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(below COMMENTARY)
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October 28, 2002—In this issue:
1. COMMENTARY
- Network Attached Storage Has a New Partner
2. NEWS AND VIEWS
- Serial ATA II Specification Finalized
- EMC Scores Court Victory
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Attend Our Free Tips & Tricks Web Summit
- Try a Sample Issue of Exchange & Outlook Administrator
4. RESOURCES
- Storage Highlight: SANS and Windows
- Tip: Stealth Backup
- Featured Thread: Different DLT Tape Formats?
- Submit Top Product Ideas
5. NEW AND IMPROVED
- Share Libraries Between Multiple NDMP Servers
- Expand NAS Scalability
6. CONTACT US
- See this section for a list of ways to contact us.
1. COMMENTARY
(contributed by Mark Smith, Storage UPDATE Contributing Editor, [email protected])
These days, it's difficult to imagine getting your chief financial officer (CFO) to approve any major IT project—doing more with less is standard operating procedure these days. But I have good news: Windows-powered Network Attached Storage (NAS) can increase your company's profitability and performance.
About 2 years ago, Microsoft set out to create a version of its OS that it could optimize for file serving, storage management, and backup and restore. The company wanted OEM partners to use Windows-powered NAS to build state-of-the-art storage systems that would integrate easily into an existing Windows infrastructure. Microsoft knew the Windows-powered NAS devices should be easy to install (in 30 minutes or less), be highly available through clustering, be managed through a Web browser, and handle all file serving needs. Microsoft also wanted the devices to have no Client Access Licenses (CALs).
In the past 18 months, Microsoft claims to have captured 25 percent of the NAS market. What Windows administrators need to realize, however, is that Windows-powered NAS doesn't merely add storage to your existing servers but can actually replace your file servers.
Zane Adam, director of product management and marketing enterprise for Microsoft's Enterprise Storage Division, says, "Windows-powered NAS is about saving money." Adam provided a case study of a 1000-user company that consolidated 100 general-purpose Windows NT servers into three two-node clusters of 2TB Windows-powered NAS devices. Typically, you need one IT administrator for every 20 production servers. So, by reducing the number of file servers from 100 to 3, you could cut back from five administrators to one administrator, saving as much as $300,000 per year. General-purpose NT boxes also require CALs for file services. Because Windows-powered NAS doesn't require CALs, you could also eliminate that cost. In addition, Windows-powered NAS supports out-of-the-box clustering, deep quota services (down to the file level), and other features that typically require a high-end version of Windows and third-party software. Best of all, Windows-powered NAS meets Microsoft's design goal of a 15- to 20-minute installation.
With all the bad publicity about the added expense of Microsoft Licensing 6.0, the thought of a simple, unlimited license is enormously appealing. In addition, with the confusing array of servers available for Windows, having a product that does one thing extremely well—quickly, reliably, and securely serve files to hundreds of users—is a refreshing change.
Inside the upcoming Windows .NET Server (Win.NET Server) 2003 OS are several storage features that will make Windows-powered NAS better than the current Windows-based version. These features include multipath I/O support, virtual disk service, and Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). You can read more about these features at http://www.microsoft.com/storage .
Windows-powered NAS supports every client (e.g., UNIX, Linux, Macintosh) with no CAL fees. However, unlike other NAS solutions, Windows-powered NAS also supports Active Directory (AD), Microsoft Dfs, and other features native to a Windows 2000 and, soon, Win.NET Server implementation.
To learn more about available products, check out the Microsoft partners (listed below) who have created NAS solutions around Windows-powered NAS. Pay special attention to vendors that offer hot-swappable drives, a feature that Microsoft built into Windows-powered NAS but didn't necessarily implement on every solution.
- ActiveLane
http://www.activelane.com/solutions/nas/default.asp - Advantech
http://www.advantech.com/products/model.asp?category_id=1-7ZXU0&bu - Consensys Computers (doing business as RAIDZONE)
http://www.raidzone.com - Dell
http://www.dell.com/us/en/esg/topics/segtopic_storage_nas_main.htm - Digital On-Demand (doing business as RedDotNet)
http://www.reddotnet.com - DigitalScape
http://www.digitalscape.com - Dynamic Network Factory
http://www.raidexpert.com/raid/networkattachedraid.htm - Hewlett-Packard (HP)
http://www.compaq.com/storage/nas_index.html - IBM
http://www.storage.ibm.com/snetwork/nas/index.html - INLINE
http://www.inlinecorp.com/nas.htm - Iomega
http://www.iomega.com/na/products/product_family.jsp?folder%3C%3efolder_id=63219&assortment%3c%3east_id=63191&bmuid=1034196401339 - MTI Technology
http://www.mti.com/products/nas.asp - NEC
http://www.nec.co.jp/express/products/nas/index.html - Novani
http://www.novani.com - Unibrain
http://www.unibrain.com/1394_products/firenas/firenas_1u.htm
& http://www.unibrain.com/1394_products/firenas/firenas.htm - Winchester Systems
http://www.winsys.com/products/flashnas.php
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2. NEWS AND VIEWS
(contributed by Keith Furman, [email protected]
The Serial ATA Working Group has released the final specification of Serial ATA II: Extensions to Serial ATA 1.0. Internal storage devices such as hard drives, DVDs, and CD-ROM drives currently use Serial ATA 1.0. Serial ATA II is intended to enhance the standard and extend it to enterprise storage.
