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Tag: storage

  • HP Launches New SMB Storage Offerings, Cuts Staff


    Hewlett-Packard is to introduce several new storage, virtualization, PC, printing and services offerings in an effort to capture a larger share of the Small and Midsize Business (SMB) market.

    The move comes as the company begins consultations on cutting nearly six thousand European jobs, including 850 in the UK and Germany.

    Many of these are at its plant in Erskine, Renfrewshire, because production of servers and storage devices is moving to the Czech Republic.

    HP had warned that more job cuts were coming when it announced second quarter results recently. The company made profits of USD $1.72bn on sales of USD $27.4bn in the three months ended April.

    The new offerings announced this week are part of the Hewlett-Packard Total Care initiative for SMBs, aimed at providing a full range of products, services, tools, training, financing and recycling.

    On the storage side, HP unveiled a new SMB line of appliances and expanded its existing MSA family.

    This includes the StorageWorks X1000 family of appliances, which brings together both file storage and application-based storage.

    The X1000 line replaces HP’s entry-level All-in-One storage appliances. It is based on the vendor’s latest-generation ProLiant G6 server platform, and includes Microsoft’s new Windows Storage Server 2008 Standard x64 Edition operating system.

    Another newcomer is the StorageWorks X3000, a gateway appliance that connects to other storage capacity on the back end to add iSCSI and file services capabilities to existing storage arrays.

    HP also unveiled two new models in its MSA 2000 family of storage arrays. The StorageWorks 2000i includes an iSCSI interface, and the StorageWorks 2000sa includes a SAS interface.

    HP also is helping smaller businesses with new virtualization bundles that include both server and storage technology.

    The bundles include a combination of ProLiant servers, LeftHand software for building virtual storage appliances, VMware software for building virtual servers, ProCurve switches and HP’s Insight management software.

  • Enciris Launches Low-cost HD Compression Solution


    Enciris Technologies has unveiled HD video compression technology aimed at solving problems with reducing bandwidth and storage requirements.

    The LT-100 is a Windows Media Video/ VC-1 HD video acquisition and compression board.

    France-based Enciris says it has been designed to meet the needs of demanding real time true HD acquisition and compression.

    A company statement said that the proliferation of HD video in all market segments has created a significant need for this type of compression technology.

    It adds that specialized, high performance dedicated hardware for real time compression is the only solution due to the massive computational requirements.

    "The low cost of the LT-100 now allows high quality HD compression to be used in product/ projects that previously would have been prohibitive," said the statement.

    "It is a perfect solution for the demanding needs of medical, surveillance, internet, broadcasting, videoconferencing, and video gaming applications."

    Enciris said the LT-100 captures video from both analog and digital HD and SD video sources including DVI, RGB, component, S-video and composite.

    An HD/SD-SDI option is also available.

    Additionally, the LT-100 can function as a HD compression coprocessor for video supplied by the host via PCI or USB.

    The LT-100 will compress HD Windows Media Video (WMV/ VC-1) up to advanced profile level 3 with resolutions from 176×144 to 2048×2048 pixels.

    The maximum compression frame rate is 240 frames per second at lower resolutions. At 1080p the LT-100 can compress 30 frames per second.

    All standard HDTV resolution are supported including the acquisition of 1080p60. The LT-100 can simultaneously acquire uncompressed video for preview purposes or occasional snapshots.

    Designed for low latency applications, the LT-100 outputs compressed video within only a few milliseconds of acquisition.

    Drivers for WindowsXP/Vista and Linux are included. Under Windows, DirectShow is fully supported.

    A cross platform SDK is also available for Windows and Linux application development.

    Mac OS X support will be available soon. Available as a combination PCI/USB board, the LT-100-VC1 can be either placed in a PCI slot or be connected via USB 2.0.

    It is ideally suited for OEMs and system integrators. The LT-100-SDI is an optional HD/SD-SDI daughter card. A USB only module, the LT-100-VC1U, is also available which includes a 140x100x40mm enclosure.

    The LT-100-VC1US is the USB module with the HD/SD-SDI option. A hardware decompression feature will be offered Q3/2009 free of charge via firmware upgrade.

  • Storage Management Priorities: the Need of the Hour


    Most industries acknowledge that increasing IT Storage needs is a fact of life even in the face of economic downturn.

    Newer and more efficient ways of optimizing existing storage facilities are being explored as budgets are tight and capital outlay has been squeezed, writes Samantha Sai for storage.biz-news.

    Hu Yoshida, VP and CTO of Hitachi Data Systems, says: "In this economy, it will be important for IT professionals to stick to the fundamentals and focus on ROA and the ability to break even quickly."

    Major Storage investment priorities for IT Professionals in 2009 have been identified and listed unequivocally.

    Virtualized Storage services already in place require optimization. The direction of thinking seems to be virtualization of external storage and combining it with lower cost tiers of storage and thin provisioning.

    The stress is on curtailing data growth, while maximizing current investments, to get quick returns.

    The drive is to exploit the 70-80 per cent capacity that remains largely unused in existing storage.

