Stephen,
Actually, that is not quite true even in the case of the filer, unless I
have not understood some things about how Network Appliance builds their
devices. The ethernet, fddi, gigabit, etc network interfaces are not made
by NetApp. It does not seem farfetched to expect Network Appliance to use
the same model that has led to open sourcing in other areas. If they have
chosen to integrate the drivers directly into ONTap instead of calling the
drivers as needed, and if they have not adhered to whatever standards exist
for those interfaces, then NetApp has self-created a monopoly. It will go
the way of all monopolies - competition will force them out of business or
into supporting more flexible configurations.
-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen C. Losen [mailto:scl@sasha.acc.virginia.edu]
Sent: Monday, November 09, 1998 2:53 PM
To: Sam Schorr
Cc: toasters(a)magic.metawire.com
Subject: Re: Potential user has questions
> I think the reasoning here is not quite thorough enough. If I buy a
Compaq
> server and then I install a 3-Com ethernet card, I still expect, and get,
> full support from Compaq. This has been the case in the clone, or Intel
> world for quite awhile. I know that it is less true the more proprietary
> you get, but still is essentially the case, even in the IBM mainframe
world
> and in the UNIX world. I am now in the middle of an issue between Network
> Appliance and Microsoft and I would NEVER buy another filer if NetApp
tried
> to deflect response to the fact that I use Microsoft products and
therefore
> I should debug the Microsoft side first. Whether I like it or not, and
> whether NetApp likes it or not, multi-vendor environments MUST be
supported
> - there is no option.
There is one BIG difference as far as interface cards go. Any driver code
is part of ONTap. If ONTap does not have code to support a particular
card, there's absolutely no way the card will work in a filer (unless it
is a perfect clone of a card that netapp does support). And there is no
way for a card vendor to supply you with a "driver" that will work on a
netapp filer. They would have to provide you with a custom version of
ONTap.
Steve Losen scl(a)virginia.edu phone: 804-924-0640
University of Virginia ITC Unix Support