DataCore Software and ACAL at SNW Europe 2007

Storage networking goes virtual and hardware free

Storage virtualisation and storage management vendor, DataCore Software has announced at Storage Networking World Europe (29. 31. October, Congress Centre, Frankfurt) new UpTempo performance accelerators, Free to Try Thin Storage Provisioning and a major enhancement that adds versatility to its entire line of storage virtualisation solutions, SANmelody, SANsymphony and Traveller CPR. 

Storage Networking World is the leading European customer conference for storage and storage infrastructure and is entirely focussed on showcasing innovative storage solutions. SNW 2007 pre-registration research shows that virtualisation is on top of the agenda for visitors attending the show. Accompanied by its long-time Value Added Distributor, ACAL, DataCore will unveil several important announcements set to revolutionise storage virtualisation and Thin Storage Provisioning.

DataCore Virtual SAN Solutions Run Hardware-Free on Virtual Machines

Topping the bill of multiple announcements is the news that DataCores storage virtualisation and management platforms SANmelody, SANsymphony, and Traveller for continuous data protection can now be implemented hardware free on virtual machines in combination with todays leading  server virtualisation platforms VMware, Microsoft, Citrix, Xensource, Virtual Iron. As virtual SAN servers, the solutions provide a new level of consolidation and flexibility never previously experienced.

"Virtualisation now represents the major paradigm shift in IT and storage. Storage is becoming increasingly a software topic and with DataCore it has become an application like any other", commented Christian Hagen, VP Europe, DataCore Software. "Our latest enhancements go one step further: they virtualise storage on virtual servers. Storage server solutions running on virtual machines (VM) shift the solution away from hardware-based storage solutions towards flexible, hardware-independent, software-based ,storage solutions and infrastructures. SNW Europe is a brilliant platform to inform users about this innovative IT concept."

DataCore Announces Suite of Transplantable iSCSI SAN and Disaster Recovery Solutions for Growing SMBs and SMEs that runs on standard servers.

In addition, DataCore has announced a range of Virtual Infrastructure Foundation (VIF) Acceleration Bundles designed to enable small and midsize businesses and enterprises (SMB/Es) to affordably implement iSCSI Virtual SANs and fault tolerant shared storage for virtual server systems. Ranging from $1000 to $20,000 (US list price), these SANmelody-based bundled solutions make it possible for any business to get started with virtualisation backed by a DataCore virtual SAN featuring advanced storage management, fast disk I/O performance acceleration, cost effective thin provisioning, SANmotion data migration, remote site disaster recover (DR) and auto-recovery high availability (HA).

"Our VIF and DR packages are value rich offerings aimed at solving the real world storage problems faced by smaller businesses. The bundles provide a solid stepping stone for SMBs considering affordable shared storage for virtual server deployments, iSCSI storage networking and or disaster recovery solutions for the first time and for the long term, states George Teixeira, president and CEO, DataCore Software Corporation.  

DataCores new SMB and SME iSCSI SAN solution bundles all can be easily upgraded from one level to the next by simply paying the difference in price, the solutions are available worldwide from DataCore value add solution providers.

The packaged offerings include:

• The Virtual Infrastructure Foundation (VIF) Acceleration SAN Bundle for Small Business (SMB): SANmelody based virtual iSCSI SAN software supporting multiple terabyte thin provisioning storage pools, SANmotion and self-learning caching algorithms for performance acceleration, all priced from $1,000   
• The VIF Business Continuity Acceleration BC Starter Bundle for Midsize Enterprises (SME): Includes the above features and adds to the shared storage SAN fault tolerant, auto failover and recovery, high availability that spans multiple sites synchronously, pricing for software licenses range depending on options from $8,000 to around $16,000
• The VIF  Disaster Recovery Acceleration DR Starter Bundle for Midsize Enterprises (SME): Asynchronous IP Mirroring and SAN pool replication that span multiple sites priced form $8,000 to around $16,000.
• The VIF Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Acceleration BC/DR Bundle for Midsize Enterprises (SME): Campus wide local auto failover and recovery SAN plus long distance remote site storage replication over IP connections, priced from $14,000 to around $20,000

According to industry research firm IDC reports, iSCSI is the fastest growing segment of the storage industry. In the last year, the iSCSI SAN market grew by 144 percent, to $746 million, and is predicted to grow to $5 billion by 2010. The Yankee Group has reported that virtualization deployments among companies with fewer than 100 servers or 1,000 employees are expected to double during the next two years.  The Taneja Group and other reports claim that over 85% of virtualized server deployments use a SAN and a shared storage model.

High Cost of Shared Storage Comes Between SMB/Es and Virtualisation:

Server consolidation offers the promise of greater efficiency, savings and administration, but the price tag associated with implementation has proven prohibitive to many SMB/Es, because of the high cost of the shared storage with automatic failover they must purchase to protect the many application eggs that consolidation places in one server basket. and to keep the operations that depend on them running in the event of server failure. This barrier to SMB/E adoption is exacerbated by the disposable nature of the hardware-based storage solutions in which these growing companies are being asked to invest, which gives them little time to amortize that initial investment before they have to scrap or redeploy it to a lesser use because they have outgrown it, it has become obsolete or it has gone the way that all machines go eventually.

