HP Makes Software-defined Storage Available to the World

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HP offers no-cost VSA software with Intel® Xeon® processor E5 v3–based servers and single-click installation on new HP ProLiant Gen9 Server models

PALO ALTO, CA – Sept. 23, 2014 — /BackupReview.info/ — HP today announced it is providing a 1-terabyte (TB) HP StoreVirtual Virtual Storage Appliance (VSA) license at no cost to all purchasers of Intel® Xeon® processor E5 v3-based servers, including servers from Dell, IBM and Lenovo as well as new HP ProLiant Generation 9 (Gen9) Server models, which now feature single-click VSA deployment.

Virtualization continues to be the fastest-growing infrastructure trend, but adoption remains a challenge at smaller sites that lack the budget, space and storage expertise required by enterprise-class storage solutions.(1) Service providers also struggle to achieve affordable shared storage with advanced capabilities they can then sell to their customers.

To help customers simplify and cost optimize server virtualization, HP will distribute licenses for more than 72 petabytes of software-defined storage (SDS) capacity at no additional charge to customers. Under this program, any customer that purchases an Intel Xeon processor E5 v3-based server will be able to download HP StoreVirtual VSA software and obtain a license for 1TB of SDS capacity from hp.com/go/unlockVSA. With an HP StoreVirtual VSA license, customers can easily adopt SDS by deploying resilient shared storage for less cost and physical footprint than dedicated storage hardware.

“The cost of shared storage is still a common server virtualization roadblock for SMBs and enterprise remote office sites,” said David Scott, senior vice president and general manager, Storage, HP. “By offering no-cost VSA software with Intel Xeon E5 v3–based processor servers, HP and Intel are making SDS available to the world for free, giving customers access to hypervisor- agnostic, hardware-independent rich data services while preserving choice and lowering costs.”

“Intel processors are the smart choice for a software-defined world,” said Bev Crair, General Manager, Intel’s Storage Division. “Purpose-built to support the agile, efficient data center, Intel Xeon E5 v3 processors provide the optimal platform for delivering intelligent storage while meeting compute and networking needs across the software-defined data center.”

Increased virtual desktop and online transaction processing performance
To eliminate the cost of dedicated storage hardware, HP StoreVirtual VSA software taps unused compute and storage capacity within a server to provide resilient shared storage for virtual servers running VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V or Linux Kernel Virtual Machine. Intel Xeon processor E5 v3-based technology provides customers with a robust, high-performance processing platform that can easily support the needs of both virtual applications and virtual storage.

Together, HP StoreVirtual VSA, standard x86 servers and the latest Intel Xeon–based processors demonstrate a 4x storage performance increase for virtual desktops and 1.8x increase with online transaction processing workloads as compared to previous-generation Intel server processor technology without additional latencies.(2)

“Single click” SDS enables a simple path to cost-optimized server virtualization
With Intelligent Provisioning, an HP ProLiant Gen9 Server feature that now automates VSA deployment as part of server setup, HP customers can deploy SDS with only a single click. Configured in just minutes, HP ProLiant Gen9 servers running VSA software offer a complete solution that supports virtualized applications and shared storage on the same hardware for substantial cost savings.

HP StoreVirtual VSA supports all x86-based servers as well as hypervisor-attached external storage platforms, allowing organizations to transform capacity trapped in individual hardware silos into hypervisor-agnostic shared storage that can scale out to dozens of nodes and 1.6 petabytes of capacity. With this solution, customers can reduce the cost of deploying resilient shared storage by up to 80 percent and physical footprint by 50 percent as compared to deploying dedicated storage hardware.

Expand and protect SDS deployments
To meet growing business demands, HP server customers can simply and cost-effectively grow their SDS deployments with new HP ProLiant Gen9 support for low-cost, high-capacity HP D3000 Disk Enclosures with 12Gb SAS interconnects. Leveraging the latest host interface technology and providing up to 50 percent greater throughput, HP D3000 Disk Enclosures provide a modular platform for scaling server storage infrastructure.(4) Customers can take advantage of the dense capacity expansion provided by the enclosures combined with StoreVirtual VSA to cost-effectively scale to over 500TB of additional resilient, shared storage capacity.

To protect this SDS infrastructure, HP offers a free trial of HP StoreOnce VSA software downloadable upon registration at hp.com/go/tryVSA. This download provides a 60-day trial that gives users 10 TB of hardware-independent, software-based backup and deduplication that supports VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisors. With HP StoreOnce VSA software, users can reduce risk of data loss and lower data protection costs by backing up data from multiple sites to a central datacenter.

HP was named by Gartner as a leader for its StoreOnce solution in the recently published 2014 Magic Quadrant for Deduplication Backup Target Appliances.(5)

Pricing and availability(6)

• HP ProLiant Gen9 Servers are currently available worldwide. Pricing will vary based on model and customer configurations.
• HP D3000 Disk Enclosures are currently available worldwide starting at $3,738
• The 1TB HP StoreVirtual VSA software license is downloadable to qualified customers at no extra charge by going to hp.com/go/unlockVSA. For larger capacities, customers can purchase StoreVirtual VSA software in 4TB, 10TB, and 50TB size licenses.
• The 10TB HP StoreOnce VSA trial is available at hp.com/go/tryVSA

About HP
HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. With the broadest technology portfolio spanning printing, personal systems, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP delivers solutions for customers’ most complex challenges in every region of the world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) Taneja Group, “Protocol Choices for Storage in the Virtual Infrastructure,” June 2014.

(2) HP internal comparison of a combined solution of HP StoreVirtual VSA and x86 servers with previous- and next-generation Intel Xeon processors each tested by the Load DynamiX workload modeling.

(3) HP internal comparison of traditional dual-controller disk array and 2 node server cluster vs. 2 node server cluster with VSA storage.

(4) HP internal testing comparing prior generation of 6 GB Smart Array infrastructure to new 12 Gb end-to-end solution.

(5) Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Deduplication Backup Target Appliances, Pushan Rinnen, Dave Russell, Jimmie Chang, July 31, 2014. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

(6) Estimated U.S. list prices. Actual prices may vary.

Forward-looking Statements
This news advisory contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning expected development, performance, market share or competitive performance relating to products and services; any statements regarding anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the need to address the many challenges facing HP’s businesses; the competitive pressures faced by HP’s businesses; risks associated with executing HP’s strategy; the impact of macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the need to manage third party suppliers and the distribution of HP’s products and services effectively; the protection of HP’s intellectual property assets, including intellectual property licensed from third parties; risks associated with HP’s international operations; the development and transition of new products and services and the enhancement of existing products and services to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its suppliers, customers and partners; the hiring and retention of key employees; integration and other risks associated with business combination and investment transactions; the execution, timing and results of restructuring plans, including estimates and assumptions related to the cost and the anticipated benefits of implementing those plans; the resolution of pending investigations, claims and disputes; and other risks that are described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2013 and HP’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2013. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

© 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. Intel and Xeon are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United States and other countries.

Editorial Contact
John D’Avolio, HP
+1 503 308 3096
john.davolio@hp.com
www.hp.com/go/newsroom

Source: HP

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