Storage analyst Deni Connor focuses on storage, application and infrastructure management in this twice-weekly newsletter.
The New Year brings us lots of surprises - IBM acquiring XIV Information Systems to revitalize its storage story being one of them. Big Blue's acquisition of the Israeli start-up as the year has barely begun is sure to bolster its storage business. Industry pundits have ascribed the acquisition for two reasons: to replace IBM's System Storage DS8000 or provide a grid-like storage for Web 2.0 applications such as digital content.
IBM’s motivation in making the acquisition may also be to pick up the talents of XIV Chairman, Moshe Yanai. Yanai is known for his development of EMC’s flagship Symmetrix storage array.
XIV’s product, Nextra, is a clustered system that uses commodity servers containing 7,200 RPM Serial ATA drives. In a Nextra cluster, data is written in 1MB blocks across all the drives in the cluster. If a disk in the cluster fails, data is capable of being rebuilt in as little as 15 minutes, according to XIV’s claims (see my blog “What the number 14 means to IBM”).
Nextra consists of data modules that are x86-based servers, interface modules – also Intel based servers, gigabit Ethernet switches and UPS units. The data modules store data, while the interface modules provide the Fibre Channel or iSCSI connectivity. Ethernet switches connect the data and interface modules and the UPSes provide sufficient power to the system in the event of a power outage.
Among the features integrated with Nextra are snapshotting, remote mirroring and thin provisioning – all features customers are demanding.
Whatever IBM’s motivation is for acquiring XIV, the move is likely to get storage companies scrambling to show how their systems are better than what IBM can provide.
Deni Connor is principal analyst for Storage Strategies NOW and host of both the Masters of Storage and Masters of Servers Solution Centers.
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Gartner 2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling
Gartner has positioned BMC CONTROL-M in the Leaders Quadrant of their "2009 Magic Quadrant for Job Scheduling." The report assesses the ability to execute and completeness of vision of key vendors in the marketplace. Read a full copy today, courtesy of BMC Software.
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Dell's SMART Approach to Workload Automation
Read a compelling case study by EMA, Inc. to learn how Dell uses BMC CONTROL-M to cut cost and increase productivity with workload automation.
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Workload Automation Cost Savings 2 Minute Video
A major computer manufacturer uses BMC CONTROL-M and just four people to schedule and run over 85,000 jobs every month. By switching to BMC CONTROL-M, they more than quadrupled the workload without adding a single staff member. See how in this 2-minute video overview.
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Comments (1)
RE: IBM revitalizes its storage strategy with start-up buyBy George Ross on January 8, 2008, 10:33 amA very good and useful article.
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