No, not the transparent green plastic confetti fibers that often line Easter baskets, but the storage/network/floorwax/dessert topping kind. There's something innately satisfying about adding fibre to one's repertoire of serial interfaces: serial should include fibre, or at least that's what all the TV ads would lead you to believe.

A SAN (storage area network) is probably overkill for most home networks, and that's just one of its many charms. Even though I have a lot of movie and magazine stuff I really should be getting caught up on, what could be more relaxing than kicking back for a little while and whipping up a simple gigabit fibre channel storage network.

Okay, maybe there are some more fun and relaxing things to do, but I've obviously forgotten what they are. Maybe I'll think of something later.

The secret of SAN-ing on the cheap is Ebay: ten-packs of 18Gig 10K drives for $250; 7200rpm 18gig drives, a mere $15 a pop. Add a basic fibre channel hub (cheap) or a decent switch (not cheap), the appropriate cables and connectors, top with your favorite HBAs, and you're up and running!

Well, almost. Since we are talking Ebay here, you might have to weed out a couple of dead-as-a-doornail components (one Emulex LH2002 hub, in my case) before you get to experience the full glory of all your fibre channel devices appearing on on your SAN.

Haven't done much with it yet beyond some simple tests and benchmarks, and haven't really done much delving into implementing proper global file systems, but that'll probably have to wait until I get another free moment for some serious playing with the network. For now, I gotta get back to work, so it's off to Vegas for the world premiere of Angel Blade and a little quality time hanging out with the cast and crew of that production.

With luck, I'll get some cool pictures--either of the Angel Blade cast and crew, or of the fibre channel equipment. Maybe both, even.

Acronym of the day: "STOMITH" - Shoot The Other Machine In The Head. Disables a machine so it cannot access the file system. Also called ``I/O Fencing''. This is the first step in the recovery process for failed nodes.

"The lighting is good, the picture quality is excellent, and the production value is top-notch." "Barbara Gehring and deadpan Trygve Lode, who plays the emotionless leader, notably raise the acting bar" "Good camera work and good stunt coordination bring off some really effective in-your-face attacks."

New, reviews, and interviews with Barbara Gehring ("Hawk") and producer Darlene Cypser in the March issue of Sirens of Cinema