NetApp bets that its approach to storage platforms will give it an edge as customers deploy virtual storage. As stated in this Network World article, analysts see NetApp leading a trend away from the relatively expensive, specialized SANs and toward iSCSI, a technology that uses IP-based networks to enable enterprises to link every storage device with every server.
“Other analysts, however, see NetApp leading a trend away from the relatively expensive, specialized SANs and toward iSCSI, a technology that uses IP-based networks to enable enterprises to link every storage device with every server. This approach is better suited to virtualization than SAN is because it allows storage to share the same network as other data center components, and it also uses less-expensive equipment, says Nemertes Research analyst Andreas Antonopoulos. The virtualization trend should play to NetApp’s traditional strengths, he adds. ‘They were always the company of less-expensive, ubiquitous storage.'”
