January 30, 2012

FalconStor Brings VAAI Support To Every Storage Array

FalconStor NSS 7.0 brings VMware VAAI support to any storage array

I do not necessarily endorse or recommend FalconStor NSS over competing products from more familiar names, but I commend them for adding VAAI support. There the first small vendor to do so, and their software virtualization platform spreads the availability of this important software capability.

Changes in Technology Drive Changes in IT Organizations and Roles

Servers, storage, and networks may be interconnected, but most large IT organizations keep the administrative teams from mixing. But the next-generation virtual data center might change that!

Lots of my IT infrastructure management clients are talking about how the advent of Ethernet/IP and virtualization is changing the roles of storage, server, and network administrators. The evolution of the storage role in particular in enterprise IT organizations has been a topic of particular interest to me for a while: I definitely remember thinking about [...]

See W. Curtis Preston’s Backup Central Live!

The Backup Central Live! crew does a great job putting together a professional event

Last week, after the Exec Event in Palo Alto, I joined my friend W. Curtis Preston for his first Backup Central Live! event. Curtis has spent years educating IT pros about data protection, this was the first week of a new series of self-produced events. And let me tell you, although I’ve seen him present dozens of times, Curtis was really in his element here. He held the packed room enthralled, and the vendor sponsors I talked to were very pleased about the event!

Why FalconStor, Overland, and Sepaton Ought To Be Acquired Before Isilon

Although it's fun to speculate about blockbuster purchases, smaller acquisitions make much more sense

The industry is buzzing with rumors that Isilon will be the next big storage acquisition now that 3PAR is safely in HP’s hands. The alleged buyer, EMC, is itself surrounded by rumors of becoming a shared feast for Oracle and Cisco. But there are much more accessible and tasty items on the enterprise IT acquisition menu, and the lower cost of entry makes them much more likely to come about!

Huawei Symantec Enters The United States Storage and Security Market

Huawei Symantec recently introduced their SAN, NAS, and security offerings for the United States market

Surprise! Huawei Symantec has arrived in the United States, ready to take on the midrange storage and network security market with a line of devices that have proven their worth in the international market for three years. I sat down with the company’s management at Storage Networking World and quizzed them on their plans and aspirations for growth.

The Enterprise IT Acquisition Game

The players are lining up for the biggest acquisition game enterprise IT has witnessed in a while

Today is the (a?) day of reckoning in the 3Par saga, with Dell widely expected to make a counter-offer higher than HP’s bid. But this mega deal, like the Data Domain war before it, sends a strong signal to the enterprise IT world: It’s open season on data storage companies! But the rising superpowers are also likely looking at networking as an area of expansion. The game is afoot!

Dell + EqualLogic, Exanet, Ocarina, 3Par = What?

The storage industry got a lot more competitive this morning, as Dell announced plans to buy 3Par. This is the latest round in a well-established race for the enterprise storage dollar, challenging superpower (and Dell partner) EMC in the high-end SAN space. What does this acquisition say about the industry as a whole? Where are we headed?

Storage from behind the great wall

Yes, folks, China is rising in storage industry. A while back, my good friend Marc Staimer suggested that Huawei might become the next great storage vendor. Well, Huawei’s joint venture with 3Com has now become 3Com’s unit in China, H3C. That’s right, Bob Metcalfe’s old company bought Huawei out of the venture this year in [...]