It's not going to be this easy to bridge Fibre Channel and Ethernet! Before the holidays, I posed a question on Google+ that generated quite a bit of interest and feedback. Now that it has settled down a bit I’d like to summarize the unresolved elements to make FCoE truly a world-class … [Read more...]
Thoughts On A Dell Acquisition Of Compellent
December 9, 2010 by 10 Comments
The news came out this morning that Dell is in exclusive talks to acquire network storage specialist Compellent for just under $900 million. I will leave it to the real reporters to track the ups and downs of the story; what piques my interest is the value Dell gets from Compellent's technology and … [Read more...]
Multihop FCoE 101
October 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The FCoE confusion spread by networking vendors has reached new heights with contradictory claims that you need TRILL to run multihop FCoE (or maybe you don’t) and that you don’t need congestion control specified in 802.1Qau standard (or maybe you do). Allow me to add to your confusion: they are … [Read more...]
The Lure of Layer 2
July 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment
"Bridging versus routing" brings us to the perennial networking debate: Are low-level protocols better? Unless you’re “in the know”, terms like “layer 2″ can seem mysterious, making it all the more plausible when someone touts the benefits. It seems logical: “Bare-metal” … [Read more...]
Violin Memory Inc Release New All-SSD Array
May 27, 2010 by 1 Comment
I’m not a fan of making press releases on behalf of other companies however once in a while, a news item catches my interest. So it is with the announcement of the Violin Memory Inc. 3200 series of all-memory storage arrays. Why are these interesting? Because I think they are moving and … [Read more...]
Cisco UCS Servers – A Little Bit of Cynical Marketing Magic Can Go a Long Way
May 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment
When I look at the Unified Computing Systems from Cisco, I get overwhelmed by the targeted marketing. It's kind of creepy how the package is put together to be just enough different to have a strong marketing message. And handle any objections you might have to buying it. What is a surprise, is … [Read more...]
FCoE Symbolism
April 28, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Do you know me? Visitors to the Fibre Channel Industry Association (FCIA) booth at Storage Networking World in Orlando were greeted by a strange symbol (pictured above). It was included in the FCIA Fibre Channel roadmap presentation as well. The group even made identifying the symbol a … [Read more...]
Where Is Microsoft’s FCoE Support?
April 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment
FCoE is taking enterprise storage by storm, but where is Microsoft? Microsoft is a controversial company, generating a mix of criticism and praise everywhere they are involved. Although I’m definitely a Microsoft skeptic, I’ve been pleased by much of the work they have done in my field of … [Read more...]
Gestalt IT Tech Field Day – On Cisco and UCS
April 16, 2010 by Leave a Comment
There are a couple of words that are high on my list as being the buzzwords for 2010. The previous year brought us things like “green computing”, but the new hip seems to be “federation”, “unification”. And let’s not forget the one that seems to last longer then just one year, it’s … [Read more...]
What might it mean if Cisco Dumps HP As Certified Partner ?
February 22, 2010 by 2 Comments
An post as Silicon Angle claims that an internal memo is suggesting that Cisco is dumping HP as a partner. Bang Bang: Cisco Dumps HP As Certified Partner HP Returns Fire With Deal with Qlogic We have no confirmation from Cisco, it could just be rumour but it sure sounds like it could be true and … [Read more...]