Welcome to the Aperi Blog

The Aperi project announces the first release of the Storage Network Simulator. The simulator is a tool that enables you to simulate a storage area network (SAN) through software. You can create a SAN configuration, add devices to the SAN, create arbitrary connections between devices, and remove connections between devices. Using this tool to create a simulated SAN environment can help when you:

• Have limited or no access to hardware and software when developing and testing SRM applications

• Have "off-line"' access to SAN devices without impacting the performance of the real network (such as the SNIA lab or any SAN in the world).

• Need to perform "what-if" analysis before you plan to extend or reconfigure your SAN

The SAN Simulator provides an increase in productivity and efficiency for Aperi development and testing by removing the dependence on device availability.

Welcome to the Aperi Blog

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Storage - SAN, HBA, iSCSI, TOE, VM

Notes on iSCSI, SAN, HBAs, TOEs, DASD, VMWare, etc

Centralized Storage and the Impact on VMware TCO

11 Reasons to Choose Qlogic iSCSI HBA’s over Software

Configuring iSCSI in a VMware ESX Server 3 Environment

SAN vs DASD - Cheap SAN gear

Companies propose Ethernet/SAN love-in

While Fibre Channel is the standard in high-end data storage, the cheaper Ethernet option is becoming increasingly enticing with better reliability and 10Gbit/s technology on the horizon. The fresh standard could help unite the two worlds.

"This enables people who already have a large Fibre Chanel SAN infrastructure to keep everything they have in place," market analyst for Enterprise Strategy Group Tony Asaro said. "Users can merge this with 10G Ethernet without giving anything up."

Companies have already been working on product compliance in parallel to the submission, but it will still be about three to four years - fingers crossed - before the technology will make an impact on the market, according to industry reps.

Asaro also speculates that 10G Ethernet technology has to go down in price before people look at it in a practical sense for the highest-end tasks. 10G Ethernet currently costs about $3000 to $5000 per port.

SAN-in-a-box scores with Fibre Channel fans

As iSCSI gains traction in the market, cheaper Fibre Channel is back on the agenda this week, with both EMC and Fujitsu-Siemens picking up 4Gig SAN-in-a-box packages assembled by Emulex and Brocade. Could this be the long-awaited low-end breakthrough for Fibre Channel?

EMC's version is an upgrade to the 2Gig InstaSAN package that it's been selling for a while now. Intended for the Clariion AX150 array, it includes two Emulex LightPulse HBAs, an eight-port Brocade switch, cabling, and what Emulex optimistically calls "intuitive installation and management software".

The equivalent from Fujitsu-Siemens Computers includes a disk array as well, but goes by the playschool name of My Very First SAN. A company spokesman apologised, and claimed that all the good names had already gone - although he also seemed to think that HP's My First SAN qualified as 'good'.

Anyhow, FSC reckons that by pruning the package down to a 500GB FibreCAT SX60 disk array, eight-port Brocade switch and a single 2Gig Emulex HBA, it can sell it for just EUR 8000, which is around £5400. OK, so calling it a SAN when it only connects one server is perhaps a bit optimistic - but the company offers larger configurations too, including those 4Gig ones.

"Thanks to our complete solution, even smaller companies can now start reaping the benefits of having a SAN for their data storage, reflecting today's high demands for information availability and security," declared FSC storage veep Dr Helmut Beck.

Packages of this kind have been around for several years. For example, three years ago QLogic introduced a €10,000 package called SAN-in-a-Box, comprising an eight-port Fibre Channel switch, four host adapters, cabling and management software.

The fact that that amount of money will now get you a disk array as well shows just how much Fibre Channel prices have fallen. Also significant is the work that Fibre Channel developers have put into making their equipment easy to set up and use - for smaller installations at least.

So if these packages work it is more likely to be as door-openers, in persuading SMBs that Fibre Channel isn't quite as expensive or complex as the iSCSI salesperson told them last week.