Next Page: Reldata
In a world where SAN and NAS vendors push their particular hardware, Reldata stands out. While it sells disk arrays if you want them, the startup's core offering is a box that virtualizes backend storage for a range of other vendors' arrays.
"Storage is doubling every 18 months. Can storage administrator productivity double every 18 months? No!" declares Reldata CEO David Hubbard.
Reldata's answer to adding expensive storage to multivendor environments is the Unified Storage Gateway, which combines NAS with iSCSI and Fibre Channel SAN connectivity in a box that also supports remote replication across WANs, including synchronous mirroring. Block- and file-level data is fed into the unit, where it is virtualized for distribution across an IP network.
While other vendors, including FalconStor, ONStor, and Sanrad, offer gear that pools and manages a range of backend storage resources, Reldata's packed a lot into a relatively small unit tailored to the SMB/ROBO crowd. Reldata's flagship 9240 box features six 1 Gbit/s Ethernet ports, two Ultra 320 LVD SCSI ports, and two 4 Gbit/s Fibre Channel ports, among other interfaces. There's also an optional 10 Gbit/s Ethernet link for SAS connectivity.