HP overhauls SANs, management software for SMEs

Hewlett-Packard has announced several product upgrades for its small and mid-sized customers, including a new version of its modular storage array with 10Gbit/sec. Ethernet ports.

The new modular array was one of a slew of product upgrades HP released that targeted small- to medium-sized businesses.

HP said it added the 10Gbit/sec. Ethernet option to its P2000 modular storage array. The new iSCSI network card would be used for creating a "converged network," where server and storage traffic would share the same pipe, cutting down on the total cost of ownership.

"We're really trying to deliver for the customers who are constrained by the financial situation. They're looking to grow and bring in products that have a long-term value but not a lot of upfront costs," said Lee Johns, HP's director of marketing for next-generation storage.

The P2000 is HP's entry-level array, which has several available network card options, including Fibre Channel, and offers features such as 64 point-in-time data copies or 128 full-volume copies for replication between branch offices and data centres. Johns said HP will be offering a 1Gbit iSCSI card for the P2000 later this year.

Pricing for the P2000 10Gbit/sec. Ethernet-enabled array begins at $11,700.

HP said its P4000 Virtual storage area network (SAN) has been upgraded to include Microsoft HyperV integration, so that users can manage virtual servers, using both Microsoft's and VMware's hypervisor, as a single SAN.

The P4000 is an appliance that can run on any physical server and creates a SAN by combining internal disk drive capacity from up to 16 virtual servers. For example, the P4000 could combine capacity from VMware and HyperV servers to create a single pool of storage managed through one UI, Johns said. Pricing for the P4000 virtual SAN appliance with HyperV capability begins at $11,700.

HP also announced two new versions of storage management software. The first, HP Data Protector Express 5.0, is HP's backup and recovery application for file and application servers as well as Windows desktops. The new version offers backup and recovery for SQL and Exchange servers, and has a simplified licensing model. Instead of having to purchase a single license for each server on which its deployed, users can now purchase one, three or 10 server group licenses, Johns said.

Pricing for Data Protector Software starts at $700 per server licence. Lastly, HP said it has integrated its HP Insight Control software, which is used to monitor and manage hardware systems with Microsoft's System Essentials 2010.

"We've been able to integrate them before, but this is a plug-in to the Microsoft Systems Essentials console, so you get one single view for managing applications and the servers and hardware supporting them," Johns said.