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HDS unveils industry's first 3D scaling virtual storage platform (VSP)
Last week at the Hitachi Information Forum event, Hitachi Data Systems Corp. (HDS) introduced the Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) — said to be the industry’s first three-dimensional (3D) scaling platform. These claim to enable organizations to scale up, out and deep for unprecedented levels of agility and cost savings in their virtualized data centers.
The VSP, along with the Hitachi Command Suite management software, offers best-in-class performance, capacity and open, multivendor storage virtualization for large businesses and enterprise organizations.
The event was graced by Randy DeMont, executive VP, Worldwide Sales, Services and Support and Phil Gann, director, Solutions, Products and Services, APAC, who discussed the VSP, along with Kevin Eggleston, senior VP and GM, APAC and Vivekanand Venugopal, VP and GM, India, Hitachi Data Systems.
More details later.
LSI announces major India plans
Making these announcements in Bangalore, Jeff Richardson, executive VP, LSI Corp., said that LSI will be expanding the R&D facility in Bangalore and also double the LSI India workforce. It has opened 300,000 sq feet of new office space with 30,000 sq feet of lab to accommodate approximately 1,400 employees.
LSI India capability growth.
LSI intends to scale its engineering capability in India. These include enterprise storage — NAS, SAN, systems, software and semiconductors, as well as wireless and wireline infrastructure — software and semiconductors. To improve engagement levels with regional partners and customers, LSI will be adding marketing and customer support capabilities.
The vision for LSI India is to become a global engineering center that fosters innovation and enriches careers. LSI India has experienced an average annual headcount growth rate of over 100 percent per year since 2004, starting from a headcount of 44 in 2004, this has risen to 1,074 in 2010. LSI’s mission is to be the most trusted provider of technologies that connect people and information.
“The Bangalore Development Center will play an important role in adding to our business as well as creating innovative products for the global market,” said Pravin Desale, managing director, LSI India Research & Development Pvt Ltd. and vice president of engineering, Storage Components Division, LSI. Read more…
Cloud computing notion exciting: LSI
LSI is a leading global provider of storage and networking solutions, with a portfolio of more than 10,000 patents and a long history of leading and contributing to a wide range of industry standards and technologies in the storage and networking markets. The company develops innovative silicon, systems and software technologies.
I recently met up with Vic Mahadevan, Vice President of Product Marketing and Management, Engenio Storage Group, to find out more about LSI’s foray into cloud computing.
“The whole notion of cloud computing is very exciting. People like Cisco, Intel, etc. are looking at it as a utility-based business model. The ability of flexibility and growth on demand is huge,” he said.
LSI supplies its solutions to all the leading makers — IBM, HP, Dell, etc. “Users get to use our technology under cover. The beauty of the model is — it is good for both small and big companies,” he added.
Why should someone buy a single disk? You can outsource the entire capability to a utility company. If others take it, you can scale and grow without locking your capital expenses. Everything is on demand, and that shift will happen over the next five years.
As for cloud computing itself, Mahadevan agrees that a lot of talk has going on. “The technology to make that happen is happening right now. There’ll be an amazing shift over the next couple of years. Customers are also getting excited as they feel they can leverage what they have,” he added.
LSI is offering a series of products — external, mid-range and entry level storage systems. The storage arrays are part of the storage virtualization phenomena.
Mahadevan said: “We have tech that allows you to pool storage on all the servers into a virtual SAN. It is called the serverization of storage. We need to do partnerships — wtih VMWare, Oracle, Microsoft, etc., to ensure that we can also provide the applications.” LSI sells its solutions via OEM partners.
Product roadmap
LSI recently released an 8G Fiber Channel; 446 drive bay enclosure, as well as security encrypted drives. It worked with Seagate as a user would require a key to unlock the drive.
The 8G Fiber Channel is LSI’s next transition of the 4G Fiber Channel. As for the 446 drive, you can put in two TB drives and get close up to 1 PB of storage in one enclosure. The security drives gives users an added degree of security. All of these technologies are tied to the applications. Users are only concerned about the applications.
LSI works closely with a number of partners, such as Brocade, Emulex, etc. All of the chips are developed in-house, using LSI technologies. “We are leaders in 2G, 4G, 8G, etc. The 446 drive enclosure was developed in-house as well,” noted Mahadevan.
Global and India plans
LSI has sufficiently grown its India facility. Mahadevan said that the company had already touched 700 people in India. “It is good to see the amount of product, chip and application talent in India,” he added.
LSI is currently working on a lot of new products. The additional ones will be coming out soon. Especially, LSI will be refreshing its mid-range storage lines in Q3-09.
