Storage Weathering Downturn

I thought I’d recap some recent news in the storage arena as there’s lots of interesting things going on in that you should be aware of.

Possibly the biggest surprise didn’t come from a vendor. The news from IDC is that the storage business grew by 9% in the last quarter. Midrange systems ($15,000-$299,999) led the way. “IP storage was a major factor…led by strong adoption of iSCSI SANs, particularly within virtual server environments, and solid growth in NAS-based solutions.”

Of course, vendors have not been quite. Here are some of the more interesting announcements:

• Intel, Hitachi Make a Splash in Solid State Storage (SSDs) paving the way for the technology to find its way into Hitachi Data System’s high-end storage arrays… Read on
• EMC Retools Backup for Virtualization, Dedupe… Read on
• HP unveiled a direct-attach storage (DAS) product that works with its server BladeSystem to give smaller businesses a storage solution to match their virutal server environments… Read on
• Symantec announced new services the let users know when changes to their data center environment could put them at risk for unwanted downtime… Read on

I’ll keep my eye on this space, because where there’s growth, there’s competition and that brings out the best in vendors. Again, it’s a chance for customers to benefit.

Going Green: It’s about Strategy and Planning

I thought I’d kick-off the post-Thanksgiving, Black Friday, pre-Christmas rush with some interesting news and analysis in the area of Green Computing. I mean this time of year—especially in these trying economic times—is all about getting the best deal for your dollar. And, when it comes to IT that should mean looking at your energy efficiency plans and systems effectiveness. These are two hallmarks of going “green”.

In a recent eWeek blog, Michael Vizard comments, “Green Computing is about 80% process, followed by another 20% of random product upgrades related to eliminating obsolete equipment that already costs more than it’s worth.” He goes on to refer to a Forrester Research report that shows only 35% of those companies surveyed had any real type of green computing strategy and that 20% had no plans. Yikes. That leaves a whole lot of people in the twilight zone.

Obviously, the benefits are clear, especially in these difficult economic times. But, it also requires “the need to spend money to save money.” So, the bottom line is that green computing requires strategy, planning, and tactics just like any other key initiative. Luckily there are a lot of resources available to make your green computing initiative a likely success. Again, Michael Vizard gives some advice by pointing to new ideas from Sun and HP. There are interesting server concepts from Sun that go beyond the usual consolidation tactics to include:

•    Examining application processing power requirements, with an eye toward how developers will create more event-driven applications
•    Pushing more application load to the server and installing more thin client systems that need less energy and power than PCs
•    Sun’s new generation of Flash Memory products that are inherently more energy efficient like their new Amber Road storage products (Sun Storage 7000 product line)
•    Move to more energy efficient Ethernet networks that will come with the transition to 10GB Ethernet

Meanwhile, HP is attacking energy efficiency in a place that is probably often overlooked: all those printer assets scattered across your enterprise. HP has created a Green IT Action Plan, that includes simple things like printing on both sides of the paper, to creating scripts that can automatically turn off printers at night, recycling cartridges, and replacing old printers with multi-function devices.

In short, the concept of Green Computing provides tangible bottom-line results in terms of efficiency and cost. As such, it deserves the proper strategic assessment and planning that you’d bring to any key initiative. The good news is that there are plenty of ways to implement it from both a process and product standpoint. Once again, it’s a situation where trying times can provide an opportunity to improve Enterprise IT. Go for it.

The Latest News from Amazon, Sun, HP, and IBM

I thought I’d highlight some of the more interesting news items from the last week and then give a short summary about what these announcements portend for the year ahead.

Amazon announced the public beta of Amazon CloudFront, a new web service for content delivery. With it you can distribute content using a worldwide network of edge locations that provide low latency and high data transfer speeds. Just like other Amazon Web Service (AWS) offerings, CloudFront is self-service with no up-front commitments, no long-term contracts, and works on a pay-as-you-go pricing scheme. Pretty cool.

I also thought it was pretty cool and just in the nick of time that Sun Microsystems announced a major coup with the Wikimedia Foundation. The announcement describes how Sun will help Wikimedia build a secure and scalable open source web infrastructure using Sun Fire x4500 and x4150 servers and Sun StorageTek storage arrays. The collaboration will enable Wikimedia to host ever-increasing volumes of rich media and video content and also support the collaborative development and testing of new Wikipedia content and applications by its global network of users. Good news and good timing indeed.

HP’s Critical Facilities Services division is focused on building energy-efficient datacenters or retrofitting existing ones. HP bought EYP Mission Critical Facilities, a consulting firm, last year after they jointly worked on a project to consolidate 85 datacenters around the globe into just six. In a new InfoWorld article, Bill Kosik, managing principal of the new HP division, talks about the nuts and bolts of datacenter efficiency and the impact of targeting power distribution systems. As he says, “It’s not sexy stuff, but it makes a big difference.” Also, HP announced their Green Business Technology initiative, which aims to help businesses cut costs and triple datacenter capacity with new energy-efficient technologies and services. It may not be sexy, but judging from HP’s most recent financial results, it sure helps the bottom line.

Finally, IBM launched a new services offering in the cloud computing arena. Combining consulting and implementation services, IBM hopes to dispel concerns over security and reliability with services that help businesses assess the total cost of ownership, as well as, design and implement cloud computing operations. IBM also announced a new program called “Resilient Cloud Validation,” which will enable vendors of cloud computing solutions to undergo a certification process to gain an IBM stamp of approval and a logo mark to prove it. I know what you’re thinking. But, it’s a step in the right direction and as IBM invests more in the cloud, as the saying goes, all boats will rise.

So, add it all up and what do you get? Well, I think despite all the doom and gloom, what we’re seeing is the responsiveness of the technology industry. It’s the constant push forward despite the difficult odds and a tired constituency. There’s good news in here for everyone. Cloud computing is getting more viable every day. Better systems are rolled out and implemented in web-based infrastructures that drive efficiency in cost and flexibility. It seems the more challenges we face, the more dynamic the computing world gets. These four announcements bode well for what’s ahead in the new year. Get ready.