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HP (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM) and 3PAR (NYSE: PAR) all have new data storage offerings this week, and a common thread among the three is their readiness for server virtualization environments.
HP announced new iSCSI SAN, data deduplication, tape and virtualization offerings. IBM announced new mirroring and space reclamation features for its XIV storage systems, and 3PAR added new provisioning features to its InServ Storage Servers.
HP’s Snapshot, Dedupe Features
HP’s offerings are aimed at small and mid-sized businesses, and include application integrated snapshots for HP’s LeftHand SAN solutions, a network-attached storage (NAS) dedupe option for HP Disk-to-Disk (D2D) Backup Systems, and a new DAT 320 tape drive.
The LeftHand P4000’s application integrated snapshot functionality lets administrators capture a data set within an application directly from the P4000 user interface, and integration with Microsoft VSS-enabled applications also helps boost data protection. Pricing for the P4000 starts at $16,000.
HP also announced Virtualization Smart Bundles with Microsoft’s Hyper-V, which bundle HP ProLiant, StorageWorks and ProCurve networking products with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 to ease virtualization deployment for SMBs.
IBM XIV Mirrors, Optimizes and Recovers
Big Blue, meanwhile, gave its XIV Storage System asynchronous mirroring and instant space reclamation.
High-performance snapshot-based asynchronous mirroring allows for easy mirroring between sites at virtually unlimited distances, IBM says, complementing the system’s synchronous mirroring.
Instant space reclamation lets XIV users optimize capacity utilization by allowing supporting applications, such as Symantec’s Veritas Storage Foundation, to instantly regain unused file system space in thin-provisioned XIV volumes.
According to Mesabi Group analyst David Hill, XIV also gets integration with VMware (NYSE: VMW) Site Recovery Manager (SRM) for automated disaster recovery in VMware environments.
3PAR Automates Provisioning
3PAR unveiled new features for automating and streamlining storage server provisioning. 3PAR Autonomic Groups lets users create volume groups on 3PAR InServ Storage Servers to automate and speed up storage provisioning, monitoring and data protection in clustered and virtual server environments.
Also new is 3PAR Scheduler, an automated scheduling facility for routine execution of InServ provisioning commands, while 3PAR Host Explorer automates host discovery and collection of InServ host configuration information. The new products “minimize repetitive, time-consuming and error-prone administration tasks by making storage provisioning and host discovery autonomic,” the company stated.
3PAR Autonomic Groups and Scheduler are bundled products that are offered at no additional charge as part of the latest version of the InForm Operating System, while Host Explorer is host-based software running on Windows, Linux and Solaris 10 hosts, also available at no additional charge.
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