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Another Look
Recent storage developments challenge widely held assumptions
April 25, 2007
4 Min Read
Years ago, when the topic of storage networking came up, someone would invariably say, "Oh, you mean backup, right?" And those in the know would have to explain how SAN and NAS were so much more than just backup facilitators.
Times have changed. Backup, always a vital piece of the storage infrastructure, is top of mind these days, along with its kissing cousin, archiving. (See Backup & Archive: Not Synonymous.) And technologies used in both, such as data de-duplication, VTL, and CDP, are in the news as much as, or more than, actual networking hardware.
Indeed, last week's Storage Networking World conference in San Diego might as well have been called Backup and Archiving World. The big SAN and NAS suppliers, including Brocade, Cisco, IBM, Netapp, and EMC, laid low, while Symantec and a horde of startups climbed over each other to reach analysts and press. (As it was, they didn't have far to climb, given that nearly all vendor meetings took place at the show's press center. Talk about reporting in the round!)
SNW could also have been renamed Data Protection World. That term, used to describe backup, archiving, and compliance products with a security emphasis, certainly describes the biggest trend of 2007 so far, anyway. (See The Year of Data Protection.)
My point – and, like Ellen, I do have one – is that the last few weeks have produced a lot of challenges to storage assumptions. If you listen carefully, the storage industry air is full of questions and comments about widely held notions. Here are a few recent examples:
Full CDP isn't necessarily a virtue. NetApp's lack of support for full CDP has garnered it lots of questions, and the occasional criticism. But Jay Kidd, SVP and GM of Network Appliance's Emerging Products Group, makes it clear NetApp's not just making excuses. (See NetApp's Kidd Talks Turkey.) "Sometimes going back to a point in time is good enough, and you don't take a performance penalty," Kidd asserts. We may never see "full CDP" in NetApp gear, and lots of customers may not miss it.
Tape isn't just alive, it's thriving. As analyst Greg Schulz maintains, tape storage is one of the "zombie technologies," like Ficon, that not only refuse to die on a PowerPoint click from competing options, but lives on hardily. (See Zombies on the Move.) IBM just announced a new series of LTO-4 products, some of which Dell has OEM'd. (See The Year of Data Protection, Dell Delivers LTO-4, and IBM to Build on Bycast.) And at least one vendor, Spectra Logic, claims you don't even need VTL if you're contemplating enterprise NAS. (See SNW: First Take.)
Data de-duplication isn't a cure-all. Data de-duplication is the storage feature-of-the-moment. But, like CDP, it's not popping up everywhere. Several vendors say it's still ungainly and requires too much processing power.At least one vendor, Storewiz, says it's unnecessary. According to Jon Ash, VP of North America sales at Storewiz, storage compression is a better alternative. "We compress real-time, random access to primary storage," he says, noting that de-dupe typically works only with backed up data. What's more, he says Storewiz's form of compression won't hinder performance – it may even help it a wee bit.
While Storewiz's claims are part of its pitch, it's worth keeping an eye on this space.
Encryption is a must. For awhile, everyone seemed to agree that it was fine to let storage elements in a corporate network use the access controls common to most servers. But in a presentation at SWN last week, Bruce Backa, CEO of NTP Software, insisted encrypting storage at the workstation, storage, and database levels, as well as using an encryption appliance, was not overkill.
"When we put a new server online, it takes three minutes for it to be found by a hacker," Backa said. Despite having free encryption options in a range of apps, including storage ones, most folks don't activate them. As an industry, "We do disastrously with security," he insisted.
Given all this, it's no surprise that encryption is at the heart of a slew of recent press statements and new product launches, including ones from Crossroads, Decru, Dell, and Sun, to name just a few. (See Users Confess Security Fears and Vendors Dive Into Data Protection.)
The power crisis isn't just hype. Vendors have been blathering on about power savings for a long time. (See 3Par Touts Energy Savings and Pillar Unveils Efficiency Quotient.) But the introduction of an energy rebate by California utility Pacific Gas & Electric has given the issue credibility – and urgency. (See ColdWatt Pushes Power Savings, Lloyd George Buys Moto, and Copan Pushes Power Savings.)
The essence of progress is questioning assumptions. Expect to hear lots more in this vein.— Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch
Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD)
EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC)
IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM)
Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT)
Network Appliance Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP)
NTP Software Inc.
Storewize Inc.
Symantec Corp.
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