In addition to strong visualization and management, SANavigator has a SAN-expansion planning feature, which SANview lacks and CA sells separately. Selecting View Planned SAN from the View menu let us add devices, validate the SAN configuration and print an equipment list for our plan.
Our biggest complaint about SANavigator is the text-mode box that pops up to run a script when the client is started, a nit to pick at worst. SANavigator's polish and performance impressed us. For a 32-port setup, the product's quoted price, at $292 per port, beat the competition's, too (though SANView's price tag for a 512-port setup is substantially lower). The software let us see our SAN, get a quick view of both system status and utilization and manage our devices intuitively.
SANavigator 4.0.2, McData Corp., (800) 545-5773. www.mcdata.com
Since Softek (formerly Fujitsu Softek) acquired SAN InSite, Vixel's proprietary management software, the company has continued to expand and improve the product. Now called SANView, this package has become a truly agnostic management tool for heterogeneous SANs, with the broadest supported devices list of the group. If you use devices SANavigator doesn't support, SANView is a strong choice.
Using a client-server architecture with management agents for hosts with Fibre Channel HBAs, SANView shows its cross-platform lineage in its use of the open-source MySQL database on the server and Java in the client.
Installation was uneventful. We stuck in the CD and installed the server client and HBA agent for our QLogic card on our standalone test server. SANView will also install MySQL. The software discovered the devices on our test SAN that were on its supported device list and ignored the others. You can run a discovery for one agent, all devices on an IP subnet, or all the subnets by interrogating your router.
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