Candera Unveils Controller

Startup Candera Inc. finally let the cat out of the bag this week (see Candera Finally Talks).

After keeping its work secret for the past two years, the vendor disclosed that it's developing a network storage virtualization controller, which it promises will boost the IQ of a typical dim-witted SAN.

The new U*Star controller is currently in beta testing and set to ship later this summer. It consists of a specialized hardware appliance running Canderas proprietary software.
The appliance works as a node in a Fibre Channel network, controlling I/O activity and allowing companies to virtualize their storage resources. By tying together different storage devices and servers, regardless of vendor and operating system, and managing them as a single unit, the company says it can boost storage utilization, improve manageability, and automate the provisioning process (see Virtual Reality?).

The idea is to view the SAN more as a layered network, says Candera CEO Sundi Sundaresh. “We’re believers that the SAN will evolve the way other networks have evolved.”

The Milpitas, Calif.-based company has 24 patents pending for its proprietary technology, Sundaresh says. “This needs to be very robust -- so it can’t run on off-the-shelf stuff.”