Windows IT Pro Storage UPDATE--Capacity Still Drives Storage Purchases--March 27, 2006

Don't let overzealous antispam software block your copy of Storage UPDATE--add [email protected] to your list of allowed senders and contacts.===============

This email newsletter comes to you free and is supported by the following advertisers, which offer products and services in which you might be interested. Please take a moment to visit these advertisers' Web sites and show your support for Storage UPDATE.Esker Software
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/whitepapers/esker/docmanagement?code=STGTop0327Surgient
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/whitepapers/surgient/virtuallab?code=STGMid0327

==========

1. Commentary
- Capacity Remains the Main Driver for Storage Purchases2. From the Community
- SQL Server Backup Error3. New and Improved
- PacketLight Upgrades SAN-Extension Product for SMBs
- Mirapoint Offers New Email-Archiving Appliance
- Tell Us About a Hot Product and Get a T-Shirt!4. Windows IT Pro Resources==== Sponsor: Esker Software ==== Align compliance with business efficiency, and learn how fax-document management plays a role in your strategy.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/whitepapers/esker/docmanagement?code=STGTop0327

==========

==== 1. Commentary: Capacity Remains the Main Driver for Storage Purchases ====
by Elliot King, [email protected] For more than a decade now, capacity has been the major driver in storage decision making. Data growth has escalated, and companies have installed more storage hardware to deal with that growth. Over the past five years, however, the trend of adding more capacity has become somewhat passé. New concepts such as Storage Resource Management (SRM) and Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) suggest that data growth could be more efficiently managed by better utilizing existing resources, coupled with a better classification system for storing data. But hardware vendors believe that although capacity will still expand, revenue growth will be tepid as storage experiences the "mainframe syndrome"; that is, the price per unit of storage capacity will fall more quickly than overall capacity sales increase. These trends notwithstanding, capacity and revenue growth are back on center stage, according to recent market research. According to IDC's Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Quarterly Tracker report, worldwide external disk storage systems factory revenues jumped 17.9 percent in fourth quarter 2005. More than 650 petabytes of storage capacity were shipped, growing 54.6 percent. The fourth quarter results reflect an accelerating demand for storage. For the entire year in 2005, according to IDC, the external disk storage system market climbed 10.7 percent. Gartner's Dataquest report, "Market Share: Disk Array Storage, All Regions, All Countries, 1Q05-4Q05," reported similar numbers, stating an 11.2 percent storage growth. Growth in network disk storage, which includes NAS as well as Open and iSCSI SANs, was particularly strong. According to IDC, the NAS market climbed to 23.3 percent, while the iSCSI SAN market posted a 130 percent revenue growth. According to Gartner, the top external disk storage vendors have experienced minor market-share changes. For example, Dell's share increased by 1.7 percent, while Sun Microsystems' market share fell 0.7 percent, and the market share held by companies outside the top seven vendors fell 7.7 percent. According to IDC and Gartner, EMC continues to lead the market for both network disk storage and overall external disk storage revenues, followed by HP, IBM, Dell, and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS). According to IDC analysts, continuing data growth was a primary factor for storage hardware vendors' robust performance. As important, however, was the emergence of appropriately priced and positioned technology for creating tiered storage systems to address data-protection and business-continuity requirements and enable more accessible and active archives. IDC analysts noted that systems priced between $50,000 and $149,999 were the strongest segment in the market. From one perspective, you could interpret the fourth-quarter results to show that companies are finally establishing the necessary hardware infrastructure to support more-sophisticated storage environments. But two other factors are in play as well. First, because of regulatory-compliance concerns, many companies have apparently thrown in the towel and have decided to save everything. Second, the data-storage footprint--the places in the infrastructure where data storage is needed--is expanding rapidly. According to a new report from TrendFOCUS, the sales of hard-disk-drive units jumped 25 percent in 2005. Primarily, notebook computers generated the increase, experiencing a 45 percent growth in 2005 as compared with 2004. Over time, increased local storage capacities on notebooks will generate the need for greater centralized capacity because companies need to secure and manage their corporate data. Although storage administrators are still paying close attention to sophisticated storage management techniques, the trend toward dramatically increased capacity as a primary driver of storage investment has taken on new life.==== Sponsor: Surgient ==== Learn the 12 critical capabilities needed in your virtual lab automation solution to meet the increasing demands from virtualization technology.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/whitepapers/surgient/virtuallab?code=STGMid0327==== 2. From the Community ====SQL Server Backup Error Storage/Backup/Recovery member "lurbina" set up a domain user to back up Microsoft SQL Server to a network share but received an error. If you can help, please join the discussion at http://forums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/messageview.aspx?catid=46&threadid=46625&enterthread=y .==== 3. New and Improved ====
by Anne Grubb, [email protected] Upgrades SAN-Extension Product for SMBs PacketLight Networks, a carrier-class storage-connectivity provider, has upgraded its PL-10 SAN-extension platform to target small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs). The PL-10 upgrade will allow carriers to provide SAN-extension services to SMBs at throughputs comparable to those provided by Synchronous Optical Network/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SONET/SDH) networks but for a much lower cost. The product lets SMBs more easily share information across SANs at remote sites and support business-continuity applications at an affordable price. For more information, contact PacketLight on the Web:
http://www.packetlight.comMirapoint Offers New Email-Archiving Appliance Mirapoint announced a new email-archiving appliance, Mirapoint ComplianceVault, which uses corporate policies to index and organize messages so that companies can comply with legal records-retention requirements. ComplianceVault bundles indexing, management software, and storage hardware into an easy-to-use appliance that can be attached to any email server. Administrators can set policies for archiving according to sender, recipient, spam or virus score, department, or keyword content for any message. ComplianceVault can also archive instant messages. ComplianceVault starts at less than $15,000 (list price) and is available directly from Mirapoint and its channel partners. For more information, contact Mirapoint on the Web:
http://www.mirapoint.comTell Us About a Hot Product and Get a T-Shirt! Have you used a product that changed your IT experience by saving you time or easing your daily burden? Tell us about the product, and we'll send you a T-shirt if we write about the product in a future Windows IT Pro What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions with information about how the product has helped you to [email protected].

