Features - Financial Plays Of The Week:

MAJOR VENDORS LOOK TO ENABLE SAS WITHIN iSCSI

Maxtor Corp and LSI Logic announced they will collaborate with EqualLogic to enable integration of Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) technology into a line of highly automated, intelligent iSCSI storage arrays. EqualLogic, a provider of IP-based self-managing networked storage solutions, is working to combine the flexibility, scalability and performance benefits of SAS with the embedded intelligence of its PeerStorage architecture.

EqualLogic's PeerStorage array combines the benefits of iSCSI with intelligent storage automation to further simplify storage area network (SAN) installation and management tasks. iSCSI reduces the complexity of installing and managing a SAN by leveraging a local area network (LAN) manager's knowledge of IP networking.

"EqualLogic's PeerStorage architecture is uniquely capable of leveraging different classes of storage, automatically storing data based on an application's availability and performance requirements," said John Joseph, vice president of marketing at EqualLogic. "SAS drives will deliver the same performance and reliability as fibre channel drives at a lower cost, due to significantly higher volumes. The PeerStorage architecture creates a central pool of storage that can take advantage of the compatibility between SAS and SATA disk drives to meet a wide range of performance and availability requirements with less cost and complexity than today's fibre channel solutions."

Maxtor began work with EqualLogic in September and has now shipped pre-production SAS disk drives to facilitate EqualLogic's PeerStorage Array product development.

LSI Logic has provided its production-ready SAS Host Bus Adapter (HBA), the LSISAS3040X, which uses Fusion-MPT (Message Passing Technology) architecture, an open programming interface for developers, and the LSI Logic SAS1064 controller IC. EqualLogic will use the Maxtor and LSI Logic products to further its test processes in the development of affordable, flexible and scalable external RAID solutions.

"By being the first to deliver fully-functional silicon and a family of SAS controller ICs, HBAs and expanders, LSI Logic can assure leaders like EqualLogic and Maxtor the end-to-end product interoperability that is critical to timely, reliable product development," said David Steele, director of product planning for the LSI Logic Storage Standard Products division. "SAS technology will enhance customer choice by enabling support for both high-capacity, lower-cost Serial ATA drives and high-performance SAS drives within a single storage system."

"Maxtor is pleased to work with technology leaders such as EqualLogic and LSI Logic to bring the benefits of Serial Attached SCSI technology to external RAID storage systems," said Kevin Wittmer, director of technical marketing at Maxtor. "Serial Attached SCSI disk drives will provide true enterprise-class features, including low rotational latencies, fast seek times, frame based transfers, and dual ports. These features enable innovators like EqualLogic to develop higher-performance, high-availability RAID storage systems that scale to meet a wider range of application requirements."

SAS technology and products are being developed as the next-generation SCSI solution to address increasing I/O and scalability requirements. SAS point-to-point technology extends SCSI interface solutions beyond Ultra320 to the next-generation SAN, Direct Attach Storage (DAS), server and workstation markets while retaining backward compatibility with the installed base of SCSI applications. Boasting features that liberate SCSI from its parallel predecessor, and providing SATA compatibility, SAS delivers new levels of breakthrough speed and connectivity while retaining the functionality, interoperability, and cost of parallel SCSI.

About EqualLogic

PeerStorage solutions from EqualLogic Inc deliver the benefits of consolidated storage in a modular, self-managing, IP-based storage area network that is affordable and easy to use, regardless of scale. By eliminating complex tasks and enabling fast and flexible storage provisioning, PeerStorage solutions dramatically reduce acquisition and ongoing operational costs and make enterprise-class shared block storage practical for the mid-range storage market. EqualLogic is based in Nashua, N.H. For more information visit www.equallogic.com/ or www.peerstorage.com/.

About LSI Logic Corp

LSI Logic Corp is a designer and manufacturer of storage components and storage, communications, and consumer semiconductors for applications that access, interconnect and store data, voice and video. In addition, the company supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise. LSI Logic is headquartered at 1621 Barber Lane, Milpitas, CA 95035, and is online at www.lsilogic.com/.