New storage products to double backup speed

Several storage vendors are testing new devices that could double the throughput of Fibre Channel storage-area networks (SAN) and network-attached storage boxes from the current 2Gbit/sec. rate.

The faster 4Gbit/sec. standard was approved last June by the Fibre Channel Industry Association, but vendors hesitated to begin developing the faster technology because of a slump in storage purchases. Now, makers of Fibre Channel host bus adapters, switches and disk drives say devices adhering to the new standard are on the horizon and will cost roughly the same or a little more than 2Gbit/sec. hardware.

At the same time, some vendors are releasing products with 10Gbit/sec. capabilities well ahead of a planned standardization of that technology in 2006. But analysts and vendors this week said the 10Gbit/sec. devices won't be backward-compatible with 1Gbit/sec. or 2Gbit/sec. products and will cost about five times as much per port as current 2Gbit/sec. and upcoming 4Gbit/sec. devices, or $5,000 a port.

Even if costs remain the same, Gary Pilafas, senior storage and systems architect at UAL Loyalty Services Inc., a unit of United Air Lines Inc., said he's wary of installing 4Gbit/sec. devices on his SAN. That's because the application servers he backs up across his Fibre Channel network won't be able to utilize the faster network speeds.

"You'd saturate your [server] host bus long before you'd saturate a 1 or 2Gbit connection," he said.

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