14 DAY TRIAL // A storage area network, known shortly as "SAN", is a network built for the purpose of attaching computer storage devices such as disk array controllers and tape libraries to servers. A SAN allows a computer to connect to remote targets such as disks and tape drives on a network for block level I/O, while these remote devices appear as locally attached devices to class drivers and application software.
The two variations of SANs are the network having the essential purpose to ensure data transfer between the computer systems and storage elements, and the storage system that consists of all storage devices and computer systems, as well as all the control software used. Today, we're going to talk exactly about this software part, because I have some news that may be interesting for many people...
A few days ago, Charismac announced that their Storage Area Networking software called FibreShare 3.0 is shipping. From now on, FibreShare is able to work natively on all Intel-based Macs, so you can easily manage your storage network and share volumes between the Intel and PowerPC platforms. According to its producer, "FibreShare is the only complete package that provides all of the pieces necessary to quickly and efficiently setup a shared storage network. With FibreShare, you can easily administer and share terabytes of high-speed serial storage between video, audio and graphics workstations."
Including Anubis RAID for Mac OS X and the Anubis Utility, PowerControl and Charismac RAID for Mac OS 9, FibreShare also features fiber channel support, being a highly customizable product that includes even a benchmarking tool that allows you to test the storage devices available on your SAN.
FibreShare requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later, while the version for Mac OS 9 works with Mac OS 8.6-9.2.2, and the second requirement is a PowerMac with available PCI slots. At last, you should know that the suggested retail price per network seat is 1,249$.