Get Ready for the SAN Appliance.Appliance computing computing - computer has experienced some thing of a resurgence re·sur·gence n. 1. A continuing after interruption; a renewal. 2. A restoration to use, acceptance, activity, or vigor; a revival. lately--at least among those appliances that can be connected to the Internet. But at SuperComm in November one company is scheduled to roll out its version of the SAN appliance, which promises to simplify the administration and management of storage networks. DataDirect, a maker of Fibre Channel-based RAID enclosures, showed me a reference design for its SAN appliance, as-yet-unnamed but scheduled to ship in Q1 or Q2 2000. The box integrates a switching front end, a RAID engine with up to 1000 disk drives, a huge amount of cache (20GB in some configurations), and controllers. DataDirect developed its own ASICs (to be fabbed by LSI LSI: see integrated circuit. (Large Scale Integration) Between 3,000 and 100,000 transistors on a chip. See SSI, MSI, VLSI and ULSI. ) for the device, which will include an 8-way, zero latency (1) Having no delay between the time a request is initiated and the response is given. See latency. (2) (Zero Latency) Coined by the GartnerGroup, it is the immediate exchange of information across geographical, technical and organizational boundaries so that all switch and dual controllers with 800MB/sec throughput The speed with which a computer processes data. It is a combination of internal processing speed, peripheral speeds (I/O) and the efficiency of the operating system and other system software all working together. 1. capacity. The appeal of the SAN appliance is twofold. First, DataDirect predicts that it will cost just one-quarter of the price of a similar number of separately attached drives in servers. In addition, administration will be easier: with fewer switches and servers connected to the network, IT will be able to manage storage in one location. Plus, a SAN appliance means a simplified FC backbone with fewer links to worry about. Of course, putting all your storage eggs in one basket has its own set of risks; DataDirect says its device will have redundancy built in. But in my mind the most interesting aspect of the SAN appliance is the specially-fabricated ASICs. DataDirect executives note, rightly, that SAN interoperability The capability of two or more hardware devices or two or more software routines to work harmoniously together. For example, in an Ethernet network, display adapters, hubs, switches and routers from different vendors must conform to the Ethernet standard and interoperate with each other. is often hindered by a combination of the difficulty in multi-vendor testing and the lag in creating ASICs that support new devices as they are developed. It can take nine months to a year for a new SAN device to be ready for market. DataDirect hopes to reduce this cycle considerably by pre-testing and certifying components and developing ASICs concurrently with the appliance itself. However, there is a flip side Flip side In the context of general equities, opposite side to a proposition or position (buy, if sell is the proposition and vice versa). to the SAN appliance strategy. Rather than move us in the direction of multi-vendor testing, interoperability, and open, standards-based SANs, it pushes us in the other direction, offering simplified management at the expense of competition. Of course, if the SAN appliance truly does cost just 25 percent of a similar number of dedicated servers, any objections may simply become academic. |
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