Today, IDE systems with the ATA-133 (Advanced Technology Attachment133) specification are available, providing up to 133-Mbps transfer rates. In the next year we'll see the advent of the new Serial ATA specification, which pushes transfer rates to 150 Mbps and breaks IDE out of some of its current limitations.
One of the goals of the Serial ATA working group is software compatibility with today's parallel ATA technologies. Serial ATA will have smaller cables and voltage requirements and be self-configuring, thereby eliminating the need to set jumpers, as with the current parallel ATA specification. The final Serial ATA specification was released on August 29 and is expected to be adopted and deployed in late 2002 or early 2003. Serial ATA devices should cost the same as ATA devices (www.serialata.org).
One question we often hear is whether we'll see an Ethernet interface on the hard disk itself. The answer is not yet. Manufacturers have a lot invested in ATA, SCSI and Fibre Channel technologies that can be bridged to the Ethernet network. We do think pure Ethernet-connected hard disks could happen in the future, but don't look for them in 2002 or even 2003.
The newest trend in optical drives should gain momentum in the next year. There are four rewritable formats: DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM and DVD-R. DVD+RW and DVD-RW are the most compatible with today's DVD-ROM readers, so keep your eye on them. DVD-RAM was used in some Apple equipment but is less compatible and not likely to make a go of it. DVD-R is a write-once format for the low-cost market. All these formats support up to 4.7 GB per disk.
Keeping track of the players in this space is enough to make your head ache, but let's have a look: DVD+RW has the most support, with Dell Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Philips Electronics, Ricoh Co., Sony, Thomson Multimedia (RCA), Verbatim (Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.) and Yamaha Corp. behind it. The DVD-RW standard is backed by Pioneer Electronics, Sharp Electronics Corp., Zenith Electronics Corp. and the DVD Forum.
The competition between DVD+RW and DVD-RW is the main event, and it's anybody's guess who will win. DVD+RW has more industry support, but DVD-RW is being promoted by the people who defined the original DVD standard. It's possible that neither standard will dominate. Caveat emptor.
SAN versus NAS
We hear the SAN-versus-NAS questions quite a bit, but the answers are not simple. These technologies are linked and, in some instances, may complement one another. NAS devices are simply appliance file servers. You can use a NAS appliance as an Ethernet head-in for your SAN infrastructure if you don't want to use a traditional server. You can connect several NAS devices together with a Fibre Channel SAN topology. Implement what suits your company best, regardless of which technology you choose. More than likely, you'll mix up a nice brew.
The main point of convergence for SAN and NAS is IP. Eventually, most data ends up on the IP network. 10 Gigabit Ethernet and iSCSI (Internet SCSI), and products like FalconStor's IPStor, make this distinction less important. It's not SAN versus NAS -- it's what works better in your situation. If you need tera- and petabytes of storage or multiple, simultaneous access to files, such as streaming audio/video, SAN is the answer. If many users need access to a large amount of storage but won't have high-volume traffic, check out NAS.
SAN Man
The technological promise of the SAN network has barely been realized. For those who need a huge amount of bandwidth on the storage side, SANs have been a success. For those hoping that consolidating their storage into a SAN would eliminate manageability problems, disappointment reigns. Two Gb is the latest in speed from the Fibre Channel community. Next comes 10 Gigabit Ethernet -- a surging competitor to Fibre Channel. Third is the iSCSI protocol. Two-Gb Fibre Channel has brought unprecedented speed to Fibre Channel, which has always struggled for compatibility and ease of use. Two-Gb Fibre Channel has helped in this respect, but not much. Fibre Channel is still complicated and expensive, and it requires much retraining.
Fibre Channel's major rival in the coming year will be 10 Gigabit Ethernet coupled with iSCSI. Ethernet has a huge installed base and enormous mind share in the IT world. IP does have some unnecessary overhead for storage applications, especially when compared with Fibre Channel.
It's unlikely that the Fibre Channel community will be able to develop and deploy a 10-Gb version of Fibre Channel in time to stem the conversion tide to Ethernet. Fibre Channel must have a 10-Gb product available within two quarters of the 10 Gigabit Ethernet rollout if it hopes to compete.
We don't expect 10 Gigabit Ethernet to be deployed as part of a main data network but as a separate storage network, with the bridging to the general data network coming at the server or NAS header. This will be one of the first effective uses of 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
Fibre Channel switch prices are coming down while performance heads skyward. Companies such as Brocade Communications Systems, Inrange Technologies and McData Corp. have introduced new switches that offer tremendous port density and reliability.
In the workgroup area, Brocade, Gadzoox Networks, McData, QLogic Corp. and Vixel Corp. are engaged in a nasty little "port and feature" war, which will be good for the consumer. However, fierce competition and a down economy may threaten some of the smaller companies, such as Gadzoox and Vixel. Both companies have unique technologies that may make them better candidates for acquisition than extinction.
On the HBA (host bus adapter) front, things are more stable. If you're making any HBA purchases in the next year, be sure to consider warranty, price and performance (see our recent review of HBAs).
Tape Drives
The tape drive market is similar to the hard disk market. Drives are smaller but have larger capacities. Ease of continued use and reliability reporting are two of the new software-management features. Some companies are adding support to e-mail to ensure successful backups -- not just when a failure occurs.
Finding your backups attached to your SAN architecture is becoming increasingly common. This means Fibre Channel or Ethernet connections go right to your backup device, making it available to the entire SAN network for centralized backups.
In the DLT arena, Imation Corp.'s antitrust lawsuit against Quantum -- along with the fact that Imation is selling DLT tapes without Quantum's blessing or royalties -- will drive down costs in the next year.
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