In a move that emphasises the importance of open storage management standards and addresses the need for lower total cost of ownership, Hitachi Ltd, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, Sun Microsystems and Veritas have announced a new effort dedicated to the commitment and progress of Common Information Model (CIM), Web-Based Enterprise Management (WBEM) technology and Storage Management Initiative (SMI) specifications for storage area network (SAN)-based storage management.
As part of this effort, the companies are also announcing their commitment to roll-out CIM/WBEM-based products in calendar year 2003. CIM/WBEM has been endorsed by the Storage Network Industry Association (SNIA) as the technology that will enable simplified multi-vendor management of storage networks. Hitachi, IBM, Sun and VERITAS are active members in SNIA and contributed to drafting the SNIA-adopted Bluefin/SMI specifications. These specifications define how CIM technology is used to manage storage environments.
"There is growing concern among storage customers surrounding depth of integration, timeliness to market, and costs involved with API swapping," comments Steve Kenniston, analyst with the Enterprise Storage Group. "Industry efforts that comply with, and support SNIA and SMI specifications are going to be embraced by storage customers."
Participating companies must meet the following criteria:
* Ship non-discriminatory CIM/WEBM-based storage management software commercially by 2003.
* Support the emerging SMI (also known as Bluefin) specifications driven by the Storage Network Industry Association (SNIA).
* Ensure that CIM Providers (SMI Agents) are available to others for testing.
* Conduct joint interoperability testing and qualifications.
* Support the CIM/WBEM interface as specified by Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF).
Delivery roll-out
Hitachi: Hitachi's HiCommand Management Framework and suite of software products, announced in May 2002, will continue to ship with expanded CIM-compliant features and modules through 2003.
IBM: IBM has plans to ship new CIM-enabled products during the first half of 2003.
Sun: In August 2002, Sun Microsystems shipped its CIM-compliant Sun StorEdge Enterprise Storage Manager and is expected to ship additional CIM-enabled products during the first half of 2003.
VERITAS: Veritas is expected to CIM-enable its Adaptive Software Architecture in 2003 via the Veritas Enabled programme. Heterogeneous Veritas products such as SANPoint Control and Volume Manager will be among the first deliverables.
Share
With offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Shoden Data Systems (Pty) Ltd is the sole distributor for Hitachi Data Systems in SA. In addition, Shoden Data Systems is the sole distributor of INRANGE Technologies Corporation, the world's leading manufacturer of Channel Extenders, Fibre Channel and ESCON/FICON directors. Shoden Data Systems is also a Veritas Premier Partner and provides integrated, managed, best-of-breed storage area network solutions to the marketplace.
Based on more than 200 collective years of experience in the service, support and marketing of Hitachi products, Shoden Data Systems uses its intellectual capital and industry leading products to provide customers with total solutions in the storage, enterprise servers and connectivity arenas. The following offerings are available:
1. Storage - the HDS Freedom storage range, including Lightning 9900 and 9200.
2. Connectivity - the Inrange FC/9000 Fibre Channel/ FICON Director, ESCON Directors and Channel Extenders.
Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems, the fastest growing enterprise storage provider, is a leading supplier of storage hardware, software, solutions and services. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd (NYSE: HIT), Japan's largest electronics company, Hitachi Data Systems is committed to providing the storage infrastructure for the world's most information-intensive corporations. With 2 600 employees, Hitachi Data Systems does business through direct sales and resellers in the public and private sectors in 170 countries on six continents. Its customers include more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.hds.com.
Hitachi, Ltd
Hitachi, Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 2001 (ended 31 March 2002) consolidated sales of 7 993.7 billion yen ($60.1 billion*). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd, please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://global.hitachi.com.
*At an exchange rate of 133 yen to the dollar.
IBM
IBM develops and manufactures the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics. IBM Storage Technology Division offers customers worldwide the most comprehensive range of industry-leading storage products available today. These storage solutions are offered through IBM as well as a large network of IBM business partners and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Sun Microsystems, Inc
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision -- "The Network Is The Computer" -- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that make the Net work. Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://sun.com.
VERITAS Software Corporation
VERITAS Software Corporation is the world's leading storage software company providing data protection, storage management, high availability and disaster recovery software to 86% of the Fortune 500. All VERITAS software is open, supporting all significant business applications, operating systems and storage hardware. This flexibility is a result of the underlying VERITAS Adaptive Software Architecture (www.veritas.com).
Editorial contacts