IBM updates SAN File System
New version will work with storage devices from IBM rivals
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IBM plans to release a new version of its TotalStorage SAN File System Software next month, now redesigned to work with a wider variety of server and storage environments.
Unlike previous versions of the SAN File System, which supported only IBM products, Version 2.1 will work with storage devices from IBM rivals including EMC, Hewlett-Packard, and Hitachi Data Systems. It will also now support the Red Hat Linux Enterprise Server 3.0 and Sun Microsystems’ Solaris 9 OS.
The software will allow customers to move data from one device to another without disrupting their server OSes, said Jeff Barnett, manager of storage software strategy at IBM. “The environment itself is designed so that it isolates your server environment from your storage environment,” he said.
Researchers at IBM's Almaden Research Lab spent more than six years working on the SAN File System before it was first released in the fall of 2003, IBM said.
The Ohio Supercomputer Center is using the SAN File System exclusively on IBM FAStT900 and FAStT600 storage servers right now, but Version 2.1 might change that. “We have a heterogeneous environment as far as computing goes,” said Leslie Southern, director of high-performance computing at the center. “It gives us more flexibility in choosing the appropriate equipment.”
Correction:
In this article, the origin of IBM's SAN File System was originally incorrect.
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