Zombies on the Move

There is a subset of storage and data infrastructure solutions that can only be classified as zombie technologies.

Now, being classified as zombie tech is not a bad thing, particularly when the so-called "dead technology" is generating more revenue and margin than many upstarts' emerging technologies combined.

Zombie technology is any product or solution that has been declared dead or extinct, yet is still being used and enhanced and keeps generating revenue for manufacturers or resellers.

Zombie technologies lack the flash and marketing appeal of newer and emerging trends. These are the supposedly dead-end technologies that typically do not get the media or industry buzz they once did, but make up for it in ongoing sales.

One example: FICON. While some may view this as a dead, it continues to be deployed and has been upgraded to support 4-Gbit/s mode on switches and directors.Then there's the IBM zSeries, formerly known as the mainframe S/370, and the IBM iSeries, formerly known as the AS400 platforms that have been declared on the downturn for at least 20 years. But both IBM zSeries and iSeries are now hosting Linux and other workloads on virtual server environments. And iSeries enhancements continue, including clustering support for Linux via Steeleye along with faster processors and iSCSI support. Needless to say, IBM is still selling both the zSeries and iSeries successfully.

Then there's Fibre Channel. For a decade now, we have been hearing this one is dead, which is about how long it's been around – at least in an open incarnation. Even with IP storage in the form of iSCSI and NAS, I suspect we will see both Fibre Channel and FICON around at least into the next decade.

Similarly, SCSI – specifically parallel SCSI – has been declared dead for many years, yet it continues to be available as Ultra320 (U320), supporting 320-Mbyte/s over very short distances. However, with the emergence of serial attached SCSI (SAS), parallel SCSI's days (or years) are most certainly numbered.

Magnetic tape has been declared dead for at least a couple of decades – but don't tell that to everyone who still sells tape-related solutions. Granted, there has been consolidation amongst the tape drive and library vendors as well as media vendors, but the various tape technologies continue to be enhanced in terms of performance, reliability, and capacity.

Tape's not alone here either. The magnetic disk drive continues to be described as about to hit the wall with its capabilities. Yet disk drives continue to be shipped in record numbers, including in non-IT technologies.Recently, Imation, which bought Memorex about a year ago, was itself spun out of 3M some 11 years ago, announced several new tape enhancements, including embedding RFID chips in the volume serial number (volser) of tape cartridges, and a new tape shipping case with a GPS-based tracking device.

Now when your tapes are lost or stolen, you can rest at ease knowing where they are – watching your data online as it ambles across the countryside, not unlike one those creatures from Night of the Living Dead. Who needs video games?

Other storage-related technologies that for the most part have been retired from Tier One status – but still turn up here and there – include 9-track tape, the floppy disk drive, ESCON, IPI hard disk drive, and older HP or Sun quarter-speed Fibre Channel (e.g., one-quarter Gbit/s) proprietary storage gear.

I have also heard some interesting arguments that RAID is or soon will be a dead technology. (Listen, I didn't say it.)

Here's another one for those who remember DEC VMS: You may be surprised to know that HP continues to offer it as OpenVMS 8.3 on Intel-based Integrity servers with support for ultra-long-distance clustering and distributed file systems.Where am I going with this? Well, we all like to talk about the latest and greatest new technology or gizmo. But we need to also leverage what currently works and bridge the old with the new as part of a tiered environment. If a technology is still cost-effective to use in your environment, then why not continue using it? On the other hand, if there is a cost or impact, then it's time to retire the technology.

Keep this in mind as you stroll the aisles of this spring's conferences and tradeshows. In the meantime, let us know any other zombie technologies floating around out there that we missed. There's bound to be many more of the undead, arms outstretched, ambling around inside your enterprise.

— Greg Schulz, Founder and Senior Analyst, The StorageIO Group