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Storage
Looking at networked storage
SMBs are moving away from DAS to networked storage like NAS,
SAN and IP SAN
 The
needs of SMBs are similar to those of large enterprises, barring a few subtle
variations. Unlike a large enterprise, an SMB does not have the luxury of an
IT team, and hence looks for solutions that are plug-and-play. Moreover, an
SMB will typically go in for a solution sold by the local reseller rather than
go directly to the vendor.
It is only in the last two or three years that the vendors have come out with
dedicated strategies to address the mid-market. For instance, EMC announced
its SMB focus in early 2005 with the launch of its Insignia SMB line and AX150
storage array. IBM’s first initiative for SMBs was announced in Q1 2005.
NAS is growing
The SMB segment in India largely remains on direct attached
storage (DAS). Networked storage has become affordable and hence SMBs are investing
in NAS devices.
SMBs in India are facing challenges quite similar to those faced by large enterprises
in terms of managing their storage infrastructure. SMBs want to consolidate
their storage infrastructure for better management by moving from DAS (Direct
Attached Storage) to a networked storage environment. Many vendors such as NetApp,
IBM and HP have introduced unified storage boxes having different storage functionalities
integrated into a single device. These boxes are expected to help SMBs move
to a consolidated storage environment at a far lower price point than enterprise
class storage. Vendors feel that although SMBs want to move to a networked storage
environment they may not have the resources and budgets for that.
Another point to be noted here is that NAS has brought centralised
storage for SMBs, unlike DAS’ distributed model. Earlier, this benefit
was available only to large enterprises that deployed expensive SANs. This made
NAS the popular option for SMBs even though it supports slower file-based data
access as opposed to the speedy block-level access used in SANs.
IP-based storage solutions
When it comes to high-end networked storage, SAN is the best option. It is a
high-speed special-purpose network that inter-connects different kinds of data
storage devices with associated data servers on behalf of a larger network of
users.
SMBs have also recognised the importance of consolidated networked storage and
are adopting IP-based storage solutions.
IP SAN has emerged as a perfect solution for low-mid tier organisations that
are planning to move to networked storage or could help in consolidating existing
SANs at the high-end. It helps in total network storage consolidation of storage
resources at a lower cost and centralises the storage architecture.
Other reason for the popularity of IP SAN in the SMB segment is the lower cost
of deployment. Moreover, the technology makes sense for the SMB segment as it
is easy to deploy, and allows them to consolidate their fragmented DAS systems.
Storage vendors have trained their eyes on the SMB segment and they are pushing
their prices down to accommodate the pockets of Indian customers. Small organisations
need to keep in mind that their storage needs will grow. If they need say around
300 GB of external storage today, they are bound to need much more later.
| Hitachi TagmaStore Adaptable Modular
Storage
 The
AMS1000 offers multi-protocol support for native NAS, Fibre
Channel, and iSCSI. Customers can choose one or two protocols
based on workload requirements. It scales from under 1 TB
to over 200 TB of SATA and Fibre Channel Intermix (raw capacity),
supports Plug-and-play SAN Kits compatible with Microsoft
Simple SAN and also offers dual-protocol support Fibre Channel,
iSCSI, or NAS. It allows up to 1,024 virtual ports with Host
Storage Domains and 4,096 LUNs for concurrent support of large
heterogeneous open systems environments and also supports
4 Gbps host Fibre Channel connections (standard on AMS500
and AMS1000, optional on AMS200). Cache partitioning optimises
application performance.
Price: AMS1000 for Rs. 21,15,000
Contact: Sudhakar Rao
E-mail: sudhakar.rao@hds.com
Telephone: 022 26526100
Website: hds.com
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| Linksys EFG250
T he
NAS appliance (250GB with PrintServer) is a Gigabit speed,
250 GB NAS, print server and Internet FTP server. It has a
second hard drive bay that lets you add an additional 250
GB when you need it. You can share music, video, or data files,
with managed access by user name or group. It also comes with
built-in disk utilities like backup, self test, scandisk,
and defrag.
Price: Rs. 40,500 (taxes and
octroi duties extra)
Contact: Raj P
Telephone: 9382821054
E-mail: raj.p@redington.co.in
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| HP StorageWorks 1200 All-in-One Storage
System
 The
HP StorageWorks 1200 All-in-One Storage System comes with
shared storage capacity for application servers via integrated
iSCSI Target. It features enhanced file serving for clients
and servers, integrated data protection, disk-based snapshots,
backup/recovery tools, and replication. It also offers up
to 9 TB internal storage and comes with a one year warranty.
Price: Starting at Rs. 3,89,000
Contact: Neeraj Matiyani
Telephone: 080 25041692
E-mail: neeraj.matiyani@hp.com
Website: hp.com/go/storage
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| Tandberg Viking FS-1600
 Running
Windows Storage Server 2003, the Tandberg’s Viking FS-1600
is powered by a 64-bit Intel Xeon Processor 1.6 GHz (1066
MHz FSB), 1 GB standard memory expandable to 16 GB (667/533
MHz DDR2), 16 HDD (max. 750 GB capacity per HDD). It uses
hardware Serial-ATA II RAID (300MBps) and offers RAID level
support for RAID 0, 1, 0 + 1, 3, 5 or 6.
