HP Bulks Up Enterprise Storage With New SAN Virtualization Software, 3PAR Arrays

HP also move up in the enterprise storage market with the release of a new high-end family of 3PAR arrays.

HP's new HP Peer Motion software allows application workloads move transparently between multiple HP 3PAR arrays or multiple HP LeftHand arrays across a virtual SAN, said Craig Nunes, director of marketing for storage for the company.

"For our customers deploying virtualization and the cloud, the software address big issues related to unpredictability of capacity and demand," Nunes said.

The HP Peer Motion software allows synchronous movement of application data seamlessly between data centers at a distance of several miles across a metro network, Nunes said. "When moving data around, the distance limit is what keeps the data and servers working with reasonable response times," he said.

However, Nunes said, the primary use case for HP Peer Motion is moving data with a data center on the fly without disrupting user operations. For instance, customers could use it to keep applications running while replacing an array or moving data to a completely new platform.

HP Peer Motion is not available for HP's EVA or XP storage lines, Nunes said. The 3PAR and LeftHand storage arrays are more common in data centers where the workload is unpredictable, making seamless movement of data an important feature, he said. "EVA and XP workload demands are much more predictable," he said.

HP also introduced a new V-Class family in its 3PAR line of storage arrays, which it received with the $2.35 billion acquisition late last year of 3PAR.

The new V-Class line targets mission-critical enterprise workloads, and comes in two models including the V400 with two to four controllers and the V800 with two to eight controllers.

The controllers are based on a new generation of ASICs developed by the 3PAR team which provides about a 50 percent increase in transactional horsepower and up to three times the sequential data performance of the current 3PAR T-Class arrays, Nunes said.

The HP 3PAR V-Class arrays are expected to be available starting next week with list prices starting at $288,633.

They are also slated later this year to be part of new HP VirtualSystem and HP CloudSystem integrated hardware, software, and services solutions for building hybrid clouds, Nunes said.