Fiber channel grows new branches: EMC platform lets carriers manage, protect data

A multi-platform fiber channel storage system set to be announced today by EMC Corp. could give carriers the ability to better consolidate data from a variety of computer systems.

The addition of Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) connectivity to Sun Solaris servers in both dedicated and shared multiplatform environments lets EMC's Symmetrix storage systems provide simultaneous connectivity to multiple fiber channel Unix-based servers.

By using the FC-AL approach, carriers with heterogeneous computing environments can take advantage of the emerging Fibre Channel connectivity standard and can better consolidate information in data centers for mining and warehousing and to protect crucial data, said Doug Fierro, manager of product marketing at the Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC.

The system will be especially useful to carriers that depend on the Sun platform. "Sun's approach to fiber channel has been somewhat proprietary, and their storage strategies are very server-dependent," said Fierro. "When you do that, you end up isolating information and making it harder to centralize for analysis and protection."

One of the first customers for the new system is Cincinnati Bell Information Systems, which is using it to consolidate data in data centers. "Fiber channel connectivity allows us to better consolidate this enterprise storage within the data center while supporting dispersed servers," said Thomas Brosnan, director of data center planning at CBIS, which uses a Sun, Hitachi and IBM environment for data management.

The availability of fiber channel connectivity lets customers attach servers and storage systems across distances up to 500 meters, a significant increase over the 25-meter limitation of current channels. In addition, fiber channel increases channel throughput by a factor of five.

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