Fwd: IBM storage server targets midsize companies

http://earthlink.com.com/IBM+storage+server+targets+midsize+companies/2100-1015_3-5347270.html?tag=newsfeed&subj=technews&part=earthlink&type=pt

By Dinesh C. Sharma
Special to CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-1015-5347270.html

Story last modified September 3, 2004, 11:39 AM PDT

IBM on Friday announced that it will release a low-price disk server aimed at midsize companies that want to establish storage area networks.
The DS300 is based on iSCSI, a protocol that relies on existing Gigabit Ethernet networks and is therefore less expensive than traditional Fibre Channel-based storage area networks.

The server has an Ultra320 iSCSI drive, battery backup cache and power supplies. The system will start at $2,995, IBM said.

The release is significant, because storage hardware and software companies have been trying to reduce cost barriers by making their products affordable to small and midsize companies, in large part by embracing the iSCSI standard.

IBM also announced the DS400, a 2GB Fibre Channel storage system that's 5.25 inches tall. That server will start at $5,254, IBM said.

Both servers can be managed with RAID (redundant array of independent disks) management tools, and both run on Windows and Linux, IBM said. Both are part of Big Blue's TotalStorage suite and will be available in the fourth quarter.

Also Friday, IBM released its DS4000 Storage Manager V9.1 software, which is designed to protect information via real-time data replication. The software lets customers mirror data both synchronously and asynchronously. It is free to existing customers and can be downloaded from the company's Web site.

Jeffrey Silberberg
CompuDesigns, Inc.
Atlanta, GA. 30350

As soon as I know the answers
They change the questions !