network storage: thin is in

Emedia Professional, Jan 1, 1999 by David Doering

This past year was a big one for optical storage networking. It saw the blooming of embedded systems and modular servers--key elements in the ever-expanding role of optical storage on LANs, WANs, and the Internet. It also saw enhanced performance from networks and drives--a critical issue for multiple, simultaneous user support. Finally, it saw plummeting hard drive prices challenge the previously unchallenged cost per megabyte of optical media.

Modular or thin servers with their embedded operating systems took off with product introductions both on the SOHO end as well as the enterprise. Network-attached storage (NAS) became a new buzzword in the press, along with Storage Area Networking (SAN). In the past, NAS meant only a network-attached CD-ROM tower or jukebox with Read-Only capability. In 1998, it came to include a variety of other devices, including Jaz drives, RAID, and hard drives. Players from the high-end like Network Appliance began to offer NAS for the MIS set with prices above $40,000 per system.

SAN technology also jumped into the limelight for optical as well as other storage devices. While NAS uses common topologies, such as Ethernet, NAS relies on 1GB Fibre Channel to perform like SCSI on steroids. Not only can one host now access up to 65 devices over a SAN, but other workstations can also attach to this network to share the peripherals. Thanks to SAN, 1999 may find CD and DVD-based video at last delivered competently via networks.

1998 saw the end of Ethernet 10BaseT as the preferred network type for new installs. 100BaseT now has taken the mantle with its higher speed connectivity, with 1000BaseT likely to follow fairly soon.

Product-wise, the big news in NAS was Meridian Data's Snap Server. It's not just that Meridian did a great job of combining a 4GB or 8GB hard drive with a thin server, they delivered it with panache. The product proved that NAS could deliver both read/write as well as read-only systems.

THE SEARCH FOR SIZE AND SPEED: WHERE DOES CD FIT?

However, 1998 was not a great year for the jukebox and tower business. NAS CD-ROM tower solutions proliferated to the commodity level. Various vendors moved to include hard disk caching to enhance their products. Business also slowed down for jukebox vendors through the year as end-users postponed implementation of CD-ROM-only solutions. In spite of the continued dearth of DVD-ROM and DVD-R content, many administrators were reluctant to invest in CD-ROM-only devices in anticipation of DVD-capable systems.

These systems in turn proved slow to materialize amid the unresolved rewritable DVD debate (DVD-RAM versus DVD RW). Pioneer did debut a DVD-ROM-equipped jukebox, the 4001. Unlike other jukeboxes, the 4001 uses an edge-grip robotic arm for retrieving the discs from their slots, which allows Pioneer to quickly retool the jukebox to use a disc flipper to support dual-sided DVD-ROM, if and when dual-sided discs appear.

DVD-RAM drives have made a strong first showing as standalone devices, however, with various vendors releasing units. Early DVD-RAM benchmarking shows write speeds approaching hard drive-level performance, which will increase DVD-RAM's appeal with network users for backup and nearline storage--a job currently relegated to tape.

One real performance breakthrough came from Zen Research, whose new read-head assembly for optical storage speeds up data transfer from 32X Max to a full spiral-spanning 47X. This breaks the theoretical upper limit of 36X mandated by the physics of a whirling piece of plastic in a half-height drive. Perhaps 47X's 7.5MB/sec doesn't impress the magnetic media user accustomed to 30MB/sec transfer rates. For our money, getting data from a distributable CD-ROM or DVD-ROM in .33 seconds beats .08 from a land-locked hard drive any day.

But where hard drives continue to pose a real challenge is plummeting per-megabyte costs. With 7GB drives for under $200, a site can place 65GB (comparable to a 100-disc CD-ROM jukebox) online for under $5000--host included. RAID devices have become the corporate method of choice for protecting data, with DLT tape as a fast backup system.

GREATEST HITS OF 1998 AND PREDICTIONS FOR '99

So what were the great products of the year? Verbatim takes the prize for Most Interesting Product, with its combo scanner/CD-RW drive (the ultimate paper shredder or just a gimmick?). With new hard-drive caching and unprecedented swap speed; robustness, and reliability, NSM's Satellite qualifies as the industry's best long-term investment.

Most encouraging announcements? Jukebox powerhouse Cygnet resurrecting the delightful, but orphaned, Elms CD Library. Cobalt Microserver introducing a UNIX-based thin server, which marked the first time the Big Iron folks took NAS seriously. Runners-up include Programmed Logic's StackOS--a Fibre Channel embedded thin server for 100MB access speed--clearly a must-have with DVD-ROM.

What will 1999 bring? We have high hopes for integrated solutions, such as JVC 2200, a recorder/CD-R printer/ jukebox/duplicator combo that should establish CD-R as the network printer for the future (when the software sticking points are resolved). Also high on the wish-list is a quick resolution to the rewritable DVD question, along with more plug-and-play servers for RAID and DVD.