Oscar's Debut

Hullo. Please allow me to introduce myself: I'm Oscar the Octopus, your newly appointed Byte and Switch mascot, fresh from the Sea of SAN and ready to start my intermittent Q&A column on this site.

Unlike my predecessor, the late Bob the Beaver (nothing against the poor rascal, of course), I don't spit wood. I am not hairy. I do not smell. And I don't live in New York City. In fact, I live underwater and have no fixed abode -- which, as someone on these boards has pointed out, gives me lots in common with the average storage startup.

More curricula vitae: I have eight legs and a penchant for multitasking -- the easier to grapple with the multiprotocol world of storage networking, eh? At least, I prefer to look at it that way. Apparently, some think I'm doing more flailing than waving these days.

Figure 1: Oscar, Octopus

Be that as it may, I have my views. In fact, I'm full of salt and vinegar, and I like to spew ink. So watch out if you think I'm a squishy pushover!Now, down to business. Here's the latest from the mailbag Bob left. Got something of your own to ask? Email me at [email protected].

Dear Oscar,

More bad news from the field about MDS 9000 switches from Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO). Seems there aren't enough vents on these boxes, or they're in the wrong place, so when you rack 'em and stack 'em, they overheat and start smokin'. What gives?

--Sleepless in San Jose

Dear Sleepless:Apparently, this chestnut circulated for weeks in pre-holiday email before rolling out of sight. But we asked Cisco anyway: They haven't heard of any issues or problems with ventilation on the MDS 9000. Does that answer your question?

Dear Oscar,

Heard through the grapevine that the U.S. Army replaced Cisco MDS 9000s with switches from McData Corp. (Nasdaq: MCDTA). Can this be true?

--McPuzzled in Georgia

Dear McPuzzled:This one has a certain ring to it, but neither Cisco nor McData can confirm. Neither could we reach anyone at NetCentrics, the storage network integrator that installed more than 4,500 ports of McData gear in the army's network, as announced October 2003 (see Pentagon Puts in 4,500 McData Ports).

What's more, it looks like Cisco may not be the vendor getting replaced here. On Halloween, Byte and Switch reported that EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) kit was being nudged aside in favor of Hitachi Ltd. (NYSE: HIT; Paris: PHA) on the army's McData SAN (see Pentagon Deploys Hitachi).

Bottom line? Looks like a case of mistaken identity, private!

Dear Oscar,

Is EMC buying Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD)? Now, wouldn't that get the market moving?!--Hopkinton Houdini

Hey Hops,

Pu-leeze. You're a sucker, and not the kind I use to cling to rocks. Brocade's been begging for buyers for years, but nobody's budged. Who wants a company that pays out $75 million for a building it used to lease, but can't cope with its competition -- even when its rivals are wounded in action (see Did Brocade Blow an Opportunity?)?

That's it for now. I bid you a fond, bubbly adieu.

Oscar the Octopus