Four of Mario's favorite columns for your summer reading list Mario Apicella is on vacation this week, so in his absence we present four classic Storage Insider columns for your reading pleasure. Also, check out The Storage Network Weblog for the opportunity to win a prize if you send in a blog entry that catches Mario’s eye. New Storage Insider columns will return on July 21.Spotlight on storage securityJanuary 14, 2005: Neoscale appliance offers seamless encryption between remote sites; new storage blog debuts Storage security is not a very popular topic — in fact, looking back at last year’s news, it’s rarely brought up. Perhaps it’s because all the attention of the security-minded people goes to the unceasing attacks on e-mail or the countless soft spots found in Internet Explorer or Windows.Obviously, when there’s a new security breach, CTOs put on their firefighter helmets and run to put out the fire. Unfortunately, all that commotion also pushes less urgent tasks, such as developing OS-independent shields around storage infrastructures, to the back burner. I would argue that diverting attention and resources from other security-focused activities is probably the worst and most damaging side effect of the Windows-vulnerabilities soap opera… Read the rest at /article/05/01/14/03storinside_1.htmlIT’s next challenge: healthcareFebruary 04, 2005: The health care sector is still largely computer- and storage- agnostic, but things are changing — slowly A long time ago, I was chatting with a couple of CTOs I met at a show. I’ll withhold their names but, to give some context, one manages the IT resources of a telecom company, and the other works for a large hospital.We didn’t speak much about telecom issues that day. Most of our conversation focused on problems and challenges that physicians face at their hospitals or at their offices.Our main discussion was about the lack of common standards in the health care industry, and how this creates a Tower of Babel-type environment where exchanging patients’ clinical data with other physicians or with hospitals becomes difficult and expensive… In part, the CTOs and I ended up on the subject of health care technology because those issues can have such a profound impact on patients’ lives. In addition, both CTOs had read one of my columns in which I suggested a nationwide patient database, which set the stage for our discussion.At one point, the telecom CTO made a striking observation: “I am always relieved thinking that even if we make mistakes, nobody will die at my place because of them.” The hospital CTO nodded somberly in acknowledgment…Read the rest at /article/05/02/04/06OPstorinside_1.html What’s Brocade up to? May 12, 2005: Recent acquisitions suggest interesting developments, but company representatives remain tight-lipped If I were Mr. Brocade, I would be quite satisfied with how things are going for my company. (Incidentally, there is no such gentleman, as far as I know.) Brocade’s technology developments keep competitors on their toes. New ideas translate smoothly into products that reach the market before or simultaneously with those of its competitors. Market focus is extending toward new, potentially rewarding segments.The acquisition of Therion Software — a company that is not on everybody’s contacts list but holds promise in storage management software — adds to the intrigue. Did you notice that all reporting on this acquisition focuses mostly on the financial terms of the transaction? Well, that’s because Brocade isn’t telling much about the technology side of things…Read the rest at /article/05/05/12/20OPstorinside_1.html Entry-level storage market heats upSeptember 10, 2004: IBM delivers more storage for SMBs with new FC and iSCSI models If you thought IBM was running behind its competitors with storage products for SMBs, think again. The latest announcements from Big Blue target the entry-level segment, proposing two new TotalStorage arrays, the DS300 with iSCSI (Internet SCSI) connectivity, and the DS400 with FC (Fibre Channel). Both models have a similar 3U enclosure that mounts as many as four Ultra320 SCSI drives, and both include IBM ServeRAID Manager software. However, there are differences beyond the connectivity distinctions between iSCSI and FC. The DS300 can expand to only 2TB while adding two more disk enclosures to its SCSI controllers; the DS400 gets close to 6TB of nominal space.Both units have competitive starting prices. The DS300 starts at $3,000, much less expensive than most other iSCSI arrays. Pricing for TotalStorage DS400 starts at $5,000 for a two-controller version with 5TB of disk storage.By comparison, Intransa, a relatively small vendor offering the IP 5000 line of iSCSI arrays, recently released an entry version, the IP 3000, priced at $32,000 for a 2TB capacity… Read the rest at /article/04/09/10/37storinside_1.html