Adaptec is working on Ultra320 SCSI, Telson's point-to-multipoint plan is designed for Storage Service Providers (SSPs), and keep and eye on mergers and acquisitions in the storage sector during 2002.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Associate Editor [January 11, 2002]

Adaptec introduced its first Ultra320 SCSI products designed to achieve transfer rates of up to 320 Mbps—which is double the 160 Mbps of Ultra160 technology.

Topping the list of new features is Adaptec's Seamless Streaming technology that minimizes latency by enabling the transmission of more than one command per connection. Adaptec's original Ultra160 technology allowed for the transfer of just one command per connection.

The company said that its SCSI line up would include new chip sets, host bus adapters, and other products in the half of 2002.

Western Digital released a fast-access hard drive dubbed the WD Caviar 120GB Special Edition. The 7200 RPM drive's special feature is an 8 MB buffer, which the company says is four times the size of the industry's standard buffer. The larger buffer allows more frequently accessed data typically stored in random access memory (RAM) to become part of a Webhost's caching application.

The 120 GB is on sale at the Western Digital Online Store at a 10 percent discount for $389 while its 100 GB version is also sale priced for $339.

Personal Storage 3000XT

Maxtor released its new Personal Storage 3000XT drive (left), a 160 GB external FireWire (IEEE-1394) drive. FireWire operates at up to 400 Mbps. The drive retails for just under $400 while and the PCI adapter card is being offered for list less than $50.

The Maxtor FireWire bus for sells for about $100. Maxtor products are currently available from resellers, as well as from Maxtor Direct.

In the area of applied SANs, we find Telseon offering improved remote backup services. The Metro Ethernet Service Provider (MESP), as Telseon likes to label itself, is offering point-to-multipoint services so that storage service providers (SSPs) can pay for single line access rather than having to buy separate, dedicated lines for each customer. Pricing varies. For details and sample network diagrams, see Point to Multipoint Logical Wire for Storage Applications.

VMWare's ESX Server 1.1 is the latest in the company's series of virtual devices designed to enable Webhosts and enterprises to consolidate several servers onto a single machine.

Nexsan touted its better-than-tape direct-to-disc (D2D) InfiniSAN solution this week. The company said its D2D solution operates at about 1.7 cents per megabyte when from 160 GB drives to several Petabyte (PB) units, which implies prices of $2,720 and up. John McArthur, group vice president of storage research at IDC, said, "This technology is positioned to compete with traditional tape storage, and Nexsan has presented an attractively priced solution with features required in enterprise applications."

For residential users of home networks, we found this sweet-looking USB management application from Adaptec. Called USBControl (right), the software is currently available for free download. If storage service markets develop in the residential segment, digital photography or music will surely be an important factor.

Finally, for the ultra-paranoid, 8x8 debuted its Behind-U Workstation Alert System. The software uses an infrared sensor to detect motion in its arc. When it detects movement, the software triggers a predefined "cover screen" so that work (or play) is hidden from others. The Windows-only system with infrared sensor costs just under $80 and each additional sensor is less than $25. Minimum operating environment requires the use of a Pentium chipset or higher with at least 64 MB of RAM.

Adventures
Venture capital continues to invest in the storage sector. On January 8, Sierra Logic, a provider of semiconductors for storage products, announced that it raised $5.25 million in a first round of funding..

But 2002 is a year of M&A analysis, not IPOs from startups. Data backup giant VERITAS acquired The Kernel Group Incorporated (TKG), a privately held data recovery software company based in Austin, Texas, for an undisclosed amount.

—End