Price: Rs. 1,75,000 plus taxes
Contact: Niraj Mandal
Telephone: 9821896800
E-mail: niraj.mandal@tandberg.com.sg
Website: tandberg.com.sg
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IBM N3700
 The
N3700 is designed to offer fast data access with low maintenance
requirements. The N3700 filer integrates storage and storage
processing into a single unit. These storage systems offer
standard IBM System Storage N series elements, including
integrated I/O, high availability via clustering and Fibre
Channel and/or SATA disk drives. N3700 models are designed
to integrate easily into existing IT environments to deliver
unified storage for organisations with NAS, IP SAN via iSCSI
protocols, FC SAN via FCP protocols or combined environments,
making enterprise-level storage a realistic goal for company
sites regardless of size or staffing. The features include
up to 16.8 TB raw storage capacity, 1 GB to 2 GB ECC memory,
128 MB to 256 MB non-volatile memory. It is available in 19”
rack-mount configurations with redundant hot-plug power supplies
and cooling, two integrated full duplex 10/100/1000 Ethernet
ports per NAS controller, two integrated FC ports per NAS
controller and diagnostic LEDs/OPS.
Price: NAS storage with 14 x
144 GB Disks for Rs. 12,80,500
Contact: Nirmal Puranik
E-mail: npuranik@in.ibm.com
Telephone: 080 22063411
Website: ibm.com
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| D-Link DNS-323
 The
network storage enclosure, when used with internal SATA drives,
enables the sharing of documents, files, and digital media
on a home or office network. Remotely accessing files through
the Internet is also possible with the built-in FTP server.
The DNS-323 will be available to any computer (PC, MAC, or
Linux-based) on a network, without the need to install any
software on said computer. It also features SATA Drive Support,
Internet Access via FTP, UPnP AV for Storing and Streaming
Media Files, 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Port, USB Print
Server Port, Built-In Fan Included
Price: Rs. 16,000
Contact: Sanjay Sehgal
Telephone: 022 30616666
E-mail: sales@dlink.co.in
Website: dlink.com
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| EMC Celerra NS350
 This
is a solution for consolidating applications and servers into
a single IP storage system. Capable of scaling to 10 terabytes
of capacity, the integrated Celerra NS350 supports online
upgrades from single to dual Data Mover configurations.
Price: EMC Celerra NS350 -
(2TB) for Rs. 12.5 lakhs (approx)
Contact: Manish Bapat
Telephone: 011 55563800
E-mail: Bapat_manish@emc.com
Website: india.emc.com
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| NetApp fabric- attached storage (FAS)
 NetApp’s
fabric- attached storage (FAS) systems provide shared access
to UNIX, Windows, Linux, and Web data while simultaneously
supporting Fibre Channel SAN, IP SAN (iSCSI), and NAS. These
systems can scale from 720 GB to over 500 TB using Serial
ATA and/or Fibre Channel disk drives.
Price: Rs. 10 lakhs upwards
Contact: Soumitra Agarwal
Telephone: 9820331932
E-mail: soumitra.agarwal@netapp.com
Website: netapp.com
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Apple Xserve Raid
T he
device offers up to 7 TB of online storage, dual 2 GB fibre channel host
that connects using SFP connectors, a 3U Rack optimised enclosure, redundant,
hot swappable power and cooling, 512 cache per rate controllers and dual-independence
hardware RAID controllers. It also features redundand cache battery backup
options.
Price: 1 TB for Rs. 4,69,700, 3.5 TB for
Rs. 6,21,400 and 7 TB for Rs. 9,16,100
Contact: Avinash Ramachandra
Phone: 080 25550575
E-mail: avinash.ramachandra@asia.apple.com
Website: apple.co.in
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| Cisco MDS 9124 Multilayer Fabric Switch
 The
fabric switch provides enterprise-class capabilities such as virtual Storage
Area Networks (VSANs), advanced security, high availability and flexibility,
all powered by the Cisco SAN operating system. The new switch also
offers “pay as you grow” on-demand ports and an easy point-and-click
wizard that simplifies SAN setup and management. The MDS 9124 Fabric Switch
offers enterprise-class capabilities and performance with a small footprint,
suitable for SMBs, departmental SANs, or core-edge enterprise SANs.
Approximate base price: Rs. 3,60,000 for
an eight port configuration
Contact: Sumit Mukhija
Telephone: 011 42611078
E-mail: smukhija@cisco.com
Website: cisco.com
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| EMC CLARiiON AX150 and AX150i
 These
disk arrays enable SMBs to consolidate and share storage efficiently among
multiple computers. By combining the capabilities of the CLARiiON RAID
architecture and Serial ATA II (SATA II) disks, the CLARiiON AX150 delivers
reliable storage at an affordable price. The CLARiiON AX150 is available
in single controller or dual controller models. Both models provide up
to six terabytes of storage for Windows, Linux, Solaris and NetWare servers
directly or through a storage area network (SAN) using high-speed Fibre
Channel or iSCSI connections.
Price: EMC CLARiiON AX150 and and AX150i
- (3TB) for Rs. 2.5 lakhs (approx)
Contact: Praveen Sahai
Telephone: 011 55563800
E-mail: Sahai_praveen@emc.com
Website: india.emc.com
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Cisco MDS 9124 for IBM System Storage
 The Cisco
MDS 9124 for IBM System Storage is designed to address the needs of SMBs
with a wide range of SAN capabilities. It can be used as part of SAN solutions
from simple single-switch configurations to larger multi-switch configurations
in support of fabric connectivity and advanced business continuity capabilities.
Fabric connectivity capabilities can be the basis for infrastructure simplification
solutions for IBM System i, System p and System x
servers and storage consolidation and high-availability server clustering
with IBM System Storage disk storage arrays. Business continuity
capabilities can help businesses protect valuable data with IBM System Storage
tape libraries and devices and IBM Tivoli Storage Manager data protection
software.
Price: SAN switch eight ports scalable to
24 Ports for Rs. 4,12,750
Contact: Nirmal Puranik
Telephone: 080 22063411
E-mail: npuranik@in.ibm.com
Website: ibm.com
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