The release of the Serial ATA II specification is the first of two phases of Serial ATA II deployment. The Phase 1 specification concentrates on supporting server and networked storage markets. Phase 2 will concentrate on increasing performance so that storage enclosures can use the standard. Phase 2 will add enclosure-management services and backplane interconnect support. The Serial ATA Working Group should release the specification for Phase 2 in the second half of 2003.
The 100 members of the Serial ATA Working Group expect Phase 1 product adoption by mid-2003. Deployment of Phase 2 products should begin in the second half of 2004.
http://www.serialata.org
A US District Court judge issued a permanent injunction last week against North Carolina-based Triangle Technology Services, prohibiting the company from using certain EMC-copyrighted software and trade secrets related to EMC's service business. EMC filed a lawsuit against the company in early 2002 after discovering that Triangle Technology Services was using EMC's copyrighted maintenance software, training materials, engineering documents, and other EMC intellectual property without authorization.
The victory comes at a time when EMC is involved in numerous court battles to protect its intellectual property, including lawsuits against rivals Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS). EMC hopes the case will send a message to the industry that EMC will vigorously protect its intellectual property. "Over the last 12 years, EMC has made an R&D investment in excess of $3 billion, providing customers with innovative products and services to more cost effectively manage, share, and protect their most critical data. We will do what it takes to protect EMC's intellectual property investment for the benefit of our customers and shareholders," said Paul Dacier, EMC senior vice president and general counsel.
http://www.emc.com
3. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Join us December 19 for our Tips & Tricks Web Summit featuring three eye-opening events: Disaster Recovery Tips & Tricks, Intrusion Detection: Win2K Security Log Secrets, and Merging Exchange Systems: Tips for Managing 5 Key Challenges. There is no charge for this event, but space is limited so register today!
http://www.winnetmag.com/seminars/tipstricks
If you haven't seen Exchange & Outlook Administrator, you're missing out on key information that will go a long way toward preventing serious problems and downtime for your enterprise. Get a free sample issue today, and discover tools you won't find anywhere else to help you migrate, optimize, administer, and secure Exchange and Outlook. Order now!
http://www.exchangeadmin.com/sub.cfm?code=efei232jup
4. RESOURCES
Each month, the Storage Admin channel highlights several articles about important storage topics such as backup and recovery, storage-related hardware and software, and application-specific storage. This week, take a look at Jerry Cochran's "Windows Sans SANs." Jerry examines Storage Area Network (SAN) adoption in Windows environments and the advantages involved.
http://www.storageadmin.com/articles/index.cfm?articleid=26349
(contributed by John D. Ruley)
I experienced a disaster last month: My desktop PC's hard disk crashed. It gave no warning (at least, none that I recognized), and silly me, I didn't have a properly organized backup strategy in place. Fortunately, I had been traveling and had fully synchronized my PDA (an older NEC MobilePro Handheld PC); I had not only loaded my current appointment calendar and contacts database but also copied recent files. As a result, I was able to keep working on current projects and to restore some key information to my desktop PC.
This synchronization as backup worked so well that I highly recommend it to anyone who uses a mobile device—whether it's a PDA, notebook PC, or Tablet PC. Synchronizing Microsoft Outlook on your mobile device with Outlook on your desktop and keeping copies of recent key files in both places gives you quite a bit of insurance against disaster. You still need to implement a full-blown backup strategy (I have one now), but believe me, this bit of insurance helps!
David can't get his new hard drive to read, erase, or label any of the tapes from his old drive. To read more about the problem or offer your expertise, use the following link:
http://www.winnetmag.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=46&threadid=48637
Have you used a product that changed your IT experience by saving you time or easing your daily burden? Do you know of a terrific product that others should know about? Tell us! We want to write about the product in a future What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions to [email protected]
5. NEW AND IMPROVED
(contributed by Carolyn Mader, [email protected])
DinoStor announced DinoStor TapeServer, a network backup appliance that lets you share an automated tape library across an Ethernet network. The appliance lets Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP)-compliant Network Attached Storage (NAS) servers, application servers, and mail servers share one library. Pricing is $9995. Contact DinoStor at 800-420-3466.
http://www.dinostor.com
Procom Technology announced an expansion module for its NetFORCE 1750 Network Attached Storage (NAS) filer. Built for fault tolerance and centralized management of environmental alerts, the module adds as much as 4TB of modular scalability. Pricing is $5092. NetFORCE pricing starts at $16,876. Contact Procom Technology at 949-852-1000 or 800-800-8600.
http://www.procom.com
6. CONTACT US
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