Sources say IBM to drop Windows-based storage

Lucas Mearian   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Storage Stories  

Google's Universal Search for Business Complexity is Good Bringing Order and Security to your Mobile Workforce: Corporate Mobility Policy and Device Management 2007 Gartner Magic Quadrant Report Psomas Achieves Global Work-Sharing and Accelerates the Mobile Worker Yankee Group: "Disaster Strikes! Is Your Business Ready? Disaster Preparedness for Mid-Sized Firms" Virtual Reality SCSI Inflection Point: The New Era of Serial Attached SCSI Virtual Reality Sign up to receive Storage Resource Alerts

July 3, 2003 (Computerworld) -- IBM plans to discontinue its line of Windows-based network-attached storage (NAS) devices in order to focus on higher-end products, including an upcoming file server that will run Linux, sources said this week.
The sources said IBM has told them it plans to announce this month that it will stop making its TotalStorage NAS 100 and NAS 200 filers, which were designed for departmental, workgroup and low-end corporate applications. The boxes offer storage capacities of 480GB and 7TB, respectively.
According to the sources, IBM will continue to sell its NAS Gateway 300 system, which connects servers and PCs on IP networks to storage-area networks (SAN) that are based on Fibre Channel technology. In addition, the company plans to offer a Linux-based NAS device, most likely by late this year.
IBM officials declined to comment, describing the information about its plans as "speculation."
A spokesman for Microsoft Corp., which develops the Windows Powered NAS software used by IBM and other storage vendors in their Windows-based devices, also wouldn't comment in detail.
"IBM's plans are IBM's," the spokesman said. "But we have a wide range of OEMs that continue to expand [their NAS offerings]."
IBM announced the NAS 200 in June 2001 and added the lower-cost NAS 100 last July as part of a plan to compete on a wider basis with rivals such as EMC Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
John McArthur, an analyst at IDC in Framingham, Mass., said IBM is making the right decision by pulling out of the low-end NAS space, noting that while it's a high-volume business, it generates relatively low revenues. "IBM wants to own the data center -- the midrange and high-end market. They're not trying to capture the low-end, high-volume market," he said.
"This is no blow to Microsoft," he said.
Pushan Rinnen, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn., said sales of IBM's low-end NAS line haven't taken off in any big way. NAS 100 sales totaled $3.4 million last year, only 3% of the entry-level NAS market, according to Gartner's figures. "The volume is not high enough [for IBM] to be a strategic player," Rinnen said.
The NAS 200 and the NAS Gateway 300 have done better, she said, adding that the NAS-to-SAN gateway device was third behind products from EMC and HP in its market niche last year. But Rinnen said IBM placed sixth in the overall NAS business during 2002, with about $40 million in sales and a 3% market share.
Until now, the top storage vendors have been steadily falling in line with Microsoft and rolling out products based on Windows Powered NAS.
Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC in May gave up

Continued...
1 | 2 | NEXT  

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

"Freshly hired pilot fish gets his first assignment, and it takes only a day or two to write some quick-and-dirty..." Read more... "Sales of lower resolution televisions, such as 720p and 1080i, are outpacing true hi-def flat panels this year, which may..." Read more... Read more Storage posts or See all Blogs

IBM launches Bluehouse, a Facebook for business iPhone grabs top smart phone spot Oracle tries to step up on high-end databases More top stories...

Microsoft scales out SQL Server 2008, wants to 'democratize BI' Virtual Headaches Filters on in-flight Wi-Fi may be just the start