    Unstructured data growth remains a persistent problem.

    Data storage optimization would require dealing with unstructured data on a war footing.

    The imperative is to archive unstructured data and map resources back to the bottom line of information needs.

    Tiered and priority ordering of information is identified as an essential activity that will help identify data that can be moved and archived without affecting critical data access.

    Consequently, the archiving solutions features being sought include simple process management, reduction in TCO and mitigation of risk.

    Active archiving solutions that are being put in place, have been recognized as integral to organization management initiatives and two tier storage systems are being moved to archival tier.

    Closely associated with the above processes is the data de-duplication process. Market conditions rule that duplicate data comes at a cost and de-duplication will save costs and improve productivity.

    Additionally, data compression and reduction in number of data backups are seen as methods to save costs.

    It is expected that as the year 2009 advances more and more companies will turn their attention from optimization and archiving needs towards Risk Mitigation and savings that can be had form power and cooling costs.

    Green, clean data centers will be seen as a real and urgent requirement.

    The need to stay ahead of energy issues will be dictated by upcoming regulations of EMEA and increasing purchasing requirements in the USA.

  • Cisco Transforms Data Center With UCS


    Cisco has launched a mainstream data center computing platform – Unified Computing System (UCS) – that promises to seamlessly integrate processor, storage and network systems in a virtualised architecture.

    The move pits the networking equipment market leader against the world’s largest systems vendors, including HP, IBM, Dell, Fujitsu and others.

    UCS offers medium and large enterprises a single architecture that links all data centre resources together, so overcoming the "assembly-required" nature of distinct virtualisation environments.

    Prem Jain, senior vice president of Server Access and Virtualization Business Unit at Cisco, said UCS unites compute, network, storage access and virtualization resources in a single energy-efficient system that unleashes the power of virtualization.

    "By delivering and supporting Microsoft operating systems for the Unified Computing System, we’re offering a familiar Windows platform to help our customers integrate this revolutionary new architecture into existing data center environments so they can quickly realize the benefits of unified computing," he said.

    Virtualisation has transformed the structure of server and storage environments in data centres. It is now extending to network virtualisation.

    With UCS, Cisco is positioning itself so as to have a controlling role across all three levels of virtual technology.

    Starting in the second quarter of 2009, it plans to offer complete systems of up to 320 compute nodes housed in 40 chassis, with data flowing across 10 gigabit Ethernet.

    Critical to its challenge will be its ability to draw on the expertise of key partners. These include:

    • Its compute capabilities, UCS B-Series blades, will be based on Intel Nehalem processors
    • The follow-on generation will be from Intel Xeon.
    • VMware will supply the critical virtualisation software
    • BMC will enable "a single management environment for all data centre devices".
    • EMC and NetApp will be responsible for the storage system units
    • Emulex and Qlogic will input storage networking technology
    • Oracle will deliver middleware
    • Key systems software will come from Microsoft and Red Hat.
    •  

    John Chambers, Cisco’s CEO, said UCS could do a lot for Cisco’s bottom line.

    He said it gives Cisco access to about a quarter of the many billions spent inside the data center, up from less than 10 per cent presently.
    That’s the principal reason why Cisco is reinventing the basic building block of the data center.

  • Symantec Launches Norton Online Backup Web Service


    Symantec, makers of Norton security software, has announced the availability of an online backup service.

    Norton Online Backup, which automatically stores files and digital assets, is the first Web-based consumer offering delivered by Norton.

    Intended as a simple-to-use backup system, it allows digital photographs, financial documents, music collections and archived e-mail to be stored through a website.

    Up to five household computers can be safely backed up, managed and restored through a single, central, remotely-accessible account.

    Once users have downloaded a small desktop agent, which manages a backup of the PC, a Web browser is used to restore or download previously backed up files from anywhere.

    This sets it apart from many other online storage technologies that require the user to use the same PC for backing up and accessing online files.

    Rowan Trollope, senior vice president, Consumer Products, Symantec, said more and more of people’s most valuable assets are stored on computers.

    "Norton Online Backup offers total peace of mind through a comprehensive, easy-to-manage backup solution that not only safeguards users from data loss, but makes valuable assets available from any Internet-connected PC in the world," he said.

    Norton Online Backup is available now for purchase in the US. It will be available worldwide in the coming weeks.

    The suggested retail price for Norton Online Backup is USD $49.99 per year, which includes 25 GB of online storage to backup files from up to five of family PCs.

    Additional storage space can be purchased in increments of 10, 25, 50 and 100 GB.

  • Scott Cleland to Lead Worldwide Marketing Efforts for Adaptec-branded Products


    Adaptec has appointed Scott Cleland as its director of marketing.

    With nearly 25 years of storage experience and nearly 10 years of senior-level marketing experience, Cleland will lead Adaptec’s global marketing activities for the company’s Adaptec-branded products.

    Prior to joining Adaptec, Cleland served as the director of worldwide marketing for AMCC’s storage division, 3ware.

    At 3ware, he was responsible for coordinating and leading comprehensive global inbound/outbound product marketing and channel marketing efforts.

