Sun also announced a framework for its future storage product line with four key areas: identity management, virtualization, security and management. In identity management, the company has combined several of its existing products to make them easier for storage administrators to use. 'When you sign on as a storage administrator, you're authorized as to which parts of the data management infrastructure you can access,' Whitemore said.

In virtualization, the company is adding two new versions of its Virtual Storage Manager: VSM 5, which doubles the capacity and performance of the existing model, and the VSM4e, which has less performance and capacity but for a lower price. These will ship within 90 days.

In security, the company is adding encryption technologies to its tape portfolio. And in management, Sun is defining the 'information management maturity model,' which provides a framework for a set of existing management and assessment tools to help users boost the utilization of their storage networks.