IBM pushes Nas into the channel

Big Blue products to be distributed by InTechnology

After launching its initial network attached storage (Nas) offerings in June, IBM is finally pushing them to the channel through its sole distributor, InTechnology.

The products include the TotalStorage NAS 200, a low-end array scalable from 108Gb to 216Gb, and available in tower and rack versions; the TotalStorage NAS 300, a departmental/SME array scalable from 360Gb to 3.24Tb with fail-over, Fibre Channel connectivity and dual engines; and the 300G, a gateway providing a link between local and storage area networks.

According to Roger Messenger, IBM worldwide brand management marketing for Nas, Big Blue has also released its 200i iSCSI product which has the same architecture as the NAS 200, except that it runs across a TCP/IP network.

David Baugh, Nas iSCSI channel manager for Europe, Middle East and Africa at IBM, said the products, which are all Windows- and Linux-based, are positioned at a specific part of the market.

"It was important for our partners to know how to market them. Even when they were officially released in June, we hadn't had a chance to go to the partners and educate them. This is what we have been doing since then," he said.

Derek Warry, strategic business manager at InTechnology, said some of the Nas products had "leaked" through to the channel.

"We wanted to wait until the supply and the whole range were capable of being fully supported before we gave the push into the channel. We had to be sure the partners knew exactly where to sell, and where not to sell them," he said.

Baugh added that, although at present InTechnology is sole distributor of the Nas offerings, it "wouldn't stay that way forever".

Resellers can also go direct to IBM for the 300G product because it is more complicated and needs more focused attention, Messenger said.

He added that by the second half of 2002 Big Blue hopes to have moved to Host Bus Adapter cards, where the TCP/IP processing is done on an adapter card and removed from the engine, to allow for more power and storage capacity.

Messenger also said that, when the firm releases its upgraded higher-end storage products next year, they would be based mainly on the Linux platform.