Sun Microsystems Inc. next month will roll out storage management software in a package called Integrated Management Suite, which will be launched Feb. 6.
Sources close to the Palo Alto, Calif., company also said that Sun will run the software—parts of which are new, parts of which are merely rebranded—on an in-band Solaris server marketed as an appliance.
Officially, Sun representatives said they “will not comment on rumors or speculation” regarding their Analysts Day in San Francisco next month. But IMS and another product, likely called the 6900—a StorEdge T3 system with Vicom Systems Inc.s virtualization and policy-based management features, using industry-standard Logical Unit Number technology—were both first reported last month and are both intended to compete directly against products from rival EMC Corp.
EMC, of Hopkinton, Mass., unveiled its AutoIS management suite late last year, while its upcoming virtualization product, still unannounced, will debut at a later date.
Sources also said Sun officials will use Feb. 6 to give a progress report on their alliance with Hitachi Ltd., regarding customer wins and technical support. That involves the 9900 and T3 series products. Sun media representatives have previously indicated that customers will be announced.