Mahadevan said: “From a customer point of view, I see them tracking the utility model. It will probably start in India by 2010, that’s when the momentum will really start. The interesting thing is, it would be a huge opportunity for the SMB market.”
Citing examples, he said that microfinance is available in rural India. If SMBs can avail of the applications for farming, garments, etc., that would make it easy for those SMBs to build new businesses.
“All of this will allow us to unleash the power of the people. Lot of applications will be further developed in India. You can also develop applications that can be probably used worldwide, based on the utility model,” he said.
Storage trends
According to Mahadevan, LSI’s see a lot of activity going on in FC and iSCSI worlds — moving from 1G to 10G in 2010. “We are doing a lot of work in that area. 1G iSCSI is coming out in Q3 and 10G in H1-09,” he added.
As for cloud computing, that will happen as well. Some enterprises have already done it, while others are in the process of implementing it. He said: “There’ll always be a tipping point. We think it could be in 2011, especially in India. Otherwise, it will be in 2010. There’s lot of pressure on CIOs to cut costs and make yourself more efficient.”
IDF Taiwan: Desktops with Intel Core i7; IBM, Intel ally on Blade servers
There’s more news from IDF, Taiwan, folks! One, Intel is all set to launch high-end desktops powered by the Intel Core i7 processor, next month. This was disclosed by Kirk B. Skaugen, Vice President, Digital Enterprise Group, General Manager, Server Platforms Group, in the Digital Enterprise Keynote: IA = Embedded + Dynamic, during the recently held Intel Developer Forum (IDF).
Intel vPro technology-based business clients: “Piketown” for desktops and “Calpella” for notebooks, will be powered by future Nehalem processors and will provide corporate customers with even more enterprise-focused innovations.
Also, Intel and IBM strengthened their Blade server segment partnership. More of that a bit later!
According to Skaugen, we are in the third stage of the Internet revolution. “The fourth stage is the pervasive Internet. By 2015, there will be 15 billion devices connected to the Internet. The Atom processor has unleashed a new wave of connected devices. However, these devices will need massive infrastructure support as well. Storage will also become a massive area of growth and development,” he added.
IBM Switch specs opened to SSI
According to Skaugen, the best infrastructure is built on infrastructure standards. Citing IDC figures, he said that the Blade market growth will be 37 percent CAGR during 2007-11. The Apac market will grow 78 percent.
IBM and Intel also strengthened their alliance in Blade servers. Mark Wiltse, IBM Systems & Technology Group, said that Blade.org has been created and is focused on solutions collaboration. “We are opening up the IBM Switch specifications to Server Systems Infrastructure (SSI). This will create broader opportunities in Blade. There is broad support for SSI Blade specifications.” IBM will extend the BladeCenter switch specification for blade servers to the SSI on a royalty-free basis.
Commenting on the Nehalem, Skaugen added that it is a next generation microarchitecture, using second generation of virtualization, and there is 3X memory bandwidth support as well. Intel’s Power Boost technology has also been used on the Nehalem.
Skaugen also provided details of next-generation high-end desktops powered by the Intel Core i7 processor, launching next month. These high-end desktops will provide outstanding performance for gaming and content creation applications.
Calpella and Piketown in the offing
He shared that the 2009 Intel vPro technology-based business clients codenamed “Piketown” for desktops and “Calpella” for notebooks will be powered by future Nehalem processors and will provide corporate customers with even more enterprise-focused innovations.
The upcoming Nehalem microarchitecture spans a range of products. First segments will include the Intel Core i7 processor and a variant designed for the efficient performance server segments codenamed “Nehalem-EP.”
A derivative designed for the expandable server market segment (“Nehalem-EX”) as well as other desktop and mobile versions (“Havendale,” “Lynnfield,” “Auburndale” and “Clarksfield”) will be in production beginning in the second half of 2009.
Nehalem’s integrated power gate
Stephen S. Pawlowski, Intel Senior Fellow, highlighted that the Nehalem has an integrated power gate. “We have got the M9 (metal 9) deposited on the silicon to create low-power resistance.” Having power gates means that the idle cores use near zero power.
Several Intel partners also showcased their products at IDF Taiwan. There were 37 new motherboards, while the Nehalem EP was touted as the world’s most adaptable server platform. Skaugen said: “it is energy efficient and designed for virtualization. Also, there is investment protection with FlexMigration.”
32/64GB SSDs on offer
Intel also introduced its range of SSDs, in 2.5-inch form factors, with 32/64GB storage at the IDF.
Citing SSD benefits, he said these included 6X performance increase, 46X power reduction and 75 percent space reduction.
