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HP shows off filer and dedupe monsters in Vienna

Powerful combos of scale-out hardware and filer software

Deduping Data Protector

StoreOnce deduplication capabilities are now included with Data Protector, HP's backup product. We're told that it uses up to 90 per cent less server memory than competitors' deduping backup products because it uses StoreOnce technology to accelerate data analysis and reduce memory and disk I/O requirements. The backup performance can be up to 1.8TB/hour.

HP sees this version of Data Protector being installed in remote and branch offices, and departmental servers, even as a virtual machine, as a result, sending deduped backup data to a central dedupe repository such as the B6200.

HP is embracing the idea of federated deduplication, with StoreOnce being used on backup and application servers, inline appliances and scale-out storage systems, and data being transferred between these systems without being re-hydrated. Presently deduped data cannot be moved between the B6200 and Data Protector but the capability will be delivered by HP.

X5000 NAS

The X5000 G2 networked storage systems is powered by Windows Storage Server 2008, with HP saying this means it can be managed and backed up by the same tools as Windows-based application servers and secured with the same malware programmes and procedures.

It is a converged NAS for mid-sized companies, meaning it is an app server, HP says, as well as supporting NFS and CIFS protocols, and SMB 2.1. It is also converged in the the sense of Windows Storage Server providing iSCSI black access as well as file access.

The system has a clustered, dual-node, active-active architecture with quick-start deployment tools. It provides 32TB of capacity in a 3U enclosure and can expand to 100TB, supporting up 10,000 users. This startlingly high number is based on the use of 16 x 600GB, 15,000rpm LFF SAS disk drives configured as two storage pools, one pool assigned to each of the two X5000 G2 nodes. Each storage pool is configured as an eight-drive RAID 1 LUN. HP notes: "Not all clients may achieve these results".

HP says it has a Windows Server BranchCache feature which provides local versions of frequently-accessed files, reducing WAN traffic. Snapshot and replication features are included in the X5000.

The X5000 can need around 60 per cent less electricity and cooling than HP’s previous offering in this space, the X3820 2-Node Network Storage System.

Huge potential

In general what we are seeing here is the filling out of HP's storage product line with a much-improved filer offering, the X5000, slotting below the Ibrix products, alongside the P4000 iSCSI and 3PAR/P10000 Fibre Channel block access storage, and both in HP's converged infrastructure scheme.

It has a greatly-expanded deduplication range that now broadly matches EMC's Avamar and Data Domain offerings, and is destined to provide a single dedupe pool embracing backup and archive.

HP is starting to produce interesting and powerful combinations of its scale-out hardware and filer software, along with its deduplication technology. It's also pouring its server technology into the mix and such converged IT stacks are going to feature more and more in its product development. One HP staffer said HP stands for Huge Potential these days, and very glad of it he was too.

The B6200 is available now on with a US list price starting at $250,000 for a fully usable entry-level system. The next release of Data Protector will contain the StoreOnce deduplication capability. The HP X5000 G2 Network Storage System is shipping immediately with a US list price starting at $30,229. ®

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