Sun Microsystems Inc. and IBM have entered into separate partnerships that will make it easier for small enterprises to handle their storage needs.
Sun and Veritas Software Corp. will sell NAS (network-attached storage) products through channel partners common to both companies. The NAS products will combine Suns StorEdge T3 array and other hardware with Veritas ServPoint software and will give lower-end customers access to storage systems normally reserved for higher-end customers.
This is the first foray by Veritas, of Mountain View, Calif., into NAS, which is about a $1.4 billion market, according to Gartner Dataquest, of Stamford, Conn. For Sun, of Palo Alto, Calif., its a way to get its systems to users who otherwise couldnt afford them.
Ed Kokts-Porietis, vice president and chief technology officer of storage service provider Storage Alliance Inc., said the products function as a SAN (storage area network) in his companys data center and become a NAS system to his customers.
“We can keep our same architecture,” said Kokts-Porietis, in Calgary, Alberta. “We dont have to do multiple builds, we dont have to have changes and tweaks to our model. With the new stuff … you can get NAS and SAN out of the same box.”
IBM, of Armonk, N.Y., announced last week that it will ship half-height DLT (digital linear tape) drives in IBM servers. The drives come from Benchmark Storage Innovation Inc., of Boulder, Colo., and are the first to be compatible with standard DLT cartridges in a half-height case. Thats important to low-end users because the drives, at about $1,500, cost less than full-height drives, and companies can fit more into a server, Benchmark officials said.
Similar agreements with Dell Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. will be announced by the end of the year, Benchmark officials said.