Take storage utility, which usually refers to the notion of the storage service provider, or SSP, providing disk on demand, remotely or on-site. An example is Compaq's Private Storage Utility, which includes its Multivendor Storage Management program, and optionally, its Storage Capacity Package whereby Compaq installs excess storage on-site customers can use in a pay-as-you-go fashion.

Then there's the directive to "think like a utility," as some analysts put it. This idea has been gathering steam for some years, and calls for IT departments to present departments with a Chinese menu of sorts, where a manager can check off what levels of capacity, availability, quality of service, etc. that the department needs - and ...

The term utility class, meanwhile, is sometimes used interchangeably with carrier-class, referring to storage that can tolerate extreme environmental situations (sometimes expressed as NEBS certification), and deliver high rack density. Examples include Hewlett-Packard's SC10 array, or Dot Hill's SANnet products.

Last but not least, Fremont, CA-based startup 3ParData uses the term utility storage to refer to storage that is carrier-class, or supports multitenancy - the ability to effectively and securely provide storage for multiple users running multiple applications, each with potentially different workload characteristics. Other start-ups rumored to be working on utility storage include Cereva Networks, Marlborough, MA, and YottaYotta, Kirkland, WA.