Storage-area networks are becoming more commonplace, as are tools to help manage their complexities, and new examples of both will come from Sun Microsystems Inc. next week.
SAN 4.0 is the Palo Alto, Calif., companys first system to use 2-Gb products throughout, sources close to the company said. It will work with 16-port switches and 64-port core switches from Brocade Communications Systems Inc., with 64-port director switches from McData Corp., and with 16-port switches and PCI-based host-bus adapters from QLogic Corp., the sources said.
However, they said, Sun is also working on three management tools: StorEdge Diagnostic Expert, which will monitor Suns storage and that of Hitachi Ltd., which Sun resells; StorEdge Resource Management Suite 6.0, with new features for predictive trending, custom reports, and financial applications support; and StorEdge Availability Suite 3.1, which expedites data replication across data centers.
Dianne McAdam, an analyst with Illuminata Inc., said that unlike the tools from rival EMC Corp., Suns prior versions “did not have that ability to phone home and do that diagnostic work. Theyre realizing that in the data center it has to be proactive rather than reactive.
Sun officials declined to comment. Pricing for the products is unknown.
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