Originally, the group considered Cisco Systems Inc.'s (Nasdaq: CSCO) SN 5420 iSCSI gateway but that was "cost prohibitive," Stocker says. He found a much cheaper option in StoneFly Networks Inc.'s i1500FS Storage Concentrator, which bridges iSCSI traffic on the front end to SCSI or Fibre Channel storage on the back-end. They didn't look at Nishan Systems Inc. product, which offers similar functionality.
The SAN comprises a 3U-high, 1.5-TByte Nexsan Technologies ATAboy2 array, which uses inexpensive ATA-based disk drives. Three Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) ProLiant Windows 2000 servers, each with 933-MHz Pentium III processors, are connected via Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) PRO 1000 T storage adapters to an eight-port Netgear Inc. Gigabit Ethernet switch. Clear?
"The current capacity we have in place will last for the next two years, and that allows us to breathe easier," Stocker says.
OK, hold it right there. Why didn't Safeco FIS -- which is, after all, part of a multibillion-dollar, Fortune 500 company -- have the resources to put in a full-fledged Fibre Channel SAN instead of using the fledgling iSCSI technology? The first version of iSCSI, designed to send SCSI storage commands over IP networks, still hasn't officially been approved by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
There were two basic reasons the group went with iSCSI, Stocker says: Time constraints and low cost.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
