Storage UPDATE--SRM for Windows--February 23, 2004

Storage UPDATE--SRM for Windows--February 23, 2004

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Commentary - SRM for Windows? News and Views - IBM Launches Data-Compliance Tool - Adaptec Completes Elipsan Acquisition New and Improved - Back Up to Tape - Back Up to Any Removable Media - Tell Us About a Hot Product and Get a T-Shirt! ==== Commentary: SRM for Windows? ==== by Jerry Cochran, [email protected] Storage Resource Management (SRM) might not be at the forefront of most Windows administrators' minds; they're too busy trying to figure out new technology advancements such as Internet SCSI (iSCSI), Network Attached Storage (NAS), and Storage Area Network (SAN). However, as storage technologies evolve, the amount of data center storage continues to grow, and the employed technologies become more diverse, SRM solutions will be of paramount importance. Let's look into the future a bit by reviewing the key SRM requirements for Windows storage. Traditionally, SRM is defined as the processes and technologies employed for capacity planning, configuration, discovery, monitoring, provisioning, and reporting of storage components, devices, and infrastructures. In essence, storage management is all about efficient management and maximization of the availability and integrity of business-critical data. If you believe IDC's predictions that external storage-system capacities will increase fivefold by 2007 (a compound annual growth rate of about 50 percent from 2003 to 2007), we're going to need SRM for Windows environments more than ever. To make matters worse, we can almost certainly count on budgets decreasing or at best staying flat, making the need for better storage-management capabilities even more urgent. Yet, with all these changes on the horizon, Microsoft currently has no products planned for addressing these needs and intends to let vendors such as CreekPath Systems fill this niche. Nevertheless, let's dream a little about the ideal Windows storage-management solution. Gartner defines SRM as having several key components, including: - central management console - discovery and configuration-management database - provisioning and chargeback - quota management - performance and event management - capacity planning and management - reporting and decision support Most interesting to me are the items that are missing from this list. For example, what role should SRM play in business continuance and disaster recovery? How far down the Open System Interconnection (OSI) stack should SRM go? Should SRM take the place of vendor tools that manage devices down to the physical layer and perform functions such as fabric management (e.g., access control, zoning)? We might not reach nirvana with regard to SRM being everything we want it to be (whether we're talking about Windows or another OS) for a while. The concept of SRM is still evolving, and expert opinions differ about what SRM should encompass. You've probably experienced the difficulties of managing storage in a Windows environment. If you manage large SANs with multiple hosts, would you like to have a tool that handles fabric management? Would you like to have one tool that manages multiple vendors? Are you tired of managing cluster complexities? Would you like to have a solution that effectively deals with both clusters and storage? What about the huge amount of wasted space that exists in your storage infrastructure (experts estimate that 40 percent to 60 percent of today's storage is underutilized)? Would you like to have a tool or application that makes the most of your investment by proactively managing, monitoring, and reprovisioning storage resources on the fly? These questions illustrate the difficulties Windows administrators face managing their storage resources. I'm sure you can think of many more examples. Today, a fragmented solution exists between the storage-management tools that Microsoft provides and those that third parties bring to the market. However, organizations such as the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and its Disk Resource Management (DRM) Work Group (see http://www.snia.org to learn more about SNIA) are endeavoring to provide a framework for managing storage resources by working with the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) to employ Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) and the Common Information Model (CIM) (see http://www.dmtf.org for more information about this initiative). Microsoft doesn't produce full-featured SRM software, but the company is entering the storage-management market with products such as Windows Storage Server 2003, and these recent investments indicate that Microsoft is maturing in the market. Although the company's storage solutions are starting off small by targeting the small and midsized business market, I believe that Microsoft's solutions will eventually move up to the enterprise level. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to someday see Microsoft jump into the SRM market with a full-featured solution. Until then, we'll have to make do with what we have. But it never hurts to dream. ==== News and Views ==== by Keith Furman, [email protected] IBM Launches Data-Compliance Tool To better compete in the increasingly important data-compliance industry, IBM announced a new solution called the IBM TotalStorage Data Retention 450. The Data Retention 450 provides a data-compliance and data-retention system that combines an IBM server with IBM's TotalStorage technology and the new IBM Tivoli Storage Manager for Data Retention software. "New demands have been placed on companies of all sizes to manage large amounts of content and data," Rich Lechner, vice president of IBM Storage Systems, said. "We see compliance as an opportunity to help clients improve their business operations and gain control and advantage from their information assets." The solution can manage information ranging from email to instant messages to contracts. IBM's solution will help companies that need to support government data-retention regulations, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulation 17a-4. The Data Retention 450's capacity starts at 3.5TB and is expandable to 56TB. Pricing for the product, which will be available in March 2004, will start at $141,600. http://www.storage.ibm.com Adaptec Completes Elipsan Acquisition Adaptec announced that it has completed the purchase of Elipsan, a developer of storage-virtualization software. Storage company Eurologic Systems formed Elipsan as an independent company in March 2003. Adaptec acquired Eurologic in April 2003 but didn't purchase Elipsan at that time. The Elipsan acquisition, which Adaptec announced last month, is valued at $19.5 million. Adaptec plans to increase its solutions' diversity by adding Elipsan's virtualization software to Adaptec's RAID subsystems, thereby negating the need for dedicated servers or other third-party software in achieving storage virtualization. "We're pleased to offer more cost-effective and time-saving options for managing storage, which are core benefits of Adaptec's end-to-end storage offering," Robert N. Stephens, Adaptec's president and CEO, said. http://www.adaptec.com http://www.elipsan.com ==== Announcements ==== (from Windows & .NET Magazine and its partners) Event Central--a Comprehensive Resource for the Latest Events in Your Field Looking for one place to find the latest Web seminars, roadshows, and conferences? Event Central has every topic you're looking for. Stay current on the latest developments in your field. Visit Event Central and find answers now! http://www.winnetmag.com/events New eBook--"Building an Effective Reporting System" This free eBook will help you understand the various kinds of performance monitoring and reporting and shows you examples of how and when to implement them. You'll find practical examples that explain and illustrate the theory by using NetIQ tools as the basis of these examples. http://www.WindowsITlibrary.com/ebooks/effectivereportingsystems/index.cfm ==== Hot Release ==== New Web Seminar--Realizing the Return on Active Directory Join Mark Minasi and Indy Chakrabarti for a free Web seminar and discover how to maximize the return on your Active Directory investments and cut the cost of security exposures with secure task delegation, centralized auditing, and Group Policy management. Register now and receive NetIQ's free "Securing Access to Active Directory-A Layered Security Approach" white paper. http://www.winnetmag.com/seminars/activedirectoryroi ==== Resource ==== Computer Stops Responding with "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" Stop Error If CD-ROM Drive or Tape Device Is Connected to SCSI Controller A Windows Server 2003 system that has a CD-ROM drive or tape device connected to a SCSI controller that uses the storport.sys driver might stop responding with a "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" Stop error. The problem occurs because of defective code in storport.sys that incorrectly completes a request twice. A hotfix is available to resolve this problem. For more information, click the URL below. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=821138 ==== Events Central ==== (A complete Web and live events directory brought to you by Windows & .NET Magazine: http://www.winnetmag.com/events ) New--Microsoft Security Strategies Roadshow! We've teamed with Microsoft, Avanade, and Network Associates to bring you a full day of training to help you get your organization secure and keep it secure. You'll learn how to implement a patch-management strategy; lock down servers, workstations, and network infrastructure; and implement security policy management. Register now for this free, 20-city tour. http://www.winnetmag.com/roadshows/computersecurity2004 ==== New and Improved ==== by Renee Munshi, [email protected] Back Up to Tape Arkeia announced Arkeia Server Backup, specifically designed for businesses and enterprise departments that rely on local backups to one tape drive. With plug-in extensions, Arkeia Server Backup can handle online backup of widely used databases such as Microsoft Exchange Server, IBM DB2, Lotus, MySQL, and Oracle. Arkeia Server Backup is available in two versions. The regular package costs $290, and the Arkeia Server Backup Disaster Recovery Edition costs $890. For more information, click the link below. http://www.arkeia.com Back Up to Any Removable Media NovaStor is shipping NovaBACKUP 7.1, which offers fast backup to many types of removable media for Windows desktops, laptops, servers, and small networks. Devices supported include DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R and DVD+RW drives; CD-R and CD-RW drives; CD-ROM and DVD combination drives; tape drives; hard disks; and Iomega Jaz and Zip drives. Supported interfaces include FireWire (IEEE 1394), IDE/EIDE, SCSI, and USB. The list price is $79.95 for the Professional Edition and $149.95 for the Server Edition. For more information, visit NovaStor's Web site. http://www.novastor.com/desktopandserverbackup Tell 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 Windows & .NET Magazine T-shirt if we write about the product in a future Windows & .NET Magazine What's Hot column. Send your product suggestions with information about how the product has helped you to [email protected].

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