Are We There Yet?

The biggest complaint we hear from VARs regarding SANs (storage area networks) is that resellers and system integrators seem to have been locked out of the market. The possible reasons for this range from the cost of the systems to the complexity involved with installing them. Two executives we spoke with believe that scenario is changing, and the lower cost and higher performance of Fibre Channel may be leading the way.

Darrin Chen, director of channel marketing for Aliso Viejo, CA-based QLogic, believes the big focus for Fibre Channel right now is the change in transfer rates from 1 gigabit per second to 2 gigabit. "For that conversion to happen, the first thing that has to happen is for all the pieces to be in place," he said. "We feel that time has come. The chips and boards are out on the market, and so are the disk drives. Now the 2-gigabit switches are beginning to ship as well."

Higher Performance + Same Cost = More SANs
The benefits of 2 gigabit are pretty straightforward. With 2-gigabit switches, customers will have double the throughput and double the connections they had with 1-gigabit switches. But the best feature may be the price. Chen stated that costs are coming down, and the price of 2-gigabit switches will be about the same as what customers pay for a 1-gigabit switch today. Fibre Channel costs are also coming down, and Chen believes that will further serve to increase the acceptance of SANs.

Peter Dougherty, director of strategic marketing for Broomfield, CO-based McData, thinks 2 gigabit will take Fibre Channel to the next level, and that will be an important milestone for VARs. "Last year Fibre Channel finally got some traction in the market with IT managers making major investments in it. That was all with 1-gigabit products. Now, when talking to prospective customers, VARs need to understand what the customer has in place today, so they can better understand where the new 2- gigabit equipment comes into play," he said. "The value that VARs will bring is in making sure that customers understand the 2-gigabit technology and showing them how best to deploy it. There is going to be a period of time where customers will not understand what the benefits and features of 2-gigabit Fibre Channel are."

The Need For SANs Is Inevitable
Dougherty feels that whether or not VARs will be able to break into this market will depend on the VAR. "There is a huge opportunity for these folks to provide knowledge to the customers on how to deploy SAN infrastructures. Recent market data show that investments in SAN will outstrip NAS in the coming years. IT managers are investing in SAN technology quite rapidly. Once people get beyond a certain point in adding storage, they must have a SAN because of scalability, reliability, and manageability concerns. I think there is a huge opportunity for the reseller environment to add value by truly understanding and simplifying SANs for IT management."

Chen agrees. "There will absolutely be more opportunities for VARs," he said. "SANs are complex and therefore hard to deploy. The problem is that you have so many parts from so many different vendors, insuring 100% compatibility between those parts has been a difficult challenge. VAR opportunities have been restricted by that complexity. But SAN components are now reaching resellers, primarily through distributors, and the technology is maturing to the point where they will be much simpler for VARs to set up."

Fibre Channel technology, and therefore SANs, continues to evolve. While the early deployments of SAN centered on OEM environments, both Chen and Dougherty have seen increased activity in the VAR channel. That seems to be a natural evolution of the market. As standards get in place and interoperability concerns lessen, there will continue to be a broadening of the market from OEMs to VARs and system integrators.