Agami Hauls Hybrid Storage

Startup Agami is the latest firm to tap into user demand for low-cost iSCSI storage. Today the vendor is taking the wraps off a family of hybrid storage devices that combine both NAS and iSCSI. (See Agami Gets $11M.)

More and more vendors are focusing their attention on iSCSI, which is growing in popularity as a cheaper alternative to Fibre Channel. (See The iSCSI Subtext to 10-GigE and EqualLogic Tops Offs SAS Series.) Last week, for example, Virtual Iron added iSCSI support to its virtualization software, and XenSource is planning a similar announcement later this month. (See Virtual Iron Dangles iSCSI Savings, Virtual Iron Announces 3.5, and XenSource.)

Analyst firm IDC estimates that from now through 2010, iSCSI SANs will show a CAGR for worldwide revenue of 74.8 percent, compared to 4.1 percent for Fibre Channel. (See Connecting the iSCSI Dots.)

At least one analyst thinks that hybrid devices are the shape of things to come. "I think it's going to become sort of a prerequisite," says Arun Taneja of the Taneja Group. "We're going to see this pretty much from everybody. If somebody is trying to offer less expensive boxes, offering iSCSI with NAS is much more important than offering Fibre Channel and NAS."

Agami, which up until now has focused its attention on NAS, is not actually unveiling new hardware today, but a software upgrade it says will open up 256 iSCSI targets on its 9.6-Tbyte AIS 3000 and 24-Tbyte AIS 6000 products. (See Agami Plots Upgrade and Agami Claims 50 Customers.)The operating system, Agami OS 3.0, will be available later this month. The vendor is touting the software as a way for users to consolidate their NAS and iSCSI storage, removing the need to invest in separate pieces of kit. "It simplifies and centralizes the management," says Paul Speciale, Agami's vice president of product management.

That said, the startup was unable to serve up any actual users of the hybrid gear that Byte and Switch could speak to, although Speciale says that Agami has three beta customers testing the kit -- a manufacturer, a retail firm, and a security software provider.

Agami is not the first vendor to go down this hybrid NAS/iSCSI path. NetApp's Data Ontap operating system, which was unveiled last year also offers this feature. (See NetApp's GX Targets HPC and NetApp Ships Data Ontap GX.)

The startup told Byte and Switch that it is putting its AIS 6000 up against NetApp's FAS 6000 products in a clear attempt to undercut its rival on price. Pricing for an entry-level 12-Tbyte version of the AIS 6000 starts at $60,000, compared to $137,620 for NetApp's 2-Tbyte FAS 6030, although the latter is capable of scaling up to 420 Tbytes.

One area where NetApp has the edge over Agami is in clustering. Unlike NetApp, the startup does not offer a global namespace for sharing storage files across disparate systems. (See NetApp Sharpens SAN Focus and The Outer Limits of NAS.)Agami has been slowly fleshing out its clustering story over the last year or so, adding failover features to the Agami OS in mid-2006, and Speciale told Byte and Switch that global namespace features will be added to the software later this year.

Agami OS 3.0 is free for existing customers with maintenance contracts.

James Rogers, Senior Editor Byte and Switch