At the same time as Storage Technology Corp was launching its new Iceberg disk array system, it described some future offerings for the mid-range market. Also, 10 software vendors have stated intent to provide transparent support for Iceberg, and five of those plan to develop enhanced software. The firms providing support are Boole & Babbage Inc; Computer Associates International Inc; Goal Systems International Inc; Innovation Data Processing Inc; Landmark Systems Corp; Legent Corp; Software AG of North America Inc; Sterling Software Inc; Syncsort Inc; and Systems Center Inc. The five vendors that intend to develop software are Boole & Babbage, Innovation Data Processing, Landmark Systems, Sterling Software and Syncsort Inc. StorageTek says that during the first half of 1992 it will announce the Alpine Storage Manager, a disk-array storage subsystem designed to provide the building blocks for future storage management plans (CI No 1,848). The design uses redundant components and logic to provide continuous operations and fault-tolerant data protection in midrange markets. It employs arrays of disks to support high transaction rates and provide increased paths for parallel data transfers within the subsystem. Alpine will be compatible with IBM’s 9335 and 9336 subsystems. The fault-tolerant design and self-contained components will allow for recognition of failures and non-disruptive replacement while providing for continuous operation. All components can be maintained while power is applied and the system is operational. Also, a new call-home service option will initiate subsystem maintenance automatically via on-line communication with a service centre. The Snowmass Disk Subsystem will consist of 5.25 rack-mounted drives compatible with IBM’s 9336 disk drive. StorageTek says that it intends to bring its Nearline robotic tape library and intelligent library-control software to the mid-range market. It plans to provide the capability to share tape libraries between MVS and AS/400 systems as well as to attach smaller libraries directly to the mid-range systems. The company says that a new architecture is planned to convert the Host Software Component of the Nearline library into a clientserver library control system. Software under development will allow AS/400 systems to participate as clients in these environments and will provide unattended back-up, archiving of low-priority data and automated data interchange between systems. The Louisville, Colorado company believes that these products will extend the life of nine-track and 18-track tape drives by enabling them to be used in mid-range-supported library environments.
