DNF Corp Newsletter: April 2009

Here is the recap of our April newsletter:

• Support for VMware’s vSphere
• New Falcon video management towers for SMBs
• WAN optimization for your DR plan
• Designing a video security system
• and much more

Read the full April 2009 newsletter.

If you would like to have DNF news delivered to you monthly via email, sign up now.

Onssi on why IP surveillance makes sense

Remember when you purchased your first digital camera?  It was easy (sort of).  You could take as many pictures as you wanted.  And purge the crappy images later.  There was instant preview.  You could email the pics without a scanner or a trip to the photo store.  Pictures went from special occasions to daily occurrences.  This same thing is happening in surveillance.  As people transition from analog  video to digital video and IP technologies, a whole new world emerges.  Images are higher quality.  You can make out faces, nail polish color and name badges.  You can act, or react immediately based on the footage.  You can analyze the footage.  You can view the footage remotely:  from home, on your mobile, or when you are out and about.  Each of these features of digital video are opening up new opportnities for physical surveillance.

If you want to learn some of the basics on IP video, check out the link below.

From Security World Magazine:

Why is everyone migrating to intelligent IP video surveillance?

Intelligent network-based video surveillance technology based on Internet Protocol (IP) can transform yesterday’s analog CCTV system into tomorrow’s feature-packed security management tool. And it is available today. The technology infuses the power of video into a company’s security infrastructure and delivers value not just to the security department, but potentially — through open architecture connectivity — to almost every part of a business and even to the bottom line. No wonder everyone is migrating to IP-based intelligent video surveillance. The economic benefits are as clear as the numbers on a ledger sheet — although these benefits are sometimes not clearly communicated to company management. This article will describe the basics of IP video surveillance — the technology and its security benefits — with an emphasis on its costs and its value to transform security.

Gadi Piran (CEO, OnSSI) via SecurityWorldMag.com – IP Video: Winning the Future.

Storage Strategies: Things to keep in mind

What do you look for when you’re shopping for storage?

We probably all look at price, performance, and reliability, right? But how much time do we spend looking at other factors like total cost of ownership (TCO), security, automation, and compatibility? Probably not as much.

Here are some other things to consider when making your next visit to the enterprise storage aisle:

• Tiered Storage- Save on the cost of drives by moving inactive data to low-cost drives  
• Data Security- Think about disk encryption
• Automation- Look for software, hardware, or managed services that allow for a level of automation and streamlined management
• Data Recovery- Look into recovery and retrieval options
• Interoperability- See if the system plays well with others

These are just a few pointers, if you’re looking for more tips, check out this article by Processor on making purchasing decisions.

We’re ready for vSphere. How about you?

Today, VMware is set to launch vSphere.  The new datacenter OS.  And the latest versions of ESX Server and the Virtual Infrastructure.

We’ve been busy (though not quite as busy as they were :D), getting our StoneFly SANs ready for the next generation ESX Server.  I’m relieved to say, our next generation SANs are here now.

Check out our announcement on our vSphere support.  Any current StoneFly SAN will support the latest version of ESX server.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team.

Are you using another hypervisor?  See what other virtual server platforms we support.  And here are some details, on how we work with VMware.

If you have some time tomorrow, we’re hosting a webinar on server virtualization and iSCSI storage, sign up for it on 4/22 at 10A PST.

Above I mentioned next-generation SANs.  Did you know that we have 2 product families that support SSD, SAS, SATA and 10 gigabit iSCSI?

Learn more about our Integrated Storage Concentrators and the StoneFly Voyager.

Join our Customer Advisory Committee

If you are a DNF or StoneFly customer, we’d like to hear from you!  Our Customer Advisory Committee (CAC) is ready to kick-off, and it’s not too late to join. As a CAC member, you will get the inside scoop on our roadmap, and have priority recommendations for our future releases. Other CAC benefits include exclusive discount offers and rewards.

• Are there ways we can make our solutions simpler for you?
• Do you have a burning concern you’d like us to address?

If so, please click below to join.

 

VMware vSphere is on the way!

Next week, VMware is set to launch the next piece of their new “datacenter operating system.”

