OSD Technology Demonstration Signals Move Toward More Powerful, Intelligent
and Simplified Storage
PHOENIX, STORAGE NETWORKING WORLD, April 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Seagate (NYSE: STX), along with Emulex and IBM, today unveiled a joint
technology demonstration using Object-Based Storage Devices (OSD).
Object-Based Storage is a new command set that is an extension of the current
SCSI command set, which shifts or delegates more functionality and
intelligence from the host into individual storage devices. The demonstration
is the world's first of a prototype device that is compliant with the SCSI OSD
command set standard ratified last year.
In addition, the demonstration marks the first time that OSD has been
shown spanning the file system through to the drive. The technology
demonstration between the companies signals the emergence of a new era in
storage resource management that will also greatly impact and simplify many
tasks in enterprise computing environments.
The demonstration shows two IBM metadata servers running an IBM Research
shared file system with OSD support. Object-Based Storage is demonstrated at
the subsystem level and at the disc drive level. The servers send objects over
an Ethernet connection to an IBM OSD array, which then stores the objects on
internal block-based hard drives, demonstrating the viability of the protocol
at the iSCSI and controller level. The servers also send objects through a
standard Emulex LightPulse LP10000DC dual channel Fibre Channel host bus
adapter with enhanced drivers to an array of Seagate OSDs, demonstrating the
viability of the protocol at the Fibre Channel fabric and disc level. The
inherent flexibility of Emulex's firmware-based HBA architecture enables
support for OSD. Both servers run on existing Fibre Channel and Ethernet
networks.
The demonstration will be showcased during the Storage Networking World
conference at Seagate's booth, #P13.
"OSD helps empower IT managers by reducing the complexity of storage
management and IT resources, and ultimately alleviates the need to focus on
many low-level tasks," said Brian Dexheimer, Seagate executive vice president,
Global Sales and Marketing. "With today's industry-first demonstration,
Seagate is again showing its leadership in developing the technologies that
matter most to the enterprise."
"Emulex's Fibre Channel HBAs are an ideal building block solution for
emerging technologies, such as OSD, because our unique firmware-based HBA
architecture provides the necessary flexibility to support such new and
innovative designs. We are pleased to team with IBM and Seagate to showcase
emerging solutions that benefit the overall storage ecosystem," said Greg
Scherer, chief technology officer, Emulex Corp.
Why Object-Based Storage?
Today, too many IT resources are tied up in low-level details and
functions, because the storage environment exposes too much complexity. This
not only results in a lot of wasteful activity, it also represents a big
opportunity cost. Storage management software can mask this complexity only so
much. Object-Based Storage reduces complexity at the source.
What is Object-Based Storage?
Object-Based Storage is a new command set that is an extension of the
current SCSI command set and is carried over any of these interfaces: SCSI,
iSCSI, Fibre Channel, or SAS. This command set shifts or delegates more
functionality and intelligence from the host into the individual storage
devices. It does this by managing and storing a file and its metadata together
as one coherent object, maintaining the connection down to the Object-Based
Storage devices (a controller, a disc array, or an individual disc drive).
Higher level infrastructure activities are delegated to the lowest-level
devices, decreasing traffic and enabling new functionality that software alone
cannot provide, enabling: greater scalability and performance, dynamic
reconfiguration, host interoperability, native security, and enhanced
reliability.
The result is that both IT and system builders benefit with more
competitive storage solutions that allow them to focus on application and data
characteristics, rather than low-level storage management.
About Seagate
Seagate is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacturing and marketing
of hard disc drives, providing products for a wide-range of Enterprise,
Desktop, Mobile Computing, and Consumer Electronics applications. Seagate's
business model leverages technology leadership and world-class manufacturing
to deliver industry-leading innovation and quality to its global customers,
and to be the low cost producer in all markets in which it participates. The
company is committed to providing award-winning products, customer support and
reliability to meet the world's growing demand for information storage.
Seagate can be found around the globe and at http://www.seagate.com.
NOTE: Seagate, Seagate Technology and the Wave logo are U.S. registered
trademarks of Seagate Technology LLC. Specified storage capacities reflect
standard configurations exclusive of operating system or other software
formatting.
SOURCE Seagate Technology LLC
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Related links:
http://www.seagate.com
CONTACT:
David Szabados of Seagate, +1-831-439-2859,
or david.szabados@.seagate.com; or Robin Austin of Emulex,
+1-714-885-3462, or robin.austin@emulex.com
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