Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003

International Journal of Micrographics & Optical Technology, 2003

At the Storage Decisions 2003 conference, Microsoft announced the general availability of its Windows Storage Server 2003. A dedicated file and print server solution, Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 will be available through original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), including Dell, EMC Corp., Fujitsu Siemens Computers, HP, INLINE Corp., Iomega Corp., MaXXan Systems, Inc., and NEC Corp.

Windows Storage Server 2003 is available in two editions. Enterprise Edition is a highly scalable file storage server designed to meet the data availability and performance needs of enterprise datacenters. Standard Edition is a dedicated file and print server, ideal for enterprise departments, branch offices, and small and medium-sized businesses.

The United States Army Reserve 108th Division is an early Windows Storage Server 2003 customer. Its goal was to reduce IT costs for storage and file serving through consolidation, while increasing data availability and operational efficiency.

"We purchased the INLINE FileStorm NAS with Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 to realize cost savings through file server consolidation and to enable disaster recovery through replication," said Willie Bradham, information management officer of the 108th Division of the United States Army Reserve. "We were amazed at how easily we were able to integrate the solution into our existing WAN architecture for remote user file sharing."

To meet their specific needs and preferences, customers have a broad choice of OEM products powered by Windows Storage Server 2003. OEM storage products announced today are the Dell PowerVault 775N and 770N storage systems, HP Storage Works NAS 2000s, the Iomega NAS P400m series, the INLINE FileStorm systems, and MaXXan Systems' SG110m NAS gateway appliance and the SG210m application card. The EMC NetWin 200, when generally available, also will be based on Windows Storage Server 2003.

Support

In conjunction with the general availability of Windows Storage Server 2003, leading software vendors have announced product support for the new Microsoft offering. Supporting vendors include CommVault Systems Inc., Computer Associates International Inc. (CA), KVS Inc., LEGATO Systems Inc., NSI Software, NuView Inc., Quest Software Inc. and VERITAS Software Corp. As a result, Windows Storage Server 2003 customers will have a wide variety of software solutions for essential storage requirements, such as server consolidation, business continuity and backup.

Microsoft also introduced the Microsoft Storage Community, (www.microsoft. com/storagecommunity/), where customers can interact with storage experts, peers, developers and product managers to share information and news. Through newsgroups, user groups and chats with Microsoft technical staff, as well as a wealth of documentation, tips and tricks, and links, the Storage Community should provide customers with a variety of ways to find answers to questions and solutions to problems, and share expertise.

Windows Storage Server 2003 is the newest version of what was previously known as Windows Powered Network Attached Storage (NAS). Windows Powered NAS currently holds 41 percent of the NAS appliance unit share, more than any other operating system, according to IDC.*

Because it integrates seamlessly with existing information technology (IT) infrastructure, provides high data availability and is priced at a low cost per gigabyte, Microsoft Windows Storage Server 2003 provides a low total cost of ownership (TCO). Easy to install and manage, Windows Storage Server 2003 simplifies data storage, file serving and backup of mission-critical data.

Windows Storage Server 2003 offers a highly scalable solution ranging from 160 GB to 40-plus TB. The product incorporates advanced capabilities from Windows Server 2003 such as VSS, which provide an intelligent infrastructure for "shadow," or point-in-time, copies of a single volume or multiple volumes.

Other key availability features include Distributed File System (DFS), eight-node server clustering and multipath input/output (MPIO) technology. Windows Storage Server 2003 will also support the Windows Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) initiator, which provides an easy way to manage and incorporate an NAS device into an IP-based storage area network (SAN).

For more information see www.microsoft.com/storage.

* IDC Worldwide Quarterly Appliance Server Tracker, June 2003.