DataCore Scales the Barriers to SMB/E Virtualisation AdoptionEnter DataCore.

DataCore solves this problem with entry level, highly affordable, hardware independent, shared storage solutions that run on standard servers, scale with an SMB/Es growth through software upgrades, and can be transplanted from one server to the next.  As such, it is a storage solution that is persistent and renewable, serving and managing storage for many years and surviving generations of hardware. While other vendors force the customer to buy all at once, charging high premiums for follow on sales and upgrades, DataCore allows SMB/Es to get started with just what their current needs dictate, and to easily upgrade as and when the need requires without paying a premium for that luxury. Upgrades, depending on package, include Snapshot, Asynchronous IP Mirroring (AIM), Synchronous Mirroring, and Continuous Data Protection (CDP). In addition, unlike most of todays iSCSI storage solutions for SMB/E, DataCore solutions are network agnostic.  All DataCore iSCSI solutions can be easily upgraded to fully support Fibre Channel connections as well, giving SMB/Es the ultimate flexibility in choice of network, without requiring the customer to pay for the choice in advance.

Portable & Upgradeable Storage Solutions Survive Hardware Obsolescence

For nearly 10 years, enterprise customers and SMB/Es alike have relied upon DataCore storage virtualisation solutions to serve, manage and protect their data and to grow their storage infrastructures efficiently and economically with a solution that continues to work for them even as the hardware within that infrastructure comes and goes.  DataCore solutions are a lasting, modern alternative to traditional, hardware-based storage arrays, which (to anyone with a screwdriver) are quickly revealed to be simply standard servers, with commodity disk drives, running smart storage applications that do all the work and represent all the value. Tied to the box, the solution within goes wherever the box goes-- including the junkyard. DataCore, on the other hand, builds software-based storage solutions that run on any standard server, turning it into a storage server.  It separates the brains from the body, creating a solution that is truly transportable from one server generation to the next.

No one would ever dream of throwing away Exchange because the server on which it was running became obsolete, says Teixeira. Yet, this is what the storage industry has been forcing SMBs to do with their storage for years, junking their entire investment each time they need to replace, grow or upgrade their storage solutions.  DataCore give its customers the power to reject this abusive paradigm by offering SMB/Es both the shared storage required to implement virtual infrastructures and the comfort of knowing that their investments in DataCore virtual SAN solutions will continue to work for them for many years to come, even as they grow and their needs change.

Go Green: DataCores Hardware-Independent Thin Provisioning Can Trim Fat Storage By 50%; Reduces Storage Hardware Burden On Wallet And Planet

DataCore will also showcase that it has made its thin provisioning software easily available by download to anyone who wants to try it. It also can run and be evaluated on a VM environment. Thin provisioning is revolutionizing storage management and energy savings in data centers around the world, but most potential users have limited access to the technology because vendors restrict their thin provisioning solutions to work only with their own higher priced storage arrays and disks.

According to Mike Karp, senior analyst, Enterprise Management Associates, Thin provisioning can be great solution for budget-strapped IT managers. It saves money, time, worry, and is 'green', so it makes companies good environmental citizens. The DataCore approach, like that of VMware, and Citrix, is not wrapped in expensive hardware. A customers investment is protected because DataCore thin provisioning will keep working even if their hardware infrastructure changes.

To make the benefits of thin provisioning even more accessible, DataCore has made a 30-day free trial available for download at www.datacore.com/download.asp.

UpTempo: Overcome Performance Bottlenecks Due To Slow Disk I/O

In addition, new server versions of DataCores UpTempo performance accelerators can be seen at the show.  UpTempo software can be easily downloaded so users can see for themselves how it optimises Microsoft Exchange, SQL Databases, Virtual Servers, Citrix, Virtual Desktop Infrastructures (VDI) and other I/O intensive applications. The performance can be accelerated by a factor of 3 to 4x I/O performance (and sometimes 10x or more).

Seeing is believing - take a free test drive!

Click here to download: http://www.datacore.com/download.asp
 

About Acal

Founded in 1997, ACAL Storage Networking is based on supplying the IT channel with best of breed storage networking solutions. The purpose of these solutions is to network servers with storage devices to form Storage Area Networks (SANs).

ACAL Storage Networking is the expert distributor of storage networking hardware, software and services. These enable the channel and their customers to network the worlds business data. Typical applications might include mission critical data backup, storage & server consolidation, and business continuance.

About DataCore Software

DataCore Software, the leading provider of storage virtualization software, fundamentally changes the economics of managing storage with innovative software that combines advanced functions and services with the agility and savings of hardware independence. DataCore's disk server software easily adds capacity expansion and centralized storage management for Windows, UNIX, Linux, VMware, MacOS, and NetWare systems. DataCore is privately held and its corporate headquarters are in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

DataCore, the DataCore logo, SANsymphony, SANmelody. Traveller and UpTempo are trademarks or registered trademarks of DataCore Software Corporation. Other DataCore product or service names or logos referenced herein are trademarks of DataCore Software Corporation. All other products, services and company names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.