Hi Ed,

There is a product called RainStorage, by Rainfinity, that lets you move files between NetApp filers without interrupting access to those files. That is while the files are being moved users can still read and write to them, and no connections are lost. It is a box that one plugs in the same switch the filers are connected to. The box will put itself in-band when a move is initiated, and will go out-of-band when the move is finished (or later if needed). During the move, as clients access the files, RainStorage keeps both source and destination up to date by duplicating write requests. Once the move has finished only destination files are accessed and the source can be deleted. The product has been running for a while already at NetApp SE labs, they seem quite excited about it. Let me know if you need more info about it (data sheet etc..). It is a recent product, so it is not yet on the web site.

Vincent Bohossian Senior engineer and co-founder, Rainfinity http://www.rainfinity.com 626-396-0046