Onaro Inc.'s SANscreen predictive change management software, the only product of its kind available today, troubleshoots problems caused by changes to SANs. Its analysis simulation capabilities can predict the impact of alterations made to a storage network before they occur.

It uses root-cause analysis to detect and advise how to fix errors before, during and after changes are made. "It helped us to more easily see the complex access paths, relationships and interdependencies within our [1,000-port] SAN," said Robert Shinn, a principal at State Street Global Advisors. He also uses SANscreen to record changes for audit purposes and regulatory compliance.

The SANscreen server runs on Windows 2000; clients run on Windows, Unix or Mac OS X Java-enabled machines. No other software is required in the network. It performs its discovery out-of-band or off the portion of the network that handles live data. Onaro claims that SANscreen supports all leading storage equipment. Pricing for a perpetual license starts at $125 per port; a subscription license is $64 a year per port.

If you manage a large SAN, SANscreen is a tool you need for all the obvious reasons. It blows the doors off anything else in the storage network management space.

SearchStorage.com and Storage magazine editors