Welcome To This Year's First Exclusive Mass Storage Issue

We've done it again! This is the second all-storage issue for Business Solutions magazine, since its inception in May 2000. More special issues will follow this year. These storage issues are great for both current mass storage integrators and for integrators who are thinking about getting on the storage bandwagon.

At Business Solutions, we are 100% focused on the channel. We are committed to delivering the message that mass storage solutions are the key for VARs and integrators to increase margins. In 2001, consult the exclusive storage issues for hot topics in mass storage. SSPs, SAN, NAS, and wireless access to storage will be technologies to watch. See how these technologies are affecting VARs and integrators.

Data Explosion Creates Strong Demand For Mass Storage Solutions
Why are we giving so much coverage to mass storage? Today's technologies, in particular those that are Internet-driven, are contributing large amounts of data to the mass storage configurations already in place.

Ed Miseta, editor of Mass Storage News, explores this phenomenon in his guest opinion "What Can We Expect From The Mass Storage Market In 2001?". Miseta thinks mass storage will be one of the most exciting markets for VARs. He cites a study conducted by the School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS) at the University of California, Berkeley. The study found that over the next three years, humans will generate more original information than was created in the previous 300,000 years.

SAN And NAS Solutions
Mass storage solutions that address this explosion of data include SANs (storage area networks) and NAS (network attached storage). According to research firm IDC, the SAN market is expected to grow from $3.2 billion in 1999 to $10.8 billion in 2003, an increase of 237%. NAS is expected to grow at an even faster rate from $1.3 billion in 1999 to $6.5 billion in 2003, an increase of 400%.

NAS solutions allow VARs like Monte Brown, corporate account manager from Technisource, Inc. (Fort Lauderdale, FL) to provide plug and play storage for their customers within minutes. Brown's customer ran out of storage when he was on a demo visit. The NAS appliance he had brought with him solved his customer's storage problem and made an instant sale for him.

Storage Area Networks: The Key For Pooling Data
To help your customers handle overwhelming amounts of data distributed over multiple servers, you'll want to recommend a SAN (storage area network). I'll help you sort through some of the confusion relating to SANs on page 32. SAN gurus from EMC, Hitachi, nStor, and Eurologic share their knowledge about this complicated, but valuable technology. The bottom line – VARs can profit from delving into the SAN arena.

One integrator who has actually implemented SANs shares his knowledge in our cover feature "Lessons Learned From SANs". Doug Atkinson, CTO of Optima Networks LTD (Vancouver, BC), says the planning phase is the most important aspect of a SAN installation. Secondly, don't hurry it; and third, stand behind the SAN. Be there if something needs to be tweaked in the SAN. This will only provide you with more opportunity and follow-up sales.

One of the biggest issues in the storage market is going to be connectivity. See what StorCase and CMD executives have to say about RAID, SCSI, and Fibre Channel. And keep your eyes on Business Solutions magazine over the next year as we delve into the newest connectivity technologies like I-SCSI and Infiniband.