook!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/exchangeapplicationavailability/index.cfm?code=0615emailannc

Win A Windows IT Pro VIP Subscription – Register And You Could Win!

In this free Web seminar, learn what the most common fax messaging challenges encountered in the workforce are and solutions for how to turn these common fax "headaches" into cost-effective, easy-to-use, business communications. You'll also receive a free industry white paper on fax deployment and integration techniques. Register now, and you'll receive a 30-day software trial and a Starbucks gift card for attending!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/seminars/applicationintegration/index.cfm?code=0615emailannc

==== Featured White Paper ====

Security Management in a Multi-platform World

In this free white paper, you'll learn how to reduce management overhead when dealing with multiple platforms and the costs and benefits of a centralized "holistic" approach to security management. Get the ins and outs of managing multi-platform security and how you can safely, securely, and sanely manage the security infrastructure of complex, multi-platform environments.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Whitepapers/bindview/securitymanagement/index.cfm?code=0615emailannc

==== Sponsored Links ====

Ensuring Protection and Availability for Microsoft Exchange
Download this free white paper now!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Whitepapers/nsisoftware/exchangeprotection/index.cfm?code=nlsplink

Quest Software
Eleven things you must know about quick AD recovery!
http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;17412125;8214395;c?http://wm.quest.com/WITPNLSponlink11ThingsWPRMAD60105

A New Dimension in IT Infrastructure Management: Integrated KVM and Serial Console Control Systems
Reduce downtime, mean-time-to-repair, lower costs & improve ROI.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/whitepapers/raritan/integratedkvm/index.cfm?code=nlsplink

==== Contact Us ====

About the commentary -- [email protected]
About the newsletter -- [email protected]
About technical questions -- http://www.windowsitpro.com/forums
About product news -- [email protected]
About your subscription -- [email protected]
About sponsoring UPDATE -- [email protected]