Beaver Bait

Heya, people. Sorry I've been AWOL for so long my "day job" has been makin' me nuttier than a vodka-fortified Liza Minelli lately. Fortunately, I was able to do some nibbling on the latest storage networking gossip between stress-induced blackouts. Dig it, you damn storage nerds!

Dear Bob the Beaver,

I've heard that EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) has been running into issues with the Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) MDS 9000 switches. Supposedly, EMC is very unhappy and is demanding that all the Cisco field units be replaced – around 70 total. What is the skinny, O Rodent of SAN Secrets?

— Plotzing in Hopkinton

Dear Plotzy,While I'm not getting a lot of solid information, I do know from a source at EMC that the hot code load feature with the Cisco MDS switches is problematic. (Actually, my buddy said that it just doesn't work.) Furthermore, EMC apparently did have a couple of "board smoke-outs" on the MDS boxes. Not good.

According to my pal: "The word out of EMC's E-Lab when they finished the Cisco qualification was, 'This is the biggest piece of shit we've ever seen – except for the [Brocade SilkWorm] 12000!' " (See EMC, Cisco Do the Deed and EMC's Caveats on Brocade 12000.)

But EMC spokesman Rick Lacroix says this scuttlebutt is, to put it politely, complete bollocks. "There's no substance to the rumor that EMC is unhappy with the Cisco relationship," Lacroix told me. "Customer demand is on track, and the relationship is proceeding as expected." So now I'm wondering if EMC was expecting the Cisco gear to have a few kinks to iron out...

Dear Bob the Beaver,

There's a rumor Greg Reyes is on the way out at Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD). Whaddya know?— San Jose Airport Janitor #12

Dear Sandy,

Well, this rumor has been kicking around since at least April, when it was the buzz of SNW in Phoenix. If you ask me (and you did!) it's probably just angry investors and/or competitors spouting off.

But here's a spicy nugget for you to chew on: Howard Elias, who flew the coop from Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) last month, was supposedly courted as Brocade's next CEO – but instead, he took the EMC catnip (see EMC Wins Over Elias, Elias Hops Aboard EMC Express, and Elias Flees HP). I've also been hearing that it is "open warfare" inside the company between the Rhapsody Networks folks and the Brocade veterans. Ah, just another sanguinary day in the Fibre Channel neighborhood.

Dear Bob the Beaver,Is it true that HP sold a bunch of storage to EMC??? That can't be right!

— Head-Scratcher

Dear Scratchy,

Turns out this is sort of true – but for starters, it isn't the EMC you're thinking of. It's EMC National Life Company, an insurance firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. Also, it wasn't EMC (the insurance company) that originally bought the HP storage; it was National Travelers, which two and half years ago deployed a StorageWorks Modular Array 8000. In July 2003, Employers Modern Life Company and National Travelers Life Company merged to form EMC National Life Company.

Whew. All clear? Perhaps to avoid just this sort of confusion, HP refers to the company as "EMCNL" in a case study on its Website, which is apparently just an updated version of the one it had for National Travelers.Worth a cheap chuckle, but it's not quite as succulent as the time a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. (NYSE: HIT; Paris: PHA) purchased a storage system from 3PARdata Inc. instead of partaking of the house wine (see 3PAR Hits Up Hitachi).

Dear Bob the Beaver,

I heard that Nina Larson has left Byte and Switch. Care to share the inside story?

— Benny Andersson

Dear Benny,You betcha. Turns out Larson has landed a gig as a correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP), one of the largest news services in the world, based in stunning Stockholm. How friggin' cool is that?! All I can say is: Idag åt jag en smörgås, Nina! Be sure to catch her last piece of work for Byte and Switch, an interview with Tim Leisman, President & CEO, Storability.

Joining Byte and Switch is Senior Editor Dave Raffo, who was most recently with WatchIT.com, where he developed editorial content for multimedia e-learning programs. He has also been an editor at CMP's Windows magazine and spent 11 years at United Press International (UPI) as a reporter and slot editor based in New York.

Dave is also the author of Football: How to Play the All-Star Way. So be forewarned, people: He knows how to throw a chop block. You can reach him at [email protected].

Dear Bob the Beaver,

Are you a Red Sox fan or a Cubs fan?— Steve Bartman

Dear Idioot,

Baseball, feh. My team, of course, is the MIT Beavers. Everyone, all together:

Until next time, my hirsute peeps, I bid you a fond and fragrant farewell.

Figure 1:

— Bob the Beaver