©2008 The Tod Point Group
www.TheTodPointGroup.com
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a remote location can be indexed offline by a TS7700 in the remote location, but with
the nature if IBM’s tape grid, the derived metadata can be shared by all the nodes on
the grid. What’s more, the shared knowledge of a volumes location could be used to
direct the distribution of the indexing workload(s) thereby minimizing tape movement.
And that is the hidden architectural jewel in IBM’s tape grid.
We believe IBM will add tape data indexing to its content management offerings and by
virtualizing the location of a virtual volume IBM has taken a small, but fundamental step
towards a tape content file system. Moreover, IBM has immense and diverse resources
it can apply to this issue and is well positioned to become the leader.
Sun is of course not standing still in content management, but we have not seen any
indications of a well-developed competitive strategy for content management of tapes.
Openness and Accuracy
Overall, IBM is much more open than Sun about all its storage products, directions and
strategies. IBM engages in a robust customer advocate program that provides input to
the development process. Comprehensive documentation is available to all and
announcements are public and well promoted. On the other hand, Sun’s approach is
best characterized as stealth marketing. Most documentation is not available to the
public, product improvements are not usually publicly announced, and Sun’s virtual tape
strategy and directions are arcane at best – particularly the future of VSM underlying
hardware platform which no longer benefits from improvements to the disk array
version. As such we have only relied on information that is publicly available. We also
note that Sun’s web site and collateral materials often contain errors regarding VSM.
Bottom Line
IBM ranks highly on a vision and execution basis. It has listened well to the market and
responded with an up-to-date solution. IBM is well positioned today and for the future.
Sun continues to play catch-up and needs to become more open about its products and
strategy. Both vendors need to add data de-duplication capabilities.
Nick Allen, Founder
March, 2008
Regarding the information in this report:
The Tod Point Group believes the information included in this report to be accurate
.
Data has been
received from a variety of sources, which we believe to be reliable, including manufacturers, distributors,
or users of the products discussed herein
.
The Tod Point Group cannot be held responsible for any
consequential damages resulting from the application of information or opinions contained in this report.
This report was developed by The Tod Point Group with IBM and funding. This report may utilize
information including publicly available data, provided by various companies and sources, including IBM.
The opinions are those of the report's author, and do not necessarily represent IBM's position on these
issues
