Zerowait Corporation

In today’s Search Storage, Arun Taneja, president and founder at Taneja Group, Hopkinton, MA, says, “The big problem with NAS is that [the devices] are islands unto themselves”. He goes on to say, “What happens if I want to move information from NAS box one to NAS box 52?”

On the other hand, NetApp says that NAS equipment solves these issues through consolidation of storage. Here is a quote from the NetApp Technical library. It comes under the heading “Key Reasons for Companies to Consolidate Storage” and says, “In the past, enterprises paid very little attention to data growth, focusing instead on database applications and servers to run them. This led to the creation of islands of storage to serve each individual database application, often resulting in underutilization and/or over provisioning of storages resources for each application. In today’s enterprise, management demands not only better access to information but an increased ROI from deployed resources.”

So which is it? Tell me what you think. Are they islands of storage, or could it be like Australia or Antarctica, a continent that looks like an Island? Is an island really such a bad thing; doesn’t Aruba sound pretty nice right now? Either way, Zerowait has the roadmap for getting your data where it needs to be.

I spend a lot of time hunting around for news and info to pass along to you. Lately it seems that the only news I can find about the NetApp world is the partnership with IBM. I have to admit; every time I scan through an article I feel the need to check it against my archives. I’m beginning to think they are just recycling an old article and changing a few names to make it new. Here is an example:

First there was Dell’s market reach….

Round Rock, Texas, November 4, 1998- Dell Press Release
“Network Appliance is the industry leader and pioneer of the key technology required to build true network attached storage solutions,” said Mike Lambert, senior vice president of Dell’s Enterprise Systems Group. “This alliance will broaden the reach of our storage line and help move Dell into a leadership position in bringing relevant storage technology to our customers worldwide.”

Now there is IBM’s market reach….

Armonk, NY and Sunnyvale, CA – April 6, 2005 NetApp Press release
“This relationship is really about pairing innovative NetApp storage solutions with IBM’s global market reach, service organization and technology portfolio,” said Dan Warmenhoven, Network Appliance Chief Executive Officer. “We expect this relationship to be mutually beneficial long-term as we roll out our joint solutions over the coming year.”

Am I experiencing Déjà vu?

One of the Zerowait engineers was telling me about a customer issue he was dealing with. He thought you all might learn something from it.

The customer had an equipment failure, so their engineers pulled one of their spares and put it in the system. When everything was powered up, the system still indicated the same failure. Their next step was to call Zerowait for expert advice. Good move!

After some troubleshooting and evaluation, it was determined that the spare that was put into the system was also bad. Two bad parts lead the customer to think that the failure was more serious than it was and also meant more down time.

How long have your spares been sitting collecting dust on the shelf? Do they still work properly? Did someone use the spare then put the bad part back in its place? What good is a bad spare? What can be done to safeguard against this type of scenario?
Zerowait can help prevent your company from going through this. Zerowait’s expert engineers will test, run, and re-certify your spares for you. Along with that Zerowait can store your spares for you, that way your parts are centrally located and proper, fully functioning part can be shipped to the location of your choice at the first sign of trouble.

Thanks for the post Mike! Maybe IBM can affect the way NetApp treats legacy equipment, but I won’t hold my breath. I can’t wait to hear more about your ASCDI experience. I’m sure there are plenty of other interesting things to talk about.

I hope that anyone who made it to Orlando also found time to catch up with Mike. In a phone call last week, he mentioned that he was meeting many interesting people. It sounds like he had a busy time.

The issue of Transferable system licenses came up at the ASCDI conference because of the announcement that IBM is going to OEM equipment from NetApp. IBM seems to allow license transferability as their Licenses travel with the box. But NetApp takes a much more ‘Stalinist’ approach to license transferability. It will be interesting to find out what happens with this issue.
As most of you already know, Zerowait maintains a stock of Transferable licensed NetApp equipment, so our customers can have all of the advantages of a licensed unit and a reasonable price point.

Happy Friday to you! I am back from Denver where the snow is mostly melted and the weather was a fabulous 72 degrees. The best part is you can be sure that I am safe to act as pilot in command of a Boeing 767 or a Boeing 757 for another 6 months, four hours of nothing but simulated emergencies and the proper recoveries have proven that.

Mike Linett sent me a link to a really good “Buyer Beware” article that he thought I should share with you. I touched on this topic earlier this month when I brought up the cost of re-licensing used equipment and the alternative solutions to expensive, direct from the manufacturer, maintenance contracts.

Rigorous testing and inspection by Zerowait’s highly trained, well experienced engineers means that when you buy used equipment, at great prices, from Zerowait, you are not gambling with corporate funds, but making a sound IT investment.

Today I am at the ASCDI conference in Orlando visiting with many of our customers. It is clearly one of the best organzations that I belong to. Interestingly, Joe Marion the organization’s president, has written an opinon article for Processor magazine that is quite relevant to our business. It is definately worth reading if you have a few minutes available.

Today I head off to Denver to visit the fresh, melting, snow and a simulator, in which I will complete the test that keeps my flying career alive for another 6 months. You see, professional pilots get tested every six months to make sure they still have the skills and the knowledge to keep the 200 people sitting behind them safe. Why six months, why not a year or even two? Well, because the safety of all those people is important enough to make the tests every six months.

How about your data? How important is that? I’d say that it is probably important enough to have your system checked out by an expert every six months or more. Get a support contract with Zerowait. If you do you can have a quarterly review of your network, as well as have your equipment immediately report any issues directly to Zerowait’s expertly trained engineering staff.

Last month I wrote about an article on SearchStorage.com, in this article David Hitz was asked: “EMC is building a powerful software business through acquisitions. Will NetApp go down the same path of moving into adjacent markets to continue to grow the company?”

David’s response included: “We’re not interested at all in going EMC’s route.” I guess a lot has changed since early March 2005! In this article, just one month later, also on SearchStorage.com, we see that NetApp is now going EMC’s route by purchasing software-maker Alacritus.

Would that be a flip or a flop? Remember the link to the right for your comments, I’d love to hear from you!

Hi everyone, hope you had a great weekend! I am just getting in from a very long travel day. It was great weather, but the legs were long.

The ASCDI Spring Conference is almost started! Mike will be flying down early this week. If you plan to be in the area and have not yet made plans to meet with Mike, you are running out of time! Call Zerowait at 888.811.0808, and plan a meeting with him before he is over booked!

Mike is looking forward to meeting a bunch of our customers during the conference.