Storage:

Clipper Group Recommends Solid State Disks

The Clipper Group Inc, an independent consulting firm specializing in enterprise-level technology acquisition decisions, released a Navigator bulletin highlighting the benefits of using Imperial solid state disks (SSD) to improve Storage Area Network (SAN) performance. The report is the second this year from an independent analyst firm purporting the benefits of Imperial Technologyıs SSD in a SAN.

"When an SSD is connected to a SAN, it becomes a dynamic resource for selectively improving application performance when and where it is needed," said Michael Fisch, a Senior Analyst with The Clipper Group. "Enterprises that currently have, or plan to acquire a SAN should consider including a MegaRam SSD as a flexible, on-demand performance resource."

Imperial MegaRam solid state disks are storage-centric architectural components where critical 'hot files' are locked into a dedicated cache to ensure they are instantly available 100% of the time. In SANs that handle transaction-intensive database and OLTP applications, the addition of a MegaRam SSD can quickly eliminate I/O bottlenecks and improve system throughput.

"As Clipperıs Navigator bulletin indicates, SSDs are increasingly accepted as a cost-effective solution for removing I/O bottlenecks and boosting application performance in SANs," said Robert David, president and CEO of Imperial. "By moving from a Direct Attached Storage (DAS) component to one within the SAN, the SSD becomes a shared resource available to all of the servers in the SAN. This centralizes the administration, helps reduce costs, and adds value."

The Clipper Group report details why SSD implementation is a cost-effective strategy for a SAN, and why the outlook for growth of this product continues to grow. The report is free for viewing at The Clipper Groupıs Research and Publications Website at www.clipper.com/publications.htm.

About The Clipper Group Inc

Established in 1993, and based in Wellesley, Massachusetts, The Clipper Group is an independent consulting firm specializing in acquisition decisions and strategic advice regarding complex, enterprise-class information technologies. They specialize in large servers, enterprise storage solutions, and enterprise software solutions and have a team of industry professionals that average more than 25 years of real-world experience. Analyst Michael Fisch of The Clipper Group can be reached at 781-235-0085 x25 or mfisch@clipper.com . See Clipper on the Web at www.clipper.com.

About Imperial Technology Inc

Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Imperial Technology has over a decade of experience designing and manufacturing high-performance storage systems that shatter I/O bottlenecks to supercharge traditional storage. Imperialıs products are installed on Sun, HP, Compaq/Digital, IBM and Unisys systems. They integrate and install seamlessly in environments that run Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft, Veritas and EMC products. Imperial Technology can be reached at 800-451-0666 or online at www.imperialtech.com.