Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
EMC Data Domain Global Deduplication Array with EMC Data Domain Boost
Storage management
Bronze Award:
Bycast StorageGrid
Bycast Inc.'s StorageGrid software caught the eye of our judges for its use of commodity hardware coupled with innovative software for fixed content management across geographically dispersed sites. "This looks to be a great product for HIPAA compliance," noted one judge. The little-known Vancouver, BC-based company has deals with Hewlett-Packard and IBM, which resell StorageGrid.
StorageGrid presents the storage system, which can be any third-party hardware, as a network-mounted virtual file system. Data is stored in and retrieved from the StorageGrid via CIFS (Windows), NFS (Unix/Linux), or Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM), an application layer network protocol for the transmission of medical images. Any type of fixed content such as diagnostic images (MRI or CAT scans), or audio and video files can be stored in the system. The software then applies tiered storage rules to automate the process of storing data on the most cost-efficient storage platform. At this time, Bycast addresses only the healthcare market, but it expects to release additional products for other sectors this year.