Sun’s Storage Strategy Finally Sees Light of Day

Sun Microsystems Inc. is hoping a modular approach aimed at the dot-com market can help it grab a share of what is today the most lucrative hardware component of e-business: storage.

At an event at the company's new campus here, Sun unveiled the StorEdge T3 Array, a Fibre Channel 162-GB storage module that can be combined in configurations ranging up to 88 Tb in capacity. The module, which had been code-named "Purple," uses a strategy similar to Compaq Computer Corp.'s Modular Array systems. The addition of disk units to a T3 array enables scalability in either capacity or bandwidth, allowing dot coms to grow storage at a pace that matches their businesses' growth.

"This is a storage building block," says Sun president Ed Zander. "With this strategy, you can buy what you need, when you need it and scale it to meet your needs."

The devices will initially support Solaris, with support for the Windows NT, HP-UX 11.0 and AIX operating systems on the way. Sun is working to add Linux support. Although Zander was emphatic that the T-3's purpose was to attract new customers, analysts said that it would also serve a critical role in satisfying Sun's installed base, which has been forced to turn to other vendors. "The Solaris base is Sun's market to lose--and they have been losing because their storage was not viewed as competitive," says Carolyn DiCenzo, an analyst at San Jose-based market research firm DataQuest. "Sun is being aggressive about price and warranty in order to convince their customers to try them again."

Sun also introduced a storage controller called the StorEdge Data that enables IT managers to off-load management software from the application server to a central device, which Zander says will help enable the creation of "any to any" storage area networks.

"Sun is really trying to position itself as a more modular approach, and this will be well-received by some customers, especially smaller ones that expect to grow but are not sure," says DiCenzo. "Historically, server customers would like to buy as much of the total solution from their server vendor as they can. It eliminates finger-pointing and reduces the number of vendors involved to resolve a problem."

However, efforts by Compaq and Hewlett-Packard Co. to provide one-vendor shopping for both servers and storage have met with only moderate success. Sun is hoping the creation of a dedicated storage sales force and the bolstering of its professional services offerings can help avoid the pitfalls its competitors have encountered.

"This is a good strategy, as long as the 'traditional' sales force is also highly motivated--compensated--to push storage," says DiCenzo.

While Sun's technological approach is similar to that of Compaq and its strategy mirrors HP's, the primary target of Sun's efforts is EMC, which still holds a commanding share of the high-end storage market.