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IBM expands storage line
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June 12, 2001: 10:03 a.m. ET
New data-storage products designed to work with range of systems
By Staff Writer Richard Richtmyer
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - IBM is introducing a new line of data-storage products Tuesday designed to be interoperable with those of its competitors, marking its latest push into an increasingly competitive market.
The company also is expected to unveil enhancements to its existing tape-storage products making them ready to interoperate in an open network environment as well.
Executives at IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates) said the new products and enhancements are part of the company's strategy for open standards and interoperability in storage networking.
"The fact that customers really don't have to be married to a specific vendor is the big difference," Bob Samson, vice president of sales and operations at IBM's Storage Systems Group, told CNNfn.com
Specifically, IBM is introducing its first network-attached storage products, called TotalStorage NAS 200 and TotalStorage NAS 300. The new systems complement IBM's existing portfolio of storage products and are designed to help customers reduce their dependency on servers for access and management of data.
The company is aiming the TotalStorage NAS 200, which has one microprocessor and up to 216 gigabytes of storage capacity, at companies such as retailers, banks and insurance companies where branch offices or departments need to store data for file serving or client backups due to server consolidation. The TotalStorage NAS 200 is priced at $14,000.
In a rack configuration, where there are two processors and up to 1.74 terabytes of storage capacity, the price is $36,000.
The TotalStorage NAS 300, which has dual processors, up to 3.24 terabytes of storage capacity, is designed for mission critical applications such as customer support, accounts receivable, and payroll, IBM said. It is priced at $115,000.
The new systems are designed so that they can be incorporated into storage networks built using any one of three topologies: network-attached, storage area or iSCSI, according to Samson.
He said the new products reflect IBM's broader strategy to promote "open storage networks," where information technology (IT) managers can deploy any number of technologies and use products from a range of vendors rather than be locked into proprietary systems and a single vendor.
"I think IBM invented proprietary back in the 80s, but that's not what customers want. They want to have flexibility in choosing a variety of different technologies that they want to deploy," Samson said.
"I like to say that the worst sinners make the best repenters," he added.
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I think IBM invented proprietary back in the 80s, but that's not what customers want.
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Bob Samson
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Last week, five other data-storage equipment suppliers, including EMC (EMC: Research, Estimates) and Compaq (CPQ: Research, Estimates), two of IBM's top rivals, joined Big Blue in changing their proprietary ways, saying they will work together to make it easier for IT managers to mix and match their products when building their data-storage systems.
Together with Hitachi Data Systems, a U.S. unit of Hitachi Ltd.; Brocade Communications Systems (BRCD: Research, Estimates); and McData (MCDT: down $1.59 to $30.20, Research, Estimates), these companies have agreed to use common standards and to support one another's products.
By cooperating on standards and support, these companies are hoping their sales will be lifted by offering customers increased flexibility, lower costs and greater protection of their investments in technology.
At the same time, executives have acknowledged the challenges such cooperation poses to maintaining a competitive edge in what has become a fiercely competitive market segment.
"This is the first time we're working together ... on interoperability," Samson said. "It really is incumbent upon us in the industry to work together on these interoperability issues."
"Where you differentiate yourself and where you gain your competitive advantage are the unique technologies you have to manage those different topologies," he added. "The second is the products you can bring to market that are competitive in those technologies."
For its part, he said IBM's ability to integrate and manage the disparate systems that will make up storage networks as the need for them increases is what will set IBM apart from its competitors. 
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