IBM last week demonstrated a prototype of a modular disk array built around self-contained storage "bricks" that plug into one another and include disk drives, a processor, memory, and an eight-port switch for transmitting data to neighboring modules.
VMware's ability to run multiple operating systems on a single physical server was a technology sought after by the top echelon of IT vendors, including IBM, which was rumoured to be a contender for buying the company. But VMware went to EMC, which closed on its acquisition of the company in January. This month, VMware co-founder and chief architect Ed Bugnion talked with Computerworld about that acquisition and where the integration with EMC technology is today.
EMC this week announced at its annual users conference that it plans to begin beta testing by next quarter of an enterprise-class "storage router" that will be able to pool storage capacity and migrate data seemlessly between boxes without impacting business applications.
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) announced last week that more than 100 products from 14 leading storage vendors have been qualified on a new interoperability standard. But members of a user group were skeptical that their multivendor storage-area networks could be easily managed through a single software interface.
Users at Storage Networking World in Phoenix say they want storage technology that can be sold to C-level executives as part of a business strategy, rather than the products they use now that are often complicated to run and fall short on efficiency and interoperability.
VMware has announced a new version of its virtualization product for PCs that will allow developers and systems administrators to test and deploy enterprise applications completely in virtual machines.
Storage networking equipment vendors are preparing a slew of new Fibre Channel switches and host bus adapters that can effectively double the speed of current storage-area networks (SAN) to 4Gbit/sec. Products based on the 4Gbit standard, first advocated by chip makers last year and approved by the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) and the American National Standards Institute last June, are slated to roll out this year. The technology could serve as an interim migration step to products based on the 10Gbit/sec.
Specialized network interface cards that can open up more bandwidth for transporting data between storage devices and application servers are making inroads with corporate users, as prices fall and the Internet SCSI protocol catches on.
IBM on Tuesday announced a new storage software suite that it said at least partially fulfills a utility computing strategy allowing storage servers and networking devices to be monitored and allocated on demand based on preset policies.
EMC has announced upgrades of all of its disk arrays and network-attached storage (NAS) devices, as well as some of its key storage management applications.
The toughest thing about landing an unmanned probe on Mars is going from 12,000 mph to zero in six minutes, according to Prasun Desai, one of the NASA engineers who developed the descent and landing systems for the Spirit and Opportunity rovers.
The Internet has changed communication modes at all levels of society. The next step is to change the Internet. Lucas Mearian talks to the researchers.
Data storage vendor EMC on Thursday announced its fourth-quarter and final fiscal 2003 earnings, saying its expanded product line and strong execution yielded a 25 percent revenue increase year over year for the quarter and a 15 percent jump in revenue for the full fiscal year.
IT managers at Merrill Lynch & Co. are weighing a multimillion-dollar project to deploy intelligent switches that could virtualize the brokerage's storage-area networks and give its technology staffers central control of the data stored on the SANs.
A variety of storage vendors are testing products that could double the throughput of Fibre Channel storage-area networks (SAN) and network-attached storage (NAS) devices from the current 2Gbit/sec. rate.