Storage initiative pushes gigabit ethernet

A fresh salvo in the ongoing war over the choice between network attached storage (Nas) and storage area networks (Sans) in the multi-billion dollar storage market was launched yesterday with the formation of the Open Storage Networking Initiative (OSNI).

The OSNI, whose members include Network Appliance, Cisco, Foundry and Veritas, is designed to define an open architecture and roadmap for continuous access and availability to data.

Stuart Gilks, Network Appliance's technical services manager for Northern Europe, said the OSNI will develop an architecture for the building of storage networks using gigabit ethernet and Nas instead of fibre channel switches and other San technologies.

"Using IP technology will allow interoperability over different platforms, like NT and Unix, and allow the creation of an open storage network," said Gilks. "A protocol to allow cross-platform lookup on Sans has not been established."

However, Tony Ruane, director of storage integrator Redstor, said that heterogeneous connections allowing the sharing of data in mixed platform Sans are already possible, and that San technology is better suited to datacentre applications.

"Nas and San are two separate markets. If you had a requirement for more disk space, then Nas is great as a dumping ground. But if you want high availability and high performance, especially in databases, Sans are the better choice," said Ruane.

Gilks argued that Network Appliance's approach would allow companies to use their existing network infrastructures and expertise in gigabit ethernet, rather than placing them in a position where they have to master a different technology. The advent of 10Gbps ethernet in around 18 months will make fibre channel, which operates at 1Gbps, look slow, he said.

"Using gigabit is like putting data through a blender, sending it down a narrow hosepipe and then trying to put it back together again," said Ruane.

The OSNI's architecture will enable computer servers, storage appliances, automated tape libraries and network switching equipment to combine seamlessly. It will ensure data is accessible anywhere, and that it is replicated, protected and easily brought back online in the event of a disaster.

By using the appropriate measures, such as the Network Data Management Protocol, the architecture ensures interoperability in a multi-vendor data server environment.