The Internet and e-business are changing the rules for getting, retaining and managing information. Because they involve simultaneously providing dynamic, streaming and static content, these systems demand different storage architecture than the traditional big iron approach. Fatter pipes and bigger servers are not the answer either when companies can’t survive with a single point of failure.

To get the needed seamless scalability, content management, distributed infrastructure and high reliability, companies are turning to server clustering for Internet content delivery. Involving clustered specialized servers, hardware and software load balancing techniques and storage-level server networks, Clustering has proven to be an established technology for e-business infrastructure. But it also demands the integration of multiple platforms and tools, which can present a real design and implementation challenge.

By attending the Clustering / Load Balancing Summit, you will:

• Learn the fundamentals and alternatives of these important technologies
• How to evaluate the different clustering approaches, based on your own storage and application needs
• How to deploy a clustering architecture that allows for scalable, reliable and high-performance Internet content serving.
• Learn the different types of load balancing and the advantages of both hardware and software load balancers
• Meet clustering and load balancing experts and have the opportunity to directly interact with them.
• Be able to make the technical decisions facing you today and tomorrow!
  

Clustering / Load Balancing Summit sessions include:

9:00 am Clustering Applications and Technologies

Presenter:

Akbar Behnam, Senior Solutions Architect, Legato Systems, Inc.

Clustering is not a new concept but is only now penetrating companies due to the ability to create clustered environments on top of standard operating systems. Enterprises now see clustering as a scalable, distributed, reliable and manageable solution for the huge increases in media-based Internet content. Clustering actually consists of many different technologies, from load balancing and SANs to specialized applications like security and streaming media acceleration. This session examines the various clustering technologies and how each addresses different content serving challenges; the focus is on helping you design and implement high performance Internet-based content-rich applications.

10:00 am - Load Balancing Alternatives

Presenter:	Non-Clustered Environment:	Vijay Kumar, Systems Engineering, CITRIX Systems, Inc.
		Adam Ginsburg, Senior Systems Engineer, CITRIX Systems, Inc.
	Cluster Environment:	Akbar Behnam, Senior Solutions Architect, Legato Systems, Inc.

Load balancing, by spreading workload over multiple machines, is at the heart of both Clustered and MetaFrame server storage in a web-serving environment. Load-balanced servers offer substantial performance increases, especially when your web servers are delivering dynamic content, and redundancy / fail over protection. We discuss the five most common load-balancing methods – round robin DNS, simple randomization, response measurement, content type and graphical-based – to help you determine which is best for your needs and environments, and also whether a hardware- or software-based solution makes the most sense for you.

11:00 am - Cluster File System Technology and High Availability Solutions

Presenter:

Thomas Sjolshagen, Manager - Availability & File Systems and Storage Technologies, COMPAQ Tru64 Unix Group.

TruCluster Server is the most mature and sophisticated cluster technology offered by any UNIX vendor. TruCluster technology has been shipping to customers for 10 years, delivering leading edge cluster technology with the first cluster file system and "true" single system image clusterfor the UNIX market. Because of this unique technology, Oracle licensed key components of TruCluster and Tru64 UNIX technology and plans to deliver a cluster database for eBusiness applications. The enhanced Oracle9i database engine, Oracle9i RAC (Real Application Clusters) will eventually be available on all UNIX platforms. In this presentation, Thomas Sjolshagen will talk about the joint development between Compaq and Oracle to deliver a cluster database solution that easily scales to meet the demanding growth in data, users, and processing needs that successful enterprises encounter. The presentation will also cover the unique features of TruCluster Server, including the cluster file system, cluster interconnect, and the unmatched scalability and high availability that systems and applications can achieve. Real world examples of customers in ebusiness, telecommunications, and other enterprise computing environments who are benefiting from this cluster technology will also be highlighted.

12:00 pm Lunch - All Summits Conference Participants are invited to our luncheon just outside the meeting room area.

1:00 pm - SUMMITS GENERAL SESSION in the SAN Room (#1E11)
Taking Storage Solutions Beyond E

Presenter:

Dennis Law, Vice President – Hosting Services, EDS

Information is the core of the digital economy, and successful IT enterprises around the world must seize the opportunities that today’s managed hosting solutions provide. E-commerce, CRM and ERP contribute heavily to the deluge of information glutting the market. Resource-hungry applications such as medical imaging, optical tomography, CAD, digital photography and video are substantially increasing the amount of information inundating businesses. Adding to the flood are wireless, rich media, next-generation Internet services, and other technologies that are driving the market beyond E. To keep up, storage capacity has seen explosive increases. Where once applications, data delivery, and storage needs were measured in megabytes or gigabytes, petabytes now reign—and zettabytes and yottabytes are on the horizon. Today’s infrastructures must scale as never before to accommodate the expansion. This presentation will discuss how to overcome the burdens and capitalize on the opportunities made possible by this explosive growth in information and storage requirements.

2:00 pm ROI: Return on Information

Moderator:	Thomas Henderson, Principal Researcher, Extreme Labs, Inc.
Panelist:	Thomas Sjolshagen, Manager - Availability & File Systems and Storage Technologies, COMPAQ Tru64 Unix Group.
	Adam Ginsburg, Senior Systems Engineer, CITRIX Systems, Inc.
	Rick Ruskin, Executive Vice President, MTI Technologies

Most companies, regardless of size, recognize that their internal information is the single most valuable asset they have, but few have a method for quantifying its value. The bottom line is that data is only as valuable as it is accessible, current, reliable and secure. As both the value and challenge to all these attributes increases exponentially when systems are tied to the Internet, companies need to understand how to use and measure clustering and other storage technologies. This session focuses on determining the direct and indirect value of information and how to translate that into justification for implementation.

3:00 pm Implementation Tips, Tricks and Techniques

Presenter:

Sarah Faulkner, Cluster Consultant, Cambridge Computer Services

Hardware vendors and software product providers claim cluster implementation is simple, quick and straightforward. System integrators and ASPs say implementation is so complicated you need their expertise. As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and depends primarily on what you want to do, what you already have in place and where clustering fits in your overall infrastructure. To help you cut through the clutter, this session features a company that implements clustering solutions for its customers. You’ll hear how get your hardware ready, what the clustering software will do for you, and tips and tricks on managing the administration of a cluster environment. Hear what they’ve seen in the field and how it can clear up your misconceptions about clustering.

4:00 pm Joint SAN / Clustering Roundtable

Moderator:	Thomas Henderson, Principal Researcher, Extreme Labs, Inc.
Panelists From:	CITRIX, COMPAQ, DATACORE, EDS, LEGATO, MTI, TIMES N SYSTEMS

This joint session will be an open and lively discussion of the current and near-term developments in SANs, clustering and load balancing applications and technologies. All topics – including virtualization, DAS, the Internet, IP, Linux, iSCSI and even InfiniBand – are fair game so this is your best chance to have your concerns addressed and opinions heard. We'll bring together the vendors, users and analysts; you bring your curiosity and your systems, applications and storage needs.