Weekly compilation of storage news:Google launches 10 GB email app
Six months after launching Google Apps, a free set of Web-based
software, including email, chat and office programs that include
spreadsheets and word processing utilities, the company announced a
beefed-up, fee-based version of the product package meant to
compete with Microsoft Office. Of particular interest to storage
users: 10 GB of space in the for-fee email inbox, as opposed to 2
GB in the free version of the program, called Gmail. It's a far cry
from the typical Exchange share, which depending on the company can
still be counted in megabytes per inbox. The applications are sold
on a subscription basis at $50 per year for large businesses. Users
can also sign up for a free trial of the programs.
EqualLogic doubles capacity of SAS array
EqualLogic announced the third product in its series of SAS storage
arrays. The PS3900XV doubles the capacity of the previous high-end
PS3000 series array with 4.8 terabytes (TB). The new array also
uses 15,000 rpm SAS disks for higher performance. It will ship in
March with a list price of $67,000.
Veritas shells out $30M
Veritas paid the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) $30
million to settle allegations of accounting violations prior to its
acquisition by Symantec. The settlement ends an inquiry that began
over a suspicious arrangement between Veritas and AOL in 2000.
Veritas was also accused of attempting to conceal the quid pro quo
deal from auditors.
Nexsan scales down archiving system
Nexsan, maker of the SATABeast archiving array, has launched a
smaller appliance version of the product to sell through the
channel. Dubbed the AssureonSA, it has a CIFS and NFS interface to
attach to any NAS device and will store up to 20 million files.
Unlike the bigger system, it does not support encryption or the
company's patented agent for pulling data into the system. It is a
"write to" device. Pricing is around $65,000 compared with north of
$100,000 for the array.
Law firm spreads out with Compellent
Compellent announced Krieg DeVault, a commercial law firm, has
deployed Compellent's StorageCenter SANs. The firm chose Compellent
because of the built-in replication that will allow it to send data
between 15 branch office locations, as well as a disaster recovery
site, and used it to eliminate tape-based backup, according to a
Compellent press release.
3PAR and Riverbed partner, announce customer
Storage vendor 3PAR and WAN optimization company Riverbed announced
that they will jointly market and support their products as a
disaster recovery package and reported a customer using both
technologies together -- the law firm of Thomas Weisel Partners.
Thomas Weisel uses 3PAR's Remote Copy in combination with
Riverbed's Steelhead appliances. 3PAR says one-third of its
business comes from the ability to do remote data replication.
Data Domain gateway qualified by EMC
Data Domain announced that EMC has tested and qualified its dedupe
gateway product for use with Clariion, as well as the
Clariion-based virtual tape library (VTL), branded the EMC Disk
Library. The two companies have also signed a cooperative support
agreement for joint customers.
EMC launches low-end Clariion
The EMC Clariion CX3-10 device, launched this week, supports iSCSI
and 4 Gbits Fibre Channel in the same box, comes with 60 drives and
features up to four iSCSI and four Fibre Channel ports. Pricing for
the CX3-10 starts at $27,000. In contrast, the product's higher end
predecessor, the CX3-20, offers 120 drives and costs $36,000. EMC
also unveiled a low-end version of its replication and continuous
data protection (CDP) software, RecoverPoint SE, which only works
across Clariion devices and costs $10,000 per array, compared with
the $83,000 enterprise version.
Networkers talk 100 Gbps Ethernet
ISCSI users take note: 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) may still be
perpetually on the horizon, but the idea of 100 Gbps Ethernet is
already being bandied about by networking companies. According to a
presentation by Joel Goergen, chief scientist and vice president of
technology at Force10 Networks, during the Optoelectronics Industry
Development Association conference in San Diego this week, the
company is working on a new backplane design to support 100Gbps
ports. Industry groups, such as the IEEE802.3 Higher Speed Study
Group and the Optical Interconnect Forum, are working to develop
system-level standards to support 100 GigE as well
, according to a Force10 press release.
Western Digital launches 1 TB consumer appliance Western
Digital Corp. introduced the My Book World Edition line of shared
storage appliances, external NAS devices offering up to 1 TB
capacity and a Web interface that will allow users to access their
digital content from anywhere in the world. My Book World Edition
II models also offer RAID-1. Retail price is $499.