Thursday, September 15, 2005
ACM News Service:
"'IBM Almaden Research Center's Intelligent Bricks and Kybos Software Supersmart Storage'
Computerworld (09/12/05) P. 34; Collett, Stacy
IBM envisions an intelligent storage system architecture that boasts easier data management, reduced maintenance costs, and less environmental impact through the integration of Intelligent Bricks hardware and Kybos software. A team led by Moidin Mohiuddin at IBM's Almaden Research Center has developed a prototype storage system from these technologies that can recover from failures by assigning the functions of dysfunctional bricks to new bricks. Each brick is equipped with a processor, an Ethernet switch chip, and some disks, and the bricks are arranged in a high-speed mesh network whose communications are facilitated by capacitative couplers on each brick face. The prototype allows for fail-over space by using 25 percent more bricks than are actually necessary to store data. Floor space is saved thanks to the bricks' small size, and the use of a water-cooling rather than fan-cooling system makes the prototype less noisy and more power-efficient. Gartner analyst Stanley Zaffos is uncertain that the brick technology will dramatically lower acquisition costs, but says the Kybos software 'holds the promise of lowering [total cost of ownership] by creating an infrastructure that's more flexible, extensible, and manageable.' Mohiuddin expects the technology developed through his research to be applied to storage systems for medical images, Web sites, and other storage-heavy applications by the end of the decade.
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"'IBM Almaden Research Center's Intelligent Bricks and Kybos Software Supersmart Storage'
Computerworld (09/12/05) P. 34; Collett, Stacy
IBM envisions an intelligent storage system architecture that boasts easier data management, reduced maintenance costs, and less environmental impact through the integration of Intelligent Bricks hardware and Kybos software. A team led by Moidin Mohiuddin at IBM's Almaden Research Center has developed a prototype storage system from these technologies that can recover from failures by assigning the functions of dysfunctional bricks to new bricks. Each brick is equipped with a processor, an Ethernet switch chip, and some disks, and the bricks are arranged in a high-speed mesh network whose communications are facilitated by capacitative couplers on each brick face. The prototype allows for fail-over space by using 25 percent more bricks than are actually necessary to store data. Floor space is saved thanks to the bricks' small size, and the use of a water-cooling rather than fan-cooling system makes the prototype less noisy and more power-efficient. Gartner analyst Stanley Zaffos is uncertain that the brick technology will dramatically lower acquisition costs, but says the Kybos software 'holds the promise of lowering [total cost of ownership] by creating an infrastructure that's more flexible, extensible, and manageable.' Mohiuddin expects the technology developed through his research to be applied to storage systems for medical images, Web sites, and other storage-heavy applications by the end of the decade.
Click Here to View Full Article"
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