Will Cisco enter the server business?

Servers would give them the third leg of the data center “stool”

Chris Mellor interpreted Cisco’s recent body language around servers.  Will they jump into the server business? 

It’s not that much of a stretch.  It’s only fair, as HP and others don’t shy away from dabbling in Cisco’s networking space. 

And Cisco has already crossed into the storage realm.

Used to be that IT was all about processing.  Today servers, storage and networking are the three legs of the data center stool.  They’re the Mind, Stomach and Voice of the digital body of business.

The smartest of the big players in all three spaces will look for ways to corner them all.

Is enterprise storage ready for 2.5″ drives?

Servers are already there; 300GB could be the tipping point for storage systems

Seagate announced a 300GB version of its Savvio 10K rpm drive, the highest 2.5″ SAS capacity yet available.  Is this the dawning of the Age of Small Form Factor for enterprise storage?  Information Week thinks so.

The server market has already made the turn.  HP and other high-volume server makers have committed to 2.5″ SAS drives for performance servers.  Power, size and reliability benefits make it a no-brainer.  And while 2.5″ hasn’t yet taken over servers from system builders, the switchover has begun.

For storage systems, the capacity just hasn’t been there. At 300GB, it may be.  A 2.5″ drive is 70% smaller than 3.5″ SAS drives, which max out at 450GB today (although 600 GB will be along before long). 

What say you?  How are you using 2.5″ 10K or 15K drives in storage applications today?

IT Confessions: APEX IT, part three

A peek into APEX IT’s data room with Jean Charles Campagnon. How APEX selects their storage, Dell support, what’s in a name?  In servers, today’s Ferrari is tomorrow’s Yugo! 

APEX IT is a consulting a US nationwide firm focused on Oracle implementation.

The future is now for 2.5″ server drives

The multinationals have moved to 2.5″ server drives.  Are you ready?

System builders for the most part have yet to adopt 2.5″ drives in mainstream servers.  Yet Seagate sees these drives accounting for 34% of SAS/SCSI/FC units shipped in the 12 months ending in June 2008.

 

What’s the disconnect?

The multinationals have made the shift to 2.5″ for performance servers.  They made the jump because they can provide servers with lower power, smaller footprints, and better reliability by using these drives.  Seagate’s Savvio drive is a big part of that transition.

Your customers are seeing these solutions now. What will you say when they ask how your solutions compare?

The time is now to develop your alternative to these now-mainstream solutions from a lot of acyonym-named companies. The good news is that chassis manufacturers are ready now. 

Share your 2.5″ server challenges and successes.