Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
Search
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Storage

    3Par, OnStor Develop Unique Twist on SAN/NAS Services

    By
    Karen Schwartz
    -
    September 20, 2005
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      3Pardata Inc. and OnStor Inc. have joined forces to develop a different way of scaling SAN and NAS services that aims squarely at the techniques used by much larger rivals like Network Appliance Inc. and EMC Corp.

      The resulting solution, called UtiliCat, combines the storage area network-based utility storage solutions of 3Par, of Los Gatos, Calif., with Fremont, Calif.-based OnStors enterprise NAS Gateway solutions, resulting in a unified storage offering that provides both SAN and network-attached storage services. The product scales from 2.5 to 384 terabytes and from one to eight NAS gateways in one cluster, while SAN controllers scale from two to eight. Native SAN connectivity ranges from four to 128 Fibre Channel ports.

      UtiliCats architecture is a fundamentally different way of scaling SAN and NAS services that centralizes everything around one capacity pool, allowing organizations to get much more out of their existing resources, said Geoff Hough, 3Pars director of product marketing.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifClick here for a review of an OnStor device that consolidates storage.

      Unlike NetApps filer-centric solution, which requires organizations to purchase additional filers as needs grow, UtiliCat offers an industrial-strength capacity pool and industrial-strength NAS services, Hough said.

      “You grow those within the same system, adding things as you need them—capacity on the NAS or SAN side, or bandwidth on the NAS or SAN side,” he said. “But you stay within the same environment, and its all load balanced within that environment.”

      UtiliCat, which is targeted toward companies with high compute and data needs or those with unpredictable growth patterns, offers automated load balancing and provisioning of up to 400 virtual file systems.

      In addition to automated load balancing and provisioning, UtiliCats modular SAN/NAS product offers automatic capacity provisioning and thin provisioning, allowing organizations to present one storage image while only purchasing storage in accordance with written data. And because of the products unique architecture and the way it scales, UtiliCat can scale without disrupting ongoing operations, Hough said.

      Although the product has real benefits, 3Par and OnStor may find gaining market share an uphill battle against entrenched providers EMC and NetApp, said David Hill, a principal at Mesabi Group LLC of Westwood, Mass. Those companies will continue to get the bulk of the business, but UtiliCat may gain converts of those that have specific needs or need additional functionality, such as the ability to add capacity on a dynamic basis without having to forecast demand accurately, he said.

      “You can accomplish the same goal using products from NetApp or EMC, but this is a little easier and more flexible. It could be useful for customers that need a little extra ease or functionality in one area or another,” he said.

      Although UtiliCats approach is different and beneficial, 3Par and OnStor likely introduced the product as a purely competitive move, Hill said.

      “3Par needed a NAS partner and OnStor needed a SAN partner, and each has something to contribute. They wanted to get in the game, and coming up with something a little different and combining technologies was the easiest way of becoming a competitor in this market,” he said.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis on enterprise and small business storage hardware and software.

      Avatar
      Karen Schwartz

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      Chris Preimesberger - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      eWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      Zeus Kerravala - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      Wayne Rash - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Information

      © 2021 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×