Showing Some Backbone

Updating your infrastructure is often as noticeable and exciting to the outside world as getting a new roof on your house. You know it's there--and you know how much it cost--but it hardly improves your overall curb appeal. Still, we shell out good money for these mostly invisible repairs, knowing that a leak at the top can mean trouble everywhere else.

And so it is with systems and network infrastructure--that lifeblood of enterprises of all sizes. For these underpinnings of business, which connect all parts of the organization both internally and externally, finding the best products may seem utilitarian and dull. But like a good roof, a solid foundation or water and septic upgrades, these are the kinds of spartan expenses that can keep a business' trouble at bay for years to come.

When it came to judging this year's deep cadre of products in the infrastructure categories of Servers, Storage, Wireless Networking and combined Voice and Data Networking, the VARBusiness 2006 Technology Innovation judges looked for gear that was noteworthy largely for its differentiation from other products.

And those differences carried over to the categories themselves. Consider storage. Seldom will an IT product come along that not only contains enough "wow factor" to impress a jaded enterprise CIO but would also make a great stocking stuffer for Grandma. Yet that's exactly the case with IBM's CDP For Files.

"I think it's the first and only product in IBM's history that was meant for any consumer of any kind [as well as for enterprises]," says Chris Stakutis, inventor of the product and a director of worldwide sales at IBM.

Stakutis admits he didn't have the masses in mind when he brought the software to market last year. Rather, it was intended to fill a hole in IBM's Tivoli enterprise systems-management suite.

At its core, CDP For Files provides continuous data protection for any file-based data on a PC. It effectively takes a snapshot of all the data on a system every time there's a change to a document. The data is then backed up and versioned, allowing an individual to revert to a former point in time if there's a system failure.

Also, CDP For Files automatically backs up those snapshots to a server or external drive so that the data can be recovered if the system fails, or if it's lost or stolen.

Once the software is configured, the user doesn't have to do anything--a key issue when it comes to backup and recovery. "The reason people don't back up is because they think it's a pain in the a--," Stakutis says. "They expect it to be part of the system."

After rolling it out to enterprises and, later, SMB customers, many requested licenses to take home to their families. "It's been overwhelming," Stakutis says. "We designed the product for the average end user in corporate America, but it turns out it was suitable for any end user anywhere."

Some VARs that aren't IBM business partners are deploying the software for their customers. Broadleaf, for example, a managed-service provider in Burlington, Mass., runs CDP For Files on its clients' PCs and links the backup servers to his data center. "This product just works," says James Tenner, Broadleaf's CEO.

Stakutis is passionate about this product, and his goal is to make backup as ubiquitous as antivirus software.

"I don't know anyone who doesn't run antivirus software today," he says. "In a few years from now, it will be the same with backup."

NEXT: Server and wireless winners

Unlike our storage winner, this year's winner in the Servers category probably won't appeal to Grandma--unless she runs a massive data center.

This winning product comes as we continue to see huge leaps in the server world. All the major players revamped their blade offerings, and, thanks to new processors from AMD and Intel, customers can enjoy top-notch performance on these industry-standard platforms.

What made Hewlett-Packard's DL580 G4 server stand out is its ability to handle increasingly mainstream transaction loads. These servers are also well-suited for virtualization.

Make no mistake; this is no low-end file server. Lou Garcia, product manager for the DL580, says the server line is suited for customers looking to bring Unix-based applications to the X86 world, running either Windows or Linux, particularly for the lower cost of the hardware. "That's very appealing," Garcia says. "They want higher-level capabilities than they're typically accustomed to in the Windows space."

This 4-socket server is rack-based in a 4U form-factor and runs Intel's latest Xeon 64-bit dual-core processor, the 7100, code-named Tulsa.

The Xeon 7100 uses a whopping 16 MB of shared Level 3 cache. In addition to serving huge memory-intensive applications, the DL580 is also noted for its high availability. The system offers front-accessible hot-plug and redundant components, including RAID memory. HP's Integrated Lights-Out 2, or iLO 2, supports Web-based administration.

The DL580 is also the first server to make extensive use of small-form-factor components--specifically, SAS hard drives and PCIXpress cards. "Because the drives are smaller, you can put more drives in the chassis," says Cristina Tiner, group manager for HP's industry-standard server marketing.

When it comes to form-factor, our wireless winner came out on top not only for its design but also for its ability to serve multiple functions. In fact, it easily could have won in the storage category as well. Take Iomega's StorCenter. This 7-inch tall by 7-inch wide desktop box, consisting of a SATA hard drive and 802.11g router, is intended for the SOHO space and, perhaps, a very small workgroup. The external network-attached storage appliance allows users to back up data from a PC or server, and the built-in router allows any Wi-Fi-enabled device to connect to the drive. Also, a digital camera can be plugged into the back so that it can pull the images off the camera automatically.

"This particular model gives the customer a great feature set for a low cost," says Todd Schuelke, Iomega's reviews manager. He adds that the StorCenter, with a street price of $799.99, is really easy to configure. The Iomega Discovery Tool finds the components on the network and maps and mounts the drives. For those who want wired connectivity, the StorCenter also has a Gigabit Ethernet port. It's sold through the channel and is available through Ingram Micro and Tech Data, from whom the resellers buy, according to Schuelke.

NEXT: Innovation in voice and data networking

While the StorCenter brings together wireless and storage, we are also seeing a good amount of innovation when it comes to the convergence of Voice and Data Networking. In that category, it's no surprise that D-Link was the winner for its DPH-540 and DPH-541 Wi-Fi phones.

The Fountain Valley, Calif.-based networking vendor gears its products at companies of all sizes and sells its wares through the channel.

The DPH-540 (black casing) and DPH-541 (silver) are based on Session Initiation Protocol, or SIP. When used with an Internet VoIP phone service, the phone dramatically reduces local and long-distance phone charges. No PC connection is required--just a Wi-Fi hotspot.

The DPH offers SMBs and SMEs a way to reduce costs without compromising high-quality connectivity. Users can enjoy affordable worldwide calling flexibility and secure wireless-network access via support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 encryption.

Features such as echo cancellation, packet-delay compensation and lost packet recovery deliver voice quality similar to that of traditional phones.

The DPH, priced at $249.99, has a bright color LCD that shows call history, address-book entries and caller ID numbers. The Wi-Fi phone also supports several convenient calling features, including redial, mute and hold.

This product and all other Tech Innovator award-winners were selected for their usefulness, innovation, price/performance, revenue potential and "coolness."