HP Preps StoreSystem Converged Storage Bundle For Channel
Hewlett-Packard this week expanded its storage offerings with a new channel-only bundle of hardware and software based on its 3PAR storage line, as well as made a significant enhancement to its StoreVirtual virtual storage appliance line.
The new storage hardware and software, unveiled at this week's HP's Global Partner Conference, are a part of HP's new converged storage strategy, said Sean Kinney, director of product marketing for HP storage.
"Our converged storage offering includes industry-standard storage based on our ProLiant servers; our scale-out storage technology including 3PAR, StoreVirtual virtual storage appliances, StoreAll analytic platform and StoreOnce deduplication technology; and integrated management," Kinney said.
[Related: HP's New 3PAR Storage Now Extends From Midrange To Enterprise, Targets EMC's VNX/VNXe ]
HP's converged storage offering was a highlight of HP's first quarter 2013 financial report. HP CEO Meg Whitman said that, despite the overall 13 percent drop in storage revenue HP recorded versus a year ago, HP's converged storage revenue rose 18 percent over last year, nearly matching the 21 percent drop in traditional storage revenue.
HP this week unveiled the HP StoreSystem, a channel-only bundle based on the 3PAR StoreServ 7000 array, the recently introduced 3PAR StoreServ file services, the 3PAR StoreServ software suite and HP's StoreOnce backup and deduplication solution.
"The components are not new," Kinney said. "But they all come pre-configured in the HP StoreSystem, which cuts order processing by about 90 percent. It's also right-sized for customer environments and more affordable than buying the components separately."
The HP StoreSystem is list priced starting at about $171,000, which includes 10.8 TB of usable 3PAR storage, two gateways for the StoreServ file services and 10 TB of backup capacity. It's a complete storage infrastructure, Kinney said. "Just add servers, stir and let go," he said.
The HP StoreSystem is available as a single SKU only and sold exclusively through channel partners, Kinney said. For larger configurations, HP also offers six different reference architectures using the components, he said.
Also new from HP is an update to its StoreVirtual virtual storage appliances, which until a few months ago were known by the LeftHand moniker.
The StoreVirtual virtual storage appliances now support two virtual CPUs in a virtual machine, whereas in the past they supported only one, Kinney said.
NEXT: New Physical Hosts For Virtual Storage Appliances
The virtual storage appliances are getting two new physical hosts from HP, based on HP's ProLiant Gen8 servers.
The appliances include the HP StoreVirtual 4530, which offers double the density and capacity of the previous 4330 model, and the HP StoreVirtual 4730, which offers three times the capacity and double the performance over the previous P4500 G2 model, HP's Kinney said.
HP also updated its StoreVirtual software with triple the remote copy performance of the previous version. Also new for the software is a one-click way to quickly upgrade systems on-line, a simple four-click way to add new nodes and a simple six-click way to migrate workloads from one node to another, Kinney said
"This is the next step in the evolution of StoreVirtual," he said. "All the features are already there, but they're now combined with a better-performing virtual storage appliance and more powerful and reliable physical appliances."
PUBLISHED FEB. 22, 2013