Network World (US)
AppIQ last week announced a new version of its storage application management software that makes it easier for administrators to monitor, manage and report on server and storage hardware and applications.
Renamed StorageAuthority Suite 3.0, the former AppIQ Solution Suite has been enhanced to include the ability to monitor, report on and manage file servers and instances of Veritas Software’s NetBackup back-up and recovery software running in storage environments. Previously, StorageAuthority had modules that monitored Microsoft Exchange and Oracle environments, and provisioned storage required by applications and charged departments or divisions.
Additionally, AppIQ announced that its software now will support Solaris and AIX operating environments, EMC’s Symmetrix DMC and Clariion arrays, EMC’s Connectrix Fibre Channel switches, and Hitachi Data Systems’ multi-pathing Dynamic Link Manager.
A storage administrator would use the StorageAuthority Suite software to adjust or provision the amount of storage allocated to servers running applications such as Oracle or Microsoft Exchange.
Ray Bourgion, vice president of information resources at the Boston Stock Exchange, has installed AppIQ’s software to monitor his EMC Symmetrix and direct-attached Sun storage.
“[The software] allows us to have a single interface into the multiple different storage devices we have within the facility here,” Bourgion says. “As we move forward, we will tailor the storage environment to the specific needs of the application so that potentially business-critical applications and data will sit on the EMC Symmetrix, and the less-critical applications will be put on storage that gives us a better price point.”
StorageAuthority for File Servers is a module that lets the suite report on space utilization; the type, age or size of a file; users who are exceeding their disk quota; and the arrays to which a file server is assigned. In addition, StorageAuthority for File Servers can manage the provisioning of storage for a file server. It works with Solaris, Windows, NetWare and AIX file servers.
The StorageAuthority for Veritas NetBackup module includes the ability to monitor the success of full or incremental backups, discover and visualize back-up resources, and warn of and report errors.
While AppIQ is not alone in the storage resource management market, its product is differentiated from others such as the Creekpath Suite or Veritas’ SANpoint Control by its ability to link storage allocation to application requirements.
“AppIQ has a great example of a storage management console – it’s an emerging part of the market that administrators can use to collect and monitor information across your storage environment from the host to the back-end disk,” says Jamie Gruener, an analyst with The Yankee Group.
“AppIQ organizes the environment by tying the application data to the storage system and manages it in a way that the application is fully involved in the management,” he says.
In addition, StorageAuthority is among the first software that fully supports the new Storage Management Initiative Specification (SMI-S). SMI-S is an industry-wide project and specification to enable storage software and hardware with an object-oriented storage management framework, the Common Information Model and Web-Based Enterprise Management, which establishes the ability to share CIM data between devices and software.
