Storage Network Management has been made easier for under-resourced IT departments. Through centralising administrative tasks in a storage area network (SAN), Sun Microsystems and VERITAS Software have given storage management a new impetus.
The two companies are partnering to deliver standard, interoperable management solutions to developers and storage managers.
"The integration of products from VERITAS and Sun will reduce the overhead management of SAN`s on storage," explains Geert De Witte, senior systems engineer, Sun Microsystems Middle East Africa (MEA).
"This issue is particularly important in the South African environment where there is a huge shortage of skilled storage administrators who are already overworked as it is," De Witte says.
As part of the agreement, VERITAS will license key technologies to Sun that will be integrated into Sun`s storage network management solutions. The resultant Jiro Technology enabled solution will provide a complete SAN management system.
"This agreement serves as a milestone to our joint customers who are deploying SANs and looking to us to help them simplify the management of these environments," says Nick van Noordwyk, regional manager, Middle East and Africa at VERITAS Software.
This marketing and technology agreement for SAN management between Sun and VERITAS Software builds on the companies` long-standing relationship. This year, VERITAS Software and Sun agreed to enhance combined solutions for enterprise customers through joint efforts, including mutual support programmes, collaborative testing, synchronised product release schedules and a combined go-to-market strategy.
VERITAS V3 SAN Access Layer and VERITAS SANPoint Control, together providing centralised monitoring and control of all SAN resources, will be integrated by Sun into the Jiro Technology-based Sun StorEdge management console.
The Sun StorEdge management console is a plug-in architecture that manages the complete customer storage environment including SAN fabric and all network devices, including heterogeneous equipment. This console is the Sun`s command and control application that aggregates all management and data protection services.
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Jiro Technology
Jiro Technology is Sun`s version of the Federated Management Architecture Specification and Reference Implementation that was developed under the Java Community Process SM program for open standards. The specification was developed by a team of industry experts dedicated to defining a standard management platform for distributed applications in storage. Jiro Technology has been available for general release since the end of June.
VERITAS V3 SAN Initiative
The VERITAS V3 SAN Initiative is an ongoing SAN virtualisation technology programme that delivers critical new software technology to fully exploit the rapidly growing SAN infrastructure. This initiative enables VERITAS Software and its partners to evolve existing data availability products to take advantage of new SAN capabilities and create new types of SAN applications. VERITAS V3 technologies, such as the VERITAS V3 SAN Access Layer and VERITAS SANPoint Control will continue to be integrated into VERITAS Software products and licensed to strategic partners to provide customers with a wide range of SAN-virtualisation solutions. Virtualised SAN management dramatically reduces the cost and overhead involved in managing consistently growing amounts of data, expanding enterprises and developing technologies. As part of its SAN efforts, VERITAS Software is also an active participant in the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA).
VERITAS Software
VERITAS Software Corporation provides essential data availability software solutions that enable customers to protect and access their business-critical data for Business Without Interruption?. The Company can be contacted at Telephone: (011) 448-2080 Email: nvannoordwyk@veritas.com WWW site: www.veritas.com.
Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision - The Network Is The Computer[tm] - has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc, to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $15.7 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com/rsa.