=========

==== Hot Spot (advertisement) ==== Protect mission-critical business information stored on your high-availability Exchange systems when you implement backup and restore strategies. You'll also learn the proven best configuration and deployment considerations.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/whitepapers/hp/bladeexchange/?code=STGHot0327

=========

==== 4. Windows IT Pro Resources ==== Check out these links to a wealth of Windows IT Pro resources: white papers, eBooks, Web seminars, conferences, and other events.==== Resources and Events ====
(brought to you by Windows IT Pro) When disaster strikes your servers, whether they're dedicated to Windows, SQL, or Exchange, you need answers. Make sure that when an emergency occurs, you're prepared. Get the HA Solutions eBook and get started on your recovery plan today!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/ebooks/neverfail/hasolutions/?code=0329emailannc Learn to secure your IM traffic--don't let your critical business information be intercepted!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/toolkits/symantec/index.cfm?code=0329emailannc Use Windows Server 2003 R2 as a platform for SQL Server 2005 to support large-database requirements, including clustering and multiple processors. Register for this free Web seminar today!
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/seminars/microsoft/database/?partnerref=0329emailannc Gain control of your messaging data with step-by-step instructions for complying with the law, ensuring your systems are working properly, and ultimately making your job easier.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/toolkits/ilumin/index.cfm?code=0329emailannc How do you ensure that your email system isn't vulnerable to a messaging meltdown? In this Web seminar, Exchange guru Paul Robichaux tells you what you should do before you have an outage to increase your chances of coming out of it smelling like roses.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/seminars/messaging/?partnerref=0329emailannc==== Featured White Paper ==== Learn to identify the top 5 IM security risks and protect your networks and users.
http://www.windowsitpro.com/go/whitepapers/symantec/topimrisks/?code=0329featwp==== Announcements ==== (from Windows IT Pro and its partners)VIP Monthly Pass Subscribers have it all! Become a VIP Monthly Pass subscriber and get continuous, inside access to ALL the online resources published in Windows IT Pro, SQL Server Magazine, and the Exchange and Outlook Administrator, Windows Scripting Solutions, and Windows IT Security newsletters--that's more than 26,000 articles at your fingertips. You'll also get the latest digital issue (just like the print edition, but delivered directly to your inbox) of Windows IT Pro each month. Subscribe now:
https://store.pentontech.com/index.cfm?s=1&promocode=eu2763um Save 44% off Exchange & Outlook Administrator For a limited time, order the Exchange & Outlook Administrator newsletter and SAVE up to $80 off the cover price. You'll discover endless tools and solutions you won't find anywhere else to help you migrate, optimize, administer, back up, recover, and secure Exchange and Outlook. You'll also get FREE, unlimited access to the full online Exchange article library (more than 1,000 articles). Subscribe now:
https://store.pentontech.com/index.cfm?s=1&promocode=eu2363ue

=========

==== Contact Us ====About the commentary -- [email protected]
About the newsletter -- [email protected]
About technical questions -- http://www.windowsitpro.com/forums
About product news -- [email protected]
About your subscription -- [email protected]
About sponsoring UPDATE -- [email protected]

===============

This email newsletter is brought to you by Windows IT Pro, the leading publication for IT professionals deploying Windows and related technologies. Subscribe today!
https://store.pentontech.com/index.cfm?s=1&promocode=eu205xgb

View the Windows IT Pro privacy policy at
http://www.windowsitpro.com/AboutUs/Index.cfm?action=privacy

Windows IT Pro, a division of Penton Media, Inc.
221 East 29th Street, Loveland, CO 80538
Attention: Customer Service Department

Copyright 2006, Penton Media, Inc. All rights reserved.