ata-storage vendors are learning that with enterprise customers, it's storage management that matters, not capacity. IBM this week will announce a storage-management architecture that will let users do modular upgrades and let multiple host computers access data concurrently, while Storage Computer Corp. will announce a storage device that lets users test and correct year 2000 code on the fly.
Last week, it was Clariion's turn. The Data General Corp. unit announced
Multidimensional Storage Architecture, the first storage-management platform based on Fibre Channel technology.
IBM's Storage Enterprise Architecture Scape, or SeaScape, includes a storage server based on multiple PowerPC processors and IBM's ADSM (Adstar Distributed Storage Management) backup and recovery product.
"SeaScape will mean power from an application viewpoint because customers can upgrade the system without hardware changes," says William Pinkerton, director of strategy for IBM Storage in San Jose, Calif. "Our biggest problem in the past was that changes required armies of programmers writing microcode."
Toyota USA in Torrance, Calif., already uses SeaScape. IS manager Robert Arends says SeaScape, in conjunction with a new virtual tape system (VTS), will help the carmaker save at least $70,000 a month by eliminating some tape-drive cabinets and letting the company relocate 25% of its operations staff to more strategic areas. "The VTS will pay for itself in four months, and I give my cus
tomers better service by turning jobs around faster," says Arends.
Clariion, in Westboro, Mass., announced five products using its new storage architecture. They include a modular disk array enclosure and a disk processor enclosure for RAID protection. Clariion will continue to support the SCSI standard for connectivity. "Fibre Channel will replace SCSI, but it will take several years," says Gary Wright, director of enterprise marketing for Clariion. The company is also shipping a bridge between Fibre Channel and SCSI.
Storage Computer, in Nashua, N.H., will announce its OmniForce technology, which lets customers test data for year 2000 compliance without shutting down their systems. Market leader EMC in Hopkinton, Mass., announced the same capability through its TimeFinder feature last April.
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ata-storage vendors are learning that with enterprise customers, it's storage management that matters, not capacity. IBM this week will announce a storage-management architecture that will let users do modular upgrades and let multiple host computers access data concurrently, while Storage Computer Corp. will announce a storage device that lets users test and correct year 2000 code on the fly.
