Because of dramatic increases in hard disk capacity, driven by demand from both the desktop and enterprise storage markets, entry-level SAN solutions no longer offer larger storage capacities than their less expensive and less functional direct attached cousins.
So says Terence Barter, HP product manager at Tarsus Technologies, who furthermore believes that the value offered by SAN solutions today hinges solely on the increased performance and redundancy they offer.
"For example, one direct attached solution from HP has the ability to hold 14 x 300GB hard disks, which translates into a 4.2TB storage volume. Through the use of a dual-channel host bus adapter, this volume can easily be doubled to 8.4TB of storage. And this is still in the direct attached space," he says.
"While these are indeed impressive storage capacities, especially considering they are ranked as part of the entry-level storage portfolio, this type of solution in no way comes close to the additional piece of mind a SAN affords you. It is this peace of mind that carries the price premium," Barter says.
"That does not necessarily mean that the price premium is substantial, however. Today, an entry-level SAN solution that has the ability to connect a single storage volume to two servers and may cost between 30% and 50% more than a traditional directly attached solution, depending on what level of redundancy the client chooses," Barter continues.
"This can range from simply having the ability to connect a storage volume to two servers, to the ability to have either a host bus adapter or switch in the equation fail.
"At the end of the day it comes down to reliability and uptime, since the same storage capacity can be provided for in the direct attached and SAN environments," he says.
"In making the decision between SAN and direct attached, customers should consider the risks of lost revenue as a result of downtime. Should downtime be a critical risk, companies should strongly investigate the benefits a SAN architecture can bring to the business from a reliability and redundancy perspective. If, however, downtime will not pose a threat to the organisation, customers can forego the additional expense and remain using a direct attached model," Barter explains.
"However, experience has taught us that there is always a risk of lost revenue due to downtime and as such, the most recommended and used model today, right from the SME through to the enterprise market, is the SAN model," Barter concludes.
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Tarsus Technologies is rated by suppliers and channel partners as SA`s leading hardware distributor for its stability, service ethos, product knowledge, excellent support, competitive pricing strategies and channel focus. Distributing a wide range of products from the world`s leading manufacturers, including Acer, APC, HP, IBM, OKI, Samsung and Tally, and supplementing this range with its own brand - the Tarsus PC - Tarsus focuses strongly on long-lasting partnerships with its suppliers and resellers. In line with this philosophy, Tarsus provides a comprehensive range of services to its resellers that enables them to add value to their own offering, and assists them in growing their business.
It is this service offering that has afforded Tarsus a number of channel accolades. The latest include: Channel Executive Awards - 2002; Best Distributor Overall - 2002; Compaq`s "BDG Distributor of the Year" award - 2001 and CRN Outlook Awards - 2002. More information about Tarsus is available at http://www.tarsus.co.za.
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