    He served as the primary product and technology evangelist to customers, industry press and analysts.

    Cleland was a key contributor in 3ware achieving the number one serial storage channel vendor status for two consecutive years.

    Before joining AMCC, Cleland was director of product marketing and technical marketing for IBM’s Mylex storage division, and previously held marketing positions at Archive, Exabyte, BusLogic, and Conner Peripherals.

    Vipul Mehta, vice president of marketing for Adaptec, said extensive storage industry experience and a strong track record of conceiving and executing successful marketing programs made Cleland an ideal candidate to lead global marketing efforts for Adaptec.

    "As Adaptec continues to provide high-performance, innovative solutions to leading channel partners, OEMs, system builders and IT integrators, his industry knowledge and proven leadership will be instrumental in Adaptec’s ongoing success," he said.

  • Final Chance to Nominate Storage Person/Product Of The Year


    The new year is firmly underway and time is running out for you to submit your nominations and votes for storage.biz-news’ 2008 Man and Product of the Year awards.

    But with voting expected to be close in both award categories there’s plenty of opportunity for latecomers to make their mark.

    In the product section, submissions can be made for anything storage-related that has particularily impressed in 2008.

    Among the leading contenders in this category are Compellent (SAN with automated ILM), Akorri (BalancePoint), TADASoft (RestorePoint), Dell (EqualLogic), Texas Memory Systems (RamSan-440) and Brioo (Brioo Live Backup).

    EMC also gets nominated for a couple of its products – the CLARiiON AX4 networked storage solution and its Enterprise Flash Drives.

    The former is described simply as "mind blowing". Heady stuff.

    For Person of the Year, StorageRap’s Marc Farley is among the contenders.

    He is praised for his insightful and witty handling of some of the "hot button issues" facing the industry.

    Also up there is Adam Fox, a senior systems engineer at NetApp.

    But there’s still time for other names to be put forward.

    But please don’t delay – we need your product or person nominations before the end of January.

  • Campbell Joins Hitachi Global Storage Technologies


    Hitachi Global Storage Technologies has appointed Steven Campbell as Chief Technology Officer.

    Campbell will have global responsibility for all aspects of the company’s product development and technical vision.

    As the top technology executive for Hitachi GST, he will play a strategic role in the company’s future direction and business growth.

    With 30 years of experience in the electronics and data storage industry, he served in senior executive roles at Western Digital Corporation and technology management roles at Quantum and Hewlett-Packard.

    Most recently he was Chief Executive Officer of Singapore listed Innotek Limited and Innotek’s subsidiary Magnecomp Precision Technology, a strategic component supplier to major hard drive companies.

    His experience at Western Digital included serving as General Manager of the Desktop Solutions Line of Business, Senior Vice President of Engineering, Vice President of New Product Introduction and Chief Quality Officer.

    He will be based at Hitachi’s San Jose, California headquarters.

  • Memory Cards Earn Best Handset Accessory Revenue Return


    Memory cards provide the greatest revenue of all mobile phone add-ons, according ABI Research.

    This is despite cellular handset accessories such as chargers and batteries shipping far more units in what is today a USD $58 billion industry.

    Driven by the photo, audio and video demands of media-centric handsets and smartphones, these memory cards, largely from third-party suppliers such as SanDisk, will see a 17 per cent compound annual growth rate in shipments over the years to 2013.

    Industry analyst Michael Morgan said that of all accessories, memory cards deliver the best revenue return.

    "In fact, as production has outstripped demand the market is currently oversupplied, leading to a 60 per cent year-over-year fall in per-Megabyte prices," he said.

    "However, the memory capacity of the cards being sold is always increasing, and the resulting higher Megabyte volumes more than offset the decline in ASP."

    Handset makers have been putting inexpensive low-capacity cards into smartphone and media phone boxes for some time.

    Morgan said there is currently a point of friction between handset vendors and carriers: the operators want all memory cards out of the box, preferring to sell higher-capacity cards separately.

    "The challenge for mobile operators is that subsidizing handset accessories means losing some of the high margins that they earn through the sales of these products," he said.

    "But subsidies also mean that many more subscribers will have handset accessories such as memory cards, and will be more likely to use mobile music services or download songs, leading to higher data ARPUs for operators."

  • Toshiba Announces First 512GB SSD


    The rush to release the first Terabyte SSD continues with Toshiba’s announcement of a 2.5-inch 512GB NAND-based model.

    Market analysts expect SSDs will account for 10 per cent of the market for notebook computer storage by 2010, and 25 per cent by 2012.

    Toshiba also announced a family of fast read/write SSDs built around the 43-nanometer multi-level cell (MLC) NAND used in the 512GB.

    The drives are intended for notebooks, gaming and home-entertainment systems.

    They include capacities of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB and come in 1.8-inch or 2.5-in drive enclosures, or as flash modules.

    No price was announced for the 512GB SSD but it is expected to go on sale by the second quarter of 2009.

    Toshiba will be presented the new additions at next month’s CES in Las Vegas.