Sam's SAN Diary #6: Quotes Come In

The scope is 18 SAN-attached Windows 2000 servers at each side, about 6 TB of raw storage and services. Before I can give an idea about the price quotes, I have to normalize the proposals.

The first phase is the SAN implementation at the production site. The extra twist here is this phase will include the services associated with data migration from our direct-attached servers. The second phase includes the SAN implementation at the disaster-recovery site. The extra twist here is the implementation (on both sides) of the data-replication software and associated hardware (Fibre Channel to IP routers).

HP's pricing, which was higher than EMC's, comes with a wink: The vendor gave us the Internet list price and verbally suggested the level of discount we might get if we select its product and bid the procurement through its channel.

Of course, we expect that phase one will be successful, and phase two will just be a second PO to the same vendor. But if we find out in phase one that the product selection was wrong, at least we can look at other options for the rest of the project. Those might include a second look at host-based replication, an appliance like HP's CASA (a.k.a. SV3000) or the FalconStor option.

NEXT WEEK: EMC and HP demonstrate their software for Sam and his team.

Sam Blumenstyk is the technology operations manager at Schulte Roth & Zabel, a midsize Manhattan law firm. Each week, follow Blumenstyk along as he upgrades his company's storage infrastructure and builds a SAN.