News From the SAN Shoals

Ah, June! Time to kick back and catch some waves at the Jersey shore (glubb! blubb!). And here I am, drifting dreamily, when along comes a bottle with a message in it from HQ: It's time, they say, to poke a tentacle into that bulging mailbag.

So your humble Byte and Switch mascot once again tackles the flotsam cast up from the Sea of SAN:

Dear Oscar:

Have you heard that some Symmetrix systems dating from the pre-DMX era – specifically the 8000 series units – are beginning to suffer from a chemical breakdown in some of the SCSI chips used within the units? I'm told this breakdown is only just now being observed in the field, but ultimately evolves into a leakage of phosphorus from the chips inside the Symmetrix unit (and there are like 200 of 'em in a three-bay configuration). Sounds scary!

– Gas Masked in ITDear Gas:

EMC owns there is a problem related to the SCSI components that affected a "limited batch" of Symmetrix 8000s that are now several years old. No DMX gear is involved. EMC spokesman Mark Frederickson won't give specifics on the problem, but concedes that a layman's term for it might be "leakage." The main point is that something unfortunate happens to the chips after extended use. He says EMC has proactively contacted customers who might be affected and is swapping in new components as needed, and the problem is now "largely behind" EMC. He is firm that the problem in the components does not manifest itself in any data loss.

Frederickson says this problem has also affected other system makers, not just EMC. He doesn't say where the chips came from, or whether they were from multiple suppliers or just one. Hope that helps!

Dear Oscar:

We hear whispers that Hewlett-Packard will stop producing its own midrange Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) SAN systems, which have lost significant market share to EMC. [See HP Storage Share Slips and HP Storage Takes a Hit] The word is HP would OEM midrange systems from Hitachi Data Systems or Engenio. What's your take?– Concerned Customer

Dear Con:

Granted, HP needs some fresh seaweed in its gullet (see HP Storage Share Slips). But given those choices, I'd say Hitachi is the more likely candidate, since it supplies HP with its high-end systems. HP would still manufacture its entry-level Modular Smart Array (MSA) systems, which fit better with the company’s server strength in the SMB market.

Dear Oscar,

Is Brocade looking to buy Computer Network Technology. Could it happen?– Terrified in Twin Cities

Dear Terri:

Anything's possible, but sources tell us this matchup isn't likely. Seems Brocade's been doing the diligence on CNT for a couple of months, but it didn't intend to buy the whole lot, just the Fibre Channel director switches CNT bought with its $190 million Inrange acquisition last year (see CNT Walks Off With Inrange). Word is the CNT brass told Brocade they could look at the whole company or nothing at all. Makes sense to me, given CNT's reliance on services as part of its sales strategy (see CNT Stokes Managed Services).

Makes you wonder, though. If Brocade does buy CNT, would it share CNT's view of managed services? Or would it take the switches and lay off the experts?

Dear Oscar,What's with intelligent processor startup Aarohi? Are they ever gonna come up with another partner besides McData, who's also an investor? I mean, talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

– Befuddled in Boston

Dear Fud:

You said it. Since McData invested $6 million of the startup's total $36.5 million funding for its Fabric Stream processor (see Aarohi Announces Funding... Again), Aarohi's relationship with McData has been a double-edged sword. The other switch makers might want to standardize on one processor architecture, but they probably have misgivings about working with a company that's at least 15 percent owned by a rival. Besides, Brocade and Cisco also developed their own intelligent switch ASICs.

Aarohi realizes the extent of the problem, but marketing VP Joel Warford says his company's approach is to try and convince switch makers to opt for Aarohi as an easier route to their next-gen components. “We say ‘instead of developing them in-house, let us develop that ASIC.' There’s some concern about our deal with McData, but we don’t have an exclusive relationship with McData.”Still, at least one source says the big switch makers aren't getting the message – at the moment, anyway. It may be true that Aarohi has a new switch partner, but we hear Brocade, Cisco, McData, and Qlogic have passed on the startup so far. That leaves – you got it – another startup! Stay tuned.

Anyway, that's all for now. Keep your coral dry, and have a great summer. Catch a few waves yourself! And keep those postcards coming. Email me at [email protected].

Figure 1: Oscar, Octopus

— Oscar, Octopus, Byte and Switch