Dell Boosts Storage Area Network Offerings

Dell Computer today made further inroads into the storage area network market, publicly disclosing its plans for storage systems that offer high-capacity capabilities and support data residing on other vendors' servers. Additionally, the company unveiled new switch technology and a software tool designed to make it easier for customers to implement SAN architectures.

The vendor has extended its PowerVault 650F Fibre Channel system's storage capacities, enabling four devices to scale up to more than 8 terabytes of online data, while eight PowerVault 130T DLTape libraries can now store 16 terabytes of data to support users' backup and recovery needs, as InformationWeek reported in August. PowerVault storage devices will also store data from Compaq Windows NT servers as well as Dell's own servers. At the high end, Dell's new products will sell for less than $1.3 million, according to the company.

Additionally, the storage systems will be able to support a cluster of servers with new switching technology. The PowerVault 51F Fibre Channel switch is built to order with eight ports and a zoning feature that lets Dell allocate portions of the switch to different servers in a cluster. The switch is built with high-availability features, including redundant power supplies.

Dell also launched its OpenManage PowerSuites, a bundle that combines Dell's tape libraries with storage management software from vendors including Computer Associates and Veritas, to provide a standardized backup and recovery solution. The new SAN Configuration Tool is designed to help Dell ship the exact storage products a customer requires; the tool will let customers obtain a detailed, graphical report of their storage needs by answering a series of queries.