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in the news - december 2006
Storage Projections: The Lucky 7 for 2007
12/19/06
by Jon William Togio
iSCSI is good stuff, to be sure, but it is still a channel interconnect masquerading as a network—or more precisely, iSCSI is operating block storage as just another application across a network interconnect. It beats the price of FC any day of the week, and has a significantly lower learning curve. However, it isn’t technically networked storage. This year, UDP-based storage based on the work of Zetera in Irvine, CA emerged in a big way. Bell Micro and Netgear were the first to offer Zetera Storage-over-IP, which leverages UDP/IP, rather than TCP/IP, to enable IP multicasting. This is important because it places storage functionality such as RAID, copy on write, and even LUN virtualization directly into the network protocol where it belongs. If these functions can be delivered as part of the network protocol, we move a lot closer to networked storage and array deconstruction.
Must Have Been Solar Flares
12/16/06
by Drunken Data
Also noteworthy, the flare and storm caused interference in satellite downlinks for cable TV. The interruption was most noticeable on HD channels, less so on good old fashioned analog-to-digital non HD channels. Messed with my efforts to fine tune my new home theater hookup.
I have also connected nearly two TB of Zetera-enabled storage on my home network — storage at just a little more than the cost of the disk drives. Some arrays are NetGear Storage Central SC101s (about a $100 for a two drive housing, you add P-ATA drives) and the rest are Bell Micro Hammer-Z towers with four SATA drives. I just pop in the drives and connect them up to any available port in any available switch. You need to watch your IP address settings for smaller switches, since these units claim addresses for each drive, and in the case of the Bell unit, for each array and for each partition. Just use your switch utilities to expand your DHCP-assignable address range and you will be okay even if you have lots of stuff on your network.
Bell Micro Sells 50M Disk Drives
12/19/06
by Byte and Switch
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Bell Microproducts Inc. (Nasdaq: BELM - News) today announced it has sold its 50 millionth hard disk drive (HDD) since the company's founding 18 years ago. Recognized as the leading value-added distributor in storage, the company is commemorating this significant accomplishment by hosting an award ceremony honoring the customer that bought the 50 millionth hard drive, Rackable Systems, Inc. Rackable Systems is a leading provider of server and storage products for large, scale- out data center deployments. The ceremony will be attended by Bell Micro San Jose-based employees, as well as many partners.
Bell Micro names new veep of corporate marketing
12/6/06
eChannel Line
Distributor Bell Microproducts Inc. has announced the appointment of Phil Roussey to the position of executive vice president of corporate marketing. Roussey, who previously held the position of executive vice president of the enterprise solutions division for Bell Micro, will assume new duties within the company, working directly for Don Bell, president and CEO of Bell Micro. As executive vice president of corporate marketing, Roussey will lead several important initiatives, including world-wide marketing, global supplier franchise strategies and corporate branding.
People on the move
12/6/06
by The Mercury News
Bell Micro of San Jose, a distributor of storage and computing technology, appointed John Vossoughi senior vice president of computer products marketing and system builder sales.
Vossoughi held positions at Conner Peripherals and Maxtor. Before that, he held senior sales and marketing positions.
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