Last year, CNT (Nasdaq: CMNT) was rumored to be one of Sanera's initial OEM customers. However, earlier this week, CNT acquired Fibre Channel director vendor Inrange Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: INRG), which also sells a 256-port switch -- calling into question whether CNT would still be interested in OEMing the Sanera switch (see CNT Walks Off With Inrange).
Sanera's 256-port, 2-Gbit switch fits into a 14U-high chassis. The company says it natively supports 1-, 2-, or 10-Gbit/s Fibre Channel ports, as well as 1- or 10-Gbit/s Ethernet running iSCSI today. Harr says customers would most likely use the 10-Gig ports as interswitch links (ISLs). Each 32-port line card features "port paddle" daughter cards -- either 8-port 2-Gbit/s or 2-port 10-Gbit/s modules -- which allows customers to expand incrementally as well as mix and match speeds. The switch has a nonblocking crossbar architecture and uses Sanera's proprietary application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to handle port processing.
The switch also provides what Sanera has dubbed "nScale Dynamic Partitioning." This is similar to Cisco's Virtual SAN feature, which allows multiple virtual fabrics to run on a common physical infrastructure (see Cisco's VSANs: Hype or Innovation?).
But Sanera claims Dynamic Partitioning goes several steps beyond VSANs, because it separates the control and the management functions of different partitions. "Cisco has one software stack, and that's virtualized," says Harr. "We have multiple software stacks." Another difference with Dynamic Partitioning is that when administrators log into the management application, they see multiple virtual directors and each one can be set with its own access privileges. The partitions are "dynamic" because ports can be reallocated to different applications as needed.
Next week, Sanera expects to roll out a two-pronged partner program. First, it has signed up several SAN software vendors -- including CreekPath Systems Inc., InterSAN Inc., and Fujitsu Software Technology Corp. (Softek) -- which will be developing to Sanera's application programming interface (API) based on the Common Information Model (CIM).
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.