Health hazards for IT workers -- how that desk job wears your body down Too much junk food, too little exercise and a 24/7 tether to technology? Your body ain't happy, friend. Let us count the pains. NASA robot sends back evidence it's snowing on Mars Instruments on the surface of Mars have detected falling snow that is likely evaporating before it reaches the planet. Wall Street's collapse may be computer science's gain One positive development stemming from the collapse of Wall Street may be a boost in interest in computer science and IT careers among students who were previously interested in financial services jobs. Installing Linux apps: A few good tips Getting new software installed on Linux doesn't have to be hard, but it can differ depending on what you're installing. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland Security Apple's iPhone Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Bill Gates steps down BlackBerry Legal Battle Data Security Breaches Electronic Voting Firefox H-1B Visas HP's Boardroom Scandal Handheld Devices Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft's Vista Open Source RFID Technology SCO's Linux Fight Sarbanes-Oxley Act Spam Voice Over IP Wi-Fi Windows Meta File Vulnerability Windows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class 2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006 Salary Survey 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 IT Forecast 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 40 Years of Computerworld ASPs, Take Two Best Places to Work in IT 2003 Best Places to Work in IT 2004 Best Places to Work in IT 2005 Best Places to Work in IT 2006 Business Intelligence Home Runs Business Intelligence: Smarter BI Business Intelligence: The Future of BI CRM Goes Vertical CRM: Sober CRM Career Planning Guide 2005 Careers: IT Profession 2010 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005 Data Management: Mining for Gems Data Management: Taming Data Chaos Development: Hard-Workin' Web Sites Development: New Tools New Choices Development: The New World of Application Development Development: The Web Services Tsunami Development: Web Services Hurdles Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Worst E-commerce Grows Up E-mail/Groupware: Big Decisions Faces of Mobile IT Forecast 2006 Global Mobile Hardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple Challenges Hardware: On-Demand Un-Hyped Hardware: The Shape of Things to Come Horizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge Technologies IT Management: Guide to Managing Vendors IT Management: Navigating Global IT IT Management: Recovery Ahead IT Management: The Future of IT IT Management: The Resourceful Project Manager Innovative Technology Awards 2004 Management: Reinventing IT Microsoft in Transition Mobile/Wireless Leaders and Laggards Mobile/Wireless: The Untethered Worker Mobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge Costs Network Management: Taking Control Networking: Turbulence Ahead! Networking: VoIP Goes Mainstream Operating Systems: In the Slow Lane Operating Systems: Linux Goes Global Operating Systems: Should You Nix Unix? Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's Guide Outsourcing: Outsourcing Dangers Premier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in Class Premier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in Class ROI: Do the Math! Salary Survey 2003 Salary Survey 2004 Salary Survey 2005 Security Action Plan Security: Compliance Headaches Security: Proactive Security Security: Risk and Reward Security: Tips From Security Pros Souped-up Security Storage: Battling Complexity Storage: Cheap & Secure Data Stores Storage: Stretching Your Storage Dollars Storage: The Lean Storage Machine Storage: The New Rules of Storage Storage: The Ultimate Backup Guide Supply Chain: Missing Links Supply Chain: RFID Reality Check The Business of Security Web 2.0 Security Wireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone Windows Protection Zone The Enterprise Search Zone Software as a Service Zone See your link here

Enabling Data Centers that Are Both Automated and Dynamic Enabling Data Centers that Are Both Automated and Dynamic View this webcast now! Go to the webcast  The Business Value of Tape Storage Download this complimentary Technology Briefing today! (Source: Dell) Reliable. Long-lived. Portable. Affordable. Energy-stingy. These and many other attributes of tape storage are virtually assuring a continued market for tape storage, a conclusion reached by IDC and many others. Combined with other storage solutions, tape is an integral part of any data archiving strategy. Download this executive briefing  Brocade and the File Area Network - A Taneja Group Solution Profile Get this white paper now! (Source: Brocade) This Taneja Group report examines how Brocade FAN solutions are creating a stateless end-to-end file and block data infrastructure. Download this white paper  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Project Portfolio Management - Boost the value of IT Core Network Services Survey: The Costs and Impacts of DNS and IP Address Management Six Project Metrics Every CIO Should Know for Application Delivery Success View more whitepapers

• IBM launches Bluehouse, a Facebook for business
• Microsoft scales out SQL Server 2008, wants to 'democratize BI'
• iPhone grabs top smart phone spot
• More top stories 

Business Continuity Zone An organization's business continuity plan helps keep critical functions running during an emergency–the power fails, a virus is unleashed on your network, a natural disaster has occurred. Even the slightest downtime or loss of data can cripple your operation. CDW can help you prevent disaster by implementing a well-planned recovery strategy. Click here to visit the Zone See All Zones

Intercept Spam & Viruses With MessageLabs MessageLabs is offering a complimentary 30 day trial of its managed Anti-virus and Anti-spam security solutions. MessageLabs guarantees complete protection against all know and unknown email threats. By providing 24 hour support, your business can increase productivity and decrease risk. Register for a complimentary trial and receive a free datasheet. Download this white paper now!

Jack Demo Have WAN acceleration solutions got your head spinning? Our Technology Demo sorts it out. See how our technology offers a comprehensive solution to the entire WAN performance issue including mobile workers' needs. Download this demo and discover how everyone, from branch office workers to executives and sales people on the go, get the same LAN-like access to their enterprise applications and data they enjoy when they're at headquarters. Go now!

• The MacBook Brick

• Apple 'brick' is a manufacturing process

• Researcher finds evidence of massive site compromise

Read more news 

• What is up with all-inclusive hourly rates?

• Team building activities

Read more Shark Bait