Breaking News -
Storage:
MaXXan Launches Storage Switch
And Grid NAS Gateway
MaXXan Systems Inc, a leading developer of next-generation storage
networking
infrastructure, announced the MaXXan MXV320 intelligent switching platform
and the MaXXan SG100 Storage Gateway products. The MaXXan MXV320, which has
been in beta testing since December 2002 and is currently in end-user field
trials, is the first of a new generation of SAN switching products capable of
delivering higher-level storage application functions as services of the
network.
In addition to announcing the MXV320 intelligent switching platform, the
Company also announced the general availability of its SG100 NAS gateway
powered by NAS software from VERITAS Software Corporation.
"The industry is defining a new class of SAN switching product, the
intelligent switching platform, that has the potential to usher in a new
way of deploying storage functionality as services of the network,"
explains Steve Duplessie, Enterprise Storage Group's founder and senior
analyst.
"This concept has a lot of potential for changing how things are done in
the
storage world. Workhorse applications such as LAN free data backup and
restoration, or data replication, would be easier to deploy if they could be
done as network services. New applications such as virtualization are a
natural for being deployed as a network function.
Could you deploy RAID functionality as a service of an intelligent SAN?
Perhaps not today, but I would not be surprised to see this happen in the
future."
The MaXXan MXV320 combines functional elements of a Fibre Channel director
with those of a multi-protocol router and a high-performance server optimized
for storage into a scalable, intelligent switching platform that enables
higher-level storage applications such as virtualization, data replication,
backup/restore, and NAS to be deployed as services of the network itself.
"With the technology available to us today there is no reason to view the
SAN
as just a plumbing infrastructure any longer," explained Vic Mahadevan,
MaXXan's chief executive officer.
"MaXXan's goal is to provide customers a considerable reduction in the
complexity and cost of deploying and managing their storage environments by
making the storage network itself an integral part of a data center's
computing infrastructure. Through the use of network processor technology at
every port and standard Intel-Linux programming environment, we have the
capability to deliver higher-level storage application functionality right
from the switch."
The MaXXan MXV320 is a programmable, highly available, protocol-independent
SAN switch that scales from 10 to 320 ports. With its modular, single-stage,
non-blocking architecture, the system is capable of sustaining wire speeds
across all of its ports. Customers can independently and dynamically
re-configure Fibre Channel ports as Gigabit Ethernet ports for FC/IP
connections
and can trunk any number of ports together to form large virtual connections
across long distances.
The system incorporates programmable network processor technology at each
port, which provides an environment for migrating functionality into the SAN
infrastructure itself rather than keeping it in the server, appliance or
storage controller. The MXV320 is managed by MaXXan's SANCruiser, a
sophisticated GUI-based management system that integrates easily with existing
management framework products such as CA Unicenter, HP Openview, and Patrol
from BMC.
MaXXan is also announcing the SG100 Storage Gateway, which is now generally
available. The SG100 Storage Gateway powered by VERITAS NAS software has been
shipping on a limited availability basis since December 2002.
The product implements industry-leading VERITAS File System, Volume
Management
and Cluster Management technology and is a cost-effective way for customers to
leverage their SAN-attached block-oriented storage systems for their file
serving needs.
For additional scalability and investment protection, the system's board
and
software can be easily removed and installed as an application blade in the
MXV chassis.
Pricing And Availability
The MaXXan MXV320 is currently shipping for customer field trials. The
MaXXan
SG100 Storage Gateway is now shipping to selected resellers in the United
States and Canada at an MSRP beginning at US$44,600.
About Maxxan Systems
MaXXan Systems Inc is delivering next- generation networking infrastructure
technologies to customers organizations deploying large-scale storage
networks. MaXXan's intelligent products bring simplicity, scalability, and
performance to heterogeneous storage networks while protecting customers'
investments. The Company's next-generation networking solutions offer
unprecedented enterprise-class features and simplify the deployment and
management of today's complex storage networks.
http://www.MaXXan.com
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