Nimbus Data Systems in partnership with Arastra, Force10 Networks, Fujitsu, Fulcrum Microsystems, Mellanox Technologies, Neterion, and NetXen, announced the 10 Gigabit Ethernet Storage Alliance, an ecosystem of adapter, switch, and storage system developers united by a common goal: to increase awareness and enterprise deployments of 10 Gigabit Ethernet as the superior storage networking infrastructure for server virtualization and enterprise-wide storage consolidation given its proven interoperability, low cost, common management, and high performance.

“As long expected, 10GbE is now a viable platform for high performance storage networking. As server, network, and storage virtualization transform the way we build and operate datacenter infrastructure, 10GbE will become the unifying and strategic network,” says Michael Peterson, President of Strategic Research Corporation. “I have to compliment Arastra, Force10 Networks, Fujitsu, Fulcrum Microsystems, Mellanox Technologies, Neterion, NetXen, and Nimbus Data Systems for their leadership in recognizing the importance of creating this alliance to help customers learn about the value of 10GbE in their environments.”

10GbE Advantages for Storage Networking
With 10 Gigabit Ethernet, enterprises can:

• Reduce storage network infrastructure cost by 30-75% compared to 4Gb Fibre Channel
• Reduce storage costs by 50% by combining block and file-level services (SAN and NAS) onto one network
• Simplify IT administration through uniform management across the LAN, WAN, and storage network
• Increase bandwidth by 2.5 times as compared to 4Gb Fibre Channel while minimizing latency
• Capitalize on multi-vendor interoperability of 10GbE switches, adapters, and storage devices
• Support today’s iSCSI, NFS, CIFS, and emerging protocols like FCoE, iSER, and iWARP, on one network
• Deploy disaster recovery affordably by extending the storage network to the WAN without FC gateways
• Reduce software licensing costs by leveraging multi-pathing built-in to 10GbE adapters

“10 Gigabit Ethernet brings versatility and simplicity to enterprises of all sizes through network consolidation, familiar management, more bandwidth without trunking, and multi-vendor interoperability,” stated Thomas Isakovich, founder and CEO of Nimbus Data Systems. “With 10 Gigabit Ethernet now available for less than half the cost per gigabit of even traditional Gigabit Ethernet, all of the necessary elements are in place for immediate enterprise deployments.”