IC shipments likely to grow 3.8pc in 2008
The latest wireless/DSP bulletin from Forward Concepts has highlighted an improved shipments of DSP and RISC chips for cell phones as well as DSP shipments for wireless infrastructure.
I had the privilege of interacting directly with Will Strauss, President & Principal Analyst, Forward Concepts, author of this particular bulletin.
On being quizzed about the improvement in shipments of DSP and RISC chips for cell phones, Strauss indicated that new cellular subscribers in China and India are continuing to grow, even as Europe and the US are reaching saturation.
“Since most people here have cell phones, the market is mostly driven by the replacement devices. In the US, handsets are also subsidized by the carriers under a subscription plan that ties the subscriber to a handset for two years,” he says.
An interesting point in the wireless/DSP bulletin is the fact that although DSP shipments for wireless infrastructure were down 14 percent in May compared to April, it was still 30 percent higher than May of 2007. What are the reasons for this peculiar trend?
Citing that the reasons were not yet clear, Strauss adds that in infrastructure, more so than for cellphones, the quarterly shipments are all that really matter. Forward Concepts hopes to have better calibration when June shipments are reported at the end of July.
Going forward, how are DSPs likely to perform? Well, it is to be noted that DSP chips, as devices with that specific nomenclature, are now becoming a decreasing percentage of the DSP silicon market. That’s because DSPs as cores are becoming just part of SoCs in everything multimedia, in VoIP, in cell phones, etc., adds Strauss.
Similarly, RISCs, like DSPs, are simply part of the SoCs, and often in lock step with DSP. That’s because every cell phone chip has at least one DSP core and one RISC core inside.
Another point noticeable in the bulletin is that automotive, wired communications and storage (disk drive controllers) sectors have seen a slowdown.
On this, Strauss clarifies that the automotive market has seen a drastic slowdown because of high fuel prices. Telecom companies have been slow to invest in infrastructure as wireless is taking over their traditional wireline market.
As for the disk drive controllers, their prices are akin to those of DRAM memory, subject to big swings in selling prices, lowering revenue even when production is strong.
Mobile Internet devices or MIDs are devices people are looking forward to. It is hoped they would bring some cheer to the IC market. This remains to be seen as the MID market doesn’t begin until late in Q3 2008.
Finally, the key question: what’s the industry outlook likely to be for the rest of the year? Strauss says: “The semiconductor industry is also subject to world economic changes. The outlook is for minimal world economic growth in 2008, mostly because of high oil prices and the weak US dollar. We are forecasting only 3.8 percent revenue growth in worldwide IC shipments for 2008, down from its traditional annual growth rate of about 7 percent.”
Collision course ahead?
On another note, the IC Insights reported that current spending plans by IC manufacturers worldwide will lower total semiconductor capital expenditures by 18 percent to $49.7 billion in 2008 from $60.3 billion in 2007, according to new data collected by IC Insights.
A growing number of large IC firms are now outsourcing more products to foundries. Also, major pure-play wafer foundries are aiming to increase their profitability by controlling capital spending. As such, IC Insights believes that the IC industry continues on a “collision course” with respect to supply, demand, and average selling prices or ASPs!
Cogs in the wheel
In engineering, it is imperative that all cogs of the wheel come together, so that the wheel rolls smoothly. Similarly, it is imperative that all key IT processes in an organization gel together and work as one.
Imagine the nightmare that enterprises, small and large, would have to go through should this did not happen!
The first basic IT asset is your company’s network, or the intranet. We have seen several times that a company’s network’s down for some reason and mails can’t be sent or received.
In such cases, the organizations or the enterprises who are ‘stuck’ with this situation, are literally crippled. Mails can’t be received, mails can’t be sent out, important mails are missed, business-critical processes are waylaid, and so on and so forth. I’ve been part of this nightmare several times.
Once, the undersea cable snapped during my stay in a company. I don’t need to add the problem we had to face for at least half a day, as service providers worked furiously to rectify the cable and restore normal service.
Some advocate satellite as the best medium for managing data transmission. Maybe! Some others cite wireless. Perhaps!! Then, I hear from many that there are issues related with security and storage. However, those would only come into play once your basic network is operational smoothly.
In telecom, they have something called five nines, or 99.9999, which means the network is up and running for this percentage of time! You’ve noticed how people go beserk and start cursing their phones or the network, should they fail to receive a network, or are unable to connect to the network!
What they don’t know or realize is the hard work that’s involved in setting up, maintaining and operating a network! It’s similar to what sometimes happens in offices when the network breaks down and we are unable to send/receive mails.
Maybe, it would be prudent to first manage the internal network as best as possible, before moving on to bigger, better things. The cogs in the wheel got to move smoothly.
Pradeep Chakraborty 