The Things You Learn From Press Releases.

Keeping track of storage doesn't get any easier

MARK: It's getting harder to keep track of developments in our industry, even with all of our press contacts.

HAL: Yes. If it weren't for PR people sending us news releases, we might have to go out and spy on factories in the dead of night.

MARK: I've had a lot of interesting news coming in from Sun, lately. It's making a very aggressive push into the mass-storage market.

HAL: It wasn't so long ago that it was a big customer for storage and a reseller. They branded several devices. Wasn't it one of the first to offer and support DLT?

MARK: I believe they were.

HAL: So I wonder why they're moving into the supply side now and taking out full-page ads to position themselves as a "storage company?"

MARK: It probably makes sense for them because some longstanding partnerships are coming apart. I don't mean that that's always a bad thing or that it's Sun's only motivation, but they are entering into new partnerships.

HAL: Nothing lasts forever.

MARK: Some of the companies that have been saying that "the network is the computer" are now realizing that "the network" has to include "network storage" and it's not a sudden thing, either. Sun's independent storage business has been growing for about two years.

HAL: I would have thought that Sun had more than enough to do already, what with continuing to develop Java and fighting off Microsoft. Are they doing anything original with storage?

MARK: Look at their HealthCheck software. It diagnoses and evaluates customer configurations. Essentially, it tests data availability.

HAL: Yet Sun isn't alone in developing that kind of strategy. HP is doing something similar, now that they've spun off their test-equipment division into Agilent and can focus on computer technology again.

MARK: You bet! Under their new reorganization, storage is one of HP's four major business units.

HAL: One of the four major food-groups.

MARK: Which they should find easy to digest, but you mentioned Sun's Java. I think we'll see Sun storage systems and management systems tying into Jiro.

HAL: "Gy-ro?" Like Gyro Gearloose, the wacky inventor in the Disney comic books?

MARK: No. "J-i-r-o." I don't know what it stands for--maybe it's an acronym. It's what used to be called StoreX.

HAL: We talked about StoreX last year. It was one of those wanna-be "standards," wasn't it?

MARK: Right, but Sun isn't alone with Jiro. any more: they've made an arrangement with Imation now, regarding joint software development.

HAL: So what has StoreX become, now that it's called Jiro?

MARK: Jiro is a software environment based on Java 2 that's optimized for storage. It addresses interoperability issues between storage systems, generally, the management software, and the network devices. Java's too important at Sun to be left out of their storage efforts.

HAL: We'll be hearing more from Sun, I'm sure, but lately, we've been hearing a lot from IBM. They've just boosted the capacity of their 1-inch MicroDrive to a full gigabyte.

MARK: That has to be the ultimate case for convergence. I don't think the killer-app for MicroDrive will come from the conventional IT world. It'll be in wireless Internet devices, handheld PCs, and PDAs--

HAL: And Walkman-size MP3 audio players and digital cameras.

MARK: Yes indeed. Wouldn't you like your digital camera to hold a gigabyte's worth of pictures? You could keep dozens--maybe even a hundred--uncompressed multi-megapixel images on board.

HAL: Sure, but to do that, your name better be "EverReady!" MicroDrive doesn't need much electricity, compared to a desktop HDD, but it sure yanks more amps out of a battery than solid-state devices ever will.

MARK: The specs say the 1GB drive needs 235mA to write with and that the disk spins at 3,600rpm.

HAL: I don't have an engineering degree, so I can't calculate the battery life. I know that spinning a physical disk draws a lot more charge out of a NiCad or Alkaline cell than just pushing electrons around inside a semiconductor chip. Yet speaking of semiconductor memory, did you get the news release about "Thumbdrive?"

MARK: "Thumbdrive?"

HAL: You've got to read this: "ei Corporation today unveiled Thumbdrive, a revolutionary portable USB digital storage that is about the size of a stick of chewing gum. Thumbdrive has a wide array of storage sizes from 16MB to 128MB."

MARK: Oh, that must be a re-branding of Sony's MemoryStick.

HAL: Undoubtedly. Sony has always bragged that MemoryStick is the size of a stick of chewing gum, but tell me, if I get a Thumbdrive, should I stick it in my mouth?

MARK: It's sugarless, isn't it?

HAL: I guess ei is aiming for a sweet spot in the market, huh?

MARK: This is degenerating fast. Let's check with our readers. If you know of some unusual development in the storage industry that you think Hal and I ought to know about too, email me at [e-mail].

HAL: Likewise, if you see an unusual application for an otherwise well-known storage device, let me know by emailing [e-mail].