HP Does Block and File

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HP on Monday unveiled new storage hardware and software to address multiple storage protocols and help alleviate some of the complexity and cost of storage.

Consolidating corporate data onto fewer servers and storage arrays has been a recurring goal for HP and rival vendors such as IBM, EMC and Network Appliance for years.

“Customers are managing 36 times the amount of data they were less than 10 years ago,” said Harry Baeverstad, general manager of NAS for HP’s StorageWorks Division. “By 2010, they’ll need to manage six times more data than they do today.”

To wit, the company is offering StorageWorks EVA File Services, a system that allows customers to consolidate their data by pooling both block and file data on the same machine. The array represents a marriage of HP’s StorageWorks Enterprise File Services Clustered Gateway with the HP EVA machine, Baeverstad said.

The software adds file services to any new EVA4000, EVA6000 or EVA8000 in Microsoft Windows or Linux environments. Available March 1, the File Services will start at $90,000 for a 2-node configuration on an HP EVA.

Baeverstad said he thinks consolidation is driving the merger of file- and block-based data onto single machines that support multiple protocols, including Fibre Channel SAN, iSCSI and NAS.

The HP ProLiant DL585 G2 Storage Server, the logical progression from the G1, is a plug-and-play NAS gateway.

The system supports Microsoft’s Unified Windows Data Storage Server operating system, allowing HP to support iSCSI connectivity in addition to Fibre Channel SAN and NAS for file and print serving tasks.

HP Proliant Storage Server

HP ProLiant DL585 G2 Storage Server

Source: HP

HP will start selling the ProLiant DL585 G2 Storage Server on Feb. 12 for $18,687.

Baeverstad said HP is also offering Cisco’s MDS 9124e Fabric Switch for its c-Class BladeSystem server, fitting the blade server with 4-gigabit Fibre Channel performance.

Embedding the switch directly into the blade chassis accomplishes several efficiency goals: it frees up more space in the datacenter; reduces the number of wires and components that need to be managed and maintained; and reduces the power and cooling footprint associated with two boxes to one.

For sale March 1, the Cisco MDS 9124e Fabric Switch for HP c-Class
BladeSystem is $5,999 for the 12-port model and $9,500 for the 24-port model.

Finally, the executive said HP supports the highly regarded 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption standard into the HP Data Protector Software 6.0.

Starting with the client computer, AES protects computer data from unauthorized access before it goes to the storage device, which helps companies meet all compliance and regulatory requirements such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley.

Available this month, HP Data Protector Software with 256-bit AES encryption is $490 per license per client, or $2,950 for a 10-client license.

HP unveiled the products at its Asia-Pacific StorageWorks Conference in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam Monday.

Article courtesy of InternetNews.com

Clint Boulton
Clint Boulton
Clint Boulton is an Enterprise Storage Forum contributor and a senior writer for CIO.com covering IT leadership, the CIO role, and digital transformation.

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