Exabyte Corp. this week announced that its M2(TM) (Mammoth-2) native Fibre Channel drives and libraries achieved qualification with six Fibre Channel SAN component vendors. Interoperability was reached mutually among Exabyte and the NetStorM(TM) SAN Alliance partners, including Adaptec, ATTO, Cambex, Emulex, QLogic and Vixel.
The NetStorM SAN Alliance makes it possible for anyone with a SAN to use Exabyte Fibre Channel products with the hardware and software components of their choice. Exabyte’s current SAN offerings include automation products that store up to 30 TB of data and use native Fibre Channel tape drives, thus reducing the cost of the total solution.
Native Fibre Channel enables users to more easily and cost-effectively move the backup function from the LAN to a SAN, a network devoted exclusively to backup. In addition, direct-connect libraries circumvent the need to purchase and implement a router, an expensive hardware component, lowering the total cost of ownership.
According to Exabyte, the objectives of the NetStorM SAN Alliance are achieved through a rigorous joint testing and certification process to ensure that all partner products, from hardware to software, work together in a managed storage network environment.