We are excited about, and look here for more info here as we support these new virtualization solutions:

Some highlights of what’s new:

• Fault Tolerance (FT)– This is the next step up from HA which provided high ability but not 100% availability. Previously users who wanted 100% availability were forced to use a non-VMware native solution like Microsoft Clustering Server.
• Host Profiles– Host profiles will make ESX and ESXi host configuration much quicker and easier. Host profiles will allow you to create centralized configuration policies that can be applied to your hosts to simplify configuration management.
• Distributed vSwitches– This new type of vSwitch allows for centralized management and configuration of your vSwitches. Previously vSwitches had to be managed individually for each host which made configuration and administration time-consuming and more difficult. Distributed vSwitches allow you to create vSwitches for all your hosts at once rather then one by one and also allow you to maintain consistent configurations across each host.
• Improved Storage VMotion– No need to use an external plug-in or the Remote command line interface (CLI) anymore as Storage VMotion will be integrated into vCenter Server, also support for NFS storage will be added.
• HA enhancements– New HA features such as improved admission control and host monitoring that suspends failover actions during network maintenance.
• Thin-provisioned Virtual Disks – Previously thin-provisioned disks could only be created manually using the CLI. You will now be able to create them when creating a guest OS using the vSphere Client.

Learn more on Tech Target:  VMware vSphere is coming – Virtualization Pro.

By the way, next week we are hosting a webinar on virtual servers and iSCSI storage.  We will cover how ESX4 will impact your storage environment.  Click here to get more info on the webinar on 4/22.

Video tutorial on designing a video security system

Need some help designing a video security system?  Check out this video from GSP America.

Here are 6 questions from the video on what to look for and what to ask:

1. What type of cameras should I use?
2. How should I connect the cameras to the video management system?
3. What type of video management system should I use?
4. What sort of video analytics should I use?
5. How should I view my surveillance video?
6. How should I integrate video with my other systems?

I’d add the following questions to consider during the design phase.

• How much analytics can your video management system process at once?
• Does your system have enough bandwidth to support all of the simultaneous recording activity you expect?
• How long do you need to keep your footage stored on a live system?  Do you also need to archive your footage to a secondary system later?
• How can you ensure the system you buy today will support your needs tomorrow?
• Are there any regulations or retention policies that impact how long you need to keep your footage?  How can you guarantee you are meeting these requirements, and ensure your video is safe and protected?

Did you know, we have an online calculator to help you choose the right systems to support your IP cameras.  Check it out with the link below.

Webinar on Virtual Servers, IP Storage, VMware and Xen on 4/22/2009

We’ve got a webinar coming up next Wednesday, 4/22 all about going virtual.  Check it out if you are in the middle of designing your virtual infrastructure, planning your disaster recovery plan or trying to figure out how to get more from your storage when using virtual servers.

We’ll be discussing:

• Setting up iSCSI storage for Virtual Servers
• Using advanced storage features for improved virtual server management
• Managing large environments with 50+ virtual servers
• Why the number of simultaneous iSCSI sessions matters
• Relying on virtual servers and IP SANs for disaster recovery
• How ESX 4 will impact your storage environment

Date:  Wednesday, 4/22

Time:  10:00am PST/1:00pm EST

Duration: 1 hour

Interested?  Register online here:  Virtual Servers and IP Storage Webinar

Can’t attend?  Don’t worry, we’ll post a video link after the event, so check back.

Here are a few other posts you might be interested in:

• Create an iSCSI volume in 90 seconds or less
• The best uses for iSCSI
• Future SAN: 10G, SSD, SAS, SATA all in one
• Installing ESX Server
• XenServer 5: Reviewed

WAN optimization for DR

A recent Byte and Switch research survey shows that implementing a disaster recovery plan is top priority for organizations (see chart below).

With data moving from one location to a remote location(s), optimizing your wide-area network (WAN) bandwidth becomes essential. Check out this four-part report from Searchstorage.com that offers practical tips for evaluating and understanding WAN requirements for your DR plan.

Manage iSCSI Sprawl

Some enterprises are having to do more with less resources, less time and less money. Cut down iSCSI storage management time and storage sprawl with iSNS. Most iSCSI arrays have supported this protocol for years.

The iSNS protocol (RFC 4171) was developed to provide a central management point for all iSCSI devices. Discovery and management provided by iSCSI-enabled devices is often quite rudimentary and inadequate. For example, a discovery run in Linux results in the initiator logging in to every available target on the server, which is almost never what you want. Instead, we can discover targets via an iSNS server, which will control what is seen.

Read the full article: Manage iSCSI Sprawl With iSNS Servers

• Learn more about the top applications of iSCSI
• Get an overview of the iSCSI technology, sign up for our Wednesday webinar