Cisco & IBM Serve Virtual Combo

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) and IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) today announced that they've "tailored" IBM's SAN Volume Controller storage software to be hosted on the Cisco MDS 9000 family of SAN switches. Does it measure up to expectations? (See IBM, Cisco Team on Storage Virtualization.)

The IBM virtualization software will be delivered on the Caching Services Module (CSM) for the Cisco 9500 or 9216 switches, representing the first "intelligent," network-based services available for the MDS family. The companies expect the IBM SAN Volume Controller option for Cisco MDS 9000 -- which will be entering beta trials shortly at select (undisclosed) customer sites -- to be generally available starting Dec. 5.

The new solution is designed to allow users to administer volume management, data replication, and point-in-time copies directly from the SAN fabric, giving them a single point of control and management across multiple storage subsystems. The CSM, configured with 8 Gbytes of cached memory, consists of two compute nodes running IBM's Linux software. Cisco says the module runs a network processor (as opposed to an x86 chip) but the company wouldn't provide details about the CPU.

But let's back up for a second. When Cisco first launched the MDS switch line about a year ago, it made a huge fuss about the supposedly revolutionary intelligent, network-based features it was planning to deliver to the market. In fact, Cisco's yammering about adding intelligence to Fibre Channel switches was a big reason that Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD) decided to buy startup Rhapsody Networks last year (see Cisco Buys Andiamo, Brocade Reupholsters Rhapsody, and Brocade Scoops Up Rhapsody).

Well, the "intelligent SAN switch" from Cisco is finally here. But in the harsh glare of daylight, it doesn't seem so earth-shattering. For one thing, the integrated Cisco/IBM storage virtualization offering is nearly twice the price of the standalone version of the IBM SAN Volume Controller appliance -- and it provides the same level of features and performance.The software running on the CSM is based on the code running IBM's SAN Volume Controller appliance, which IBM started shipping this year. That product, priced at $60,000 for the ability to handle up to 2 Tbytes of storage, runs on two Linux-based servers (see IBM Plays With Self (Virtually) and IBM Virtually in the Game).

The CSM, by contrast, has a list price of $112,000 for a dual-node module that supports up to 2 Tbytes. Both the CSM and the standalone SAN Volume Controller provide the same maximum throughput of 140,000 I/O operations per second (IOPS). Moreover, the IBM virtualization module will initially support only IBM's FastT and Shark storage arrays.

Are we missing something here?

Cisco and IBM say the advantage of buying the Cisco module -- instead of deploying the IBM appliances separately -- is that it's more tightly coupled and packaged inside the Cisco MDS 9000 switch. That means the SAN Volume Controller is able to use Cisco-native features, such as Virtual SANs (VSANs) as well as other management services.

"We believe this joint solution between two significant companies provides some credence to the intelligent storage application space," says Ed Chapman, senior director of product management for the Storage Technology Group at Cisco. He says the CSM is the product of two years of joint development by both companies.As for the pricing, Roger Wofford, worldwide product marketing manager for IBM Storage Software, says: "We believe the pricing strategy will be competitive in the marketplace."

IBM says next month it will make available a new version of SAN Volume Controller software that is supposed to support disk arrays from Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) (see IBM's Big Fat File System).

But in its initial release, the CSM won't support HP or HDS storage arrays. It's Big Blue-only. Cisco's Chapman says this is because the companies wanted to provide the initial release of the module with "the most-tested version of the SVC [SAN Volume Controller] code, which was the code that IBM has deployed today." He adds, "We will sync up the releases quickly after the initial release."

Only when the CSM supports heterogeneous storage environments will it actually fulfill the promise of being able to consolidate (or "virtualize") multiple disparate storage subsystems into logical pools. The fact that it resides in the network will -- ideally -- at some point make it a much more powerful way to manage SANs, according to Cisco. "In a grid-computing scenario, this is the only way you'll want to provision storage," says Chapman.

Where's Veritas?Lest we forget, Veritas Software Corp. (Nasdaq: VRTS) was Cisco's original partner in developing so-called intelligent SAN switching technology. This summer, two companies were supposed to beta test the Veritas SAN Volume Manager (SAN VM) running on the MDS 9000's virtualization module, and said they expected to ship the software sometime in the second half of the year (see V-Switch Alliances Take Shape).

Are Cisco and Veritas on track to ship something before the end of 2003? Chapman refused to discuss the status the partnership. "We're talking about the IBM partnership today," he told Byte and Switch.

Cisco spokesman John Noh later said the company is still on track with Veritas. "Cisco and Veritas have made the product available in limited (or controlled) numbers to select customers," he says. "We will make more information available about the general availability of the product at a later time."

Meanwhile, EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) -- which is also working with Cisco to develop intelligent switch-based software -- contends that being first isn't always the measure of success (see EMC, Cisco Do the Deed).

"While some vendors will make overtures, this market segment is still being defined," says EMC spokesman Rick Lacroix. He adds that EMC is still driving standards with Cisco and other switch vendors in this segment.Suffice to say, it's the first or second inning of the SAN virtualization switch ballgame. Now, the question is whether the IBM/Cisco module is a base hit -- or an infield fly ball. "We think customers are going to say, 'Show me,' " Chapman says.

Todd Spangler, US Editor, Byte and Switch