At the end of March, Xsanity will be eight years old. I don't know about you, but I find that hard to believe. In software-years, that's like Methuselah or something.

We've outlived both the Xserve RAID and the Xserve. (Boy, that was a wild day.) We witnessed OS X Server transition from a $1,000 operating system into a $20 "app". Pretty big companies have come and gone. Who knew we'd still be around?

There is no doubt who is to thank for this. There is a core group of community members who generously contiribute their experience and wisdom to each question. These are the posters with a fully-redundant Xserve RAID next to their names. (The icon originally represented the state of the art. Perhaps now it says "old timer"?) You guys are the people who keep the site on track, and make it such a great community. Other forums are filled with orphaned questions. But on Xsanity every real question gets a thoughtful and helpful response. You guys are awesome.

Still, there is no denying that our world is changing. And if we are to keep relevant, Xsanity is going to change too.

So I ask you, where should we go? We aren't going to abandon Xsan. But we can expand to include other enterprise storage for Macs. Or perhaps all enterprise storage. Or virtualization.

I invite you to help start this conversation and see where we go.

Please comment here: http://www.xsanity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18113

[Editor Nore: Quantum began sending an email to Active Storage partners today, including Tekserve. Quantum's channel manager Brandon Cass asked me to post it to Xsanity. I encourage your continued comments in the Active Storage forum thread. --Thanks.]

Dear Active Storage Partner,

We wanted to make sure you were aware that this past Friday Active Storage effectively ceased continuing operations. We are very sensitive to the fact that many of your customers are planning or recently purchased an Active SAN. As you may already be aware, Active Storage had been an OEM partner of the StorNext file system. For Quantum this represents an opportunity as Active Storage had a strong market position, an experienced sales / SE team, and a customer base familiar with StorNext. Quantum also has a very strong position in the market serving thousands of customers worldwide in the M&E market with our StorNext file system, Storage Manager, Metadata Controllers, Disk, Tape Archive and now our Lattus Wide Area Storage solutions.

In addition, many on the Active Storage team recognized this as a fit and approached us about joining the Quantum team. Quantum decided to add a substantial portion of the Active Storage field team to join our efforts effective immediately. The team will be focused on providing their partners and customers a Quantum based solution going forward. Although you may not have been a Quantum reseller previously, we would like to continue to support you and your sales activity in conjunction with the Active members that have joined the Quantum team. We would also like to discuss the opportunity for you to join the Quantum Alliance reseller program to help you continue to bring world class tiered storage solutions to your customers. Below is a FAQ that may also help answer additional questions.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Did Quantum acquire Active Storage?

No, Quantum has not acquired Active Storage, their products, or their technology.

2. Did Active Storage go out of business?

We have been informed that Active Storage has closed its facility and is in the process of winding down its operations. We can also confirm that many of their employees have reached out to inquire about job opportunities at Quantum. They recognize that Quantum is investing in the Media market and continuing to deliver innovative solutions for their customers.

3. Is Quantum taking responsibility for the Active Storage Installed Base?

Active Storage’s commitment to their customer base is a question that they must answer. Quantum has not assumed Active Storage’s commitments to their customers, including service contracts and support agreements. Quantum and Active Storage share end-user customers and Quantum will continue to deliver service and support to customers that purchased Quantum-branded solutions. If your customer has questions about the Active Storage installed base, please engage Lance Hukill and Seth Cohen.

4. But wasn’t Quantum StorNext a key component of Active Storage SAN solutions?

Active Storage was an OEM partner of Quantum StorNext software. They integrated it with their hardware and offered it under the Active brand with their own service offerings and support agreements. Quantum is not assuming responsibility/liability for supporting Active Storage’s customer base.

5. What is the best way for me to find out more information about the Quantum Alliance Reseller Program?

For general information please go to http://alliance.quantum.com/na/overview.aspx. For specific questions please feel free to contact Seth Cohen at seth.cohen@quantum.com or Andy Brinck at andy.brinck@quantum.com.

We have included two links in case you’re not aware of Quantum’s StorNext solutions. The first link summarizes Quantum’s appliance family and the second link is a recent IDC report that highlights the business results customers have achieved with StorNext technology.

StorNext Family of Appliances for Big Data Management
IDC Report on the ROI of Quantum StorNext Solutions

We were shocked to hear to hear this weekend that Active Storage has closed its doors. While the all details are still coming to light, it's clear that the Mac-focused storage manufacturer has or will soon go out of business.

Here's what we know:

• Founder and former Apple Xserve and Xserve RAID head Alex Grossman departed Active one month ago.
• The shutdown appears to have happened very quickly. Only two weeks ago, Active trumpeted about their new mPath acceleration technology.
• At this time there is no mention of the shutdown on their web site.
• A member of the Active Field Engineering team has posted here "Most of us are actually okay and employed elsewhere already."

We also know that without manufacturer support, it's going to be rough for Active's thousands of customers. They will face tough decisions to continue to rely on installed units or to forklift a replacement.

At my company Tekserve, we've already begun contacting our customers to assure them of our commitment, no matter what happens to the manufacturer. We been supporting Active since the beginning, but we also support Avid, Isilon, Promise, and Quantum, among others. The Enterprise Mac universe is much more robust and healthier than any single manufacturer. One door closes and others open.

I'm also committed to keeping Xsanity alive and well. Please post your comments in our forum thread on Active. And if you're out at MacIT/MacWorld next week, come find me so we can gossip! I'm speaking on Thursday and we'll have a table at the Expo.

As you guessed, the hurricane knocked out our multiply-redundant data center. (OK, it's really an Xserve G4. But it used to be awesome.)

The power is back on 23rd Street. Thanks to Con Edison for working so hard, and to all the Tekserve employees for working by candlelight for these last few days. The energy poured into perseverance has been very impressive, but it's good to have light!

Quantum StorNext is hosting its first Xsan to StorNext Conversion WebEx on October 31 at 11am Pacific. The link is pasted below. There will be valuable information on the benefits of converting to StorNext as well as new special conversion offers.

http://quantum.mv.treehousei.com/Surveys/57/E79541B28D51D0BE/25725_OFT.aspx

It has taken seven years, but Xsan has made the pages of the New York Times. In tech columnist David Pogue's post on Mountain Lion, Xsan got mentioned!

The most relevant section of the press release

"For Mac OS X only-based StorNext File System environments, StorNext 4.3 now supports Named Streams. StorNext 4.3 enables simpler hardware upgrades and disaster recovery. With the ability to migrate file system metadata stored on the metadata controller to a different disk geometry, the software allows customers to take advantage of new drive capacities and technologies."

More after the break....