Hewlett Packard Enterprise has added new scalability, file storage, and networking capabilities to its StoreVirtual 3200 storage system.
Introduced in August, the StoreVirtual 3200 is a dual controller array powered by 64-bit ARM processors that sells for entry-level prices suited to SMB budgets. The system runs on the same software-defined storage operating system that Palo Alto, Calif.-based HPE uses in StoreVirtual models intended for larger customers, however.
The original StorageVirtual 3200 let users scale up to meet increased capacity requirements by adding drives or drive enclosures. The update announced today adds the ability to scale out as well by clustering multiple StoreVirtual 3200 devices. That offers SMBs a growth option they haven’t been able to pursue affordably in the past, according to Brad Parks, director of go-to-market strategy and enablement for HPE storage.
“There’s a lot of advantages to scale-out technology, but oftentimes the entry point was too high,” he says. “This gives them a lot more degrees of freedom in their underlying storage to support where their business is going.”
The StoreVirtual 3200 now supports a third expansion alternative as well for businesses that wish to migrate data onto new hardware or distribute data across multiple storage clusters for performance optimization purposes. In that model, which HPE refers to as “scale across,” users can federate and move data between StoreVirtual 3200 arrays using HPE’s 3PAR Peer Motion utility.
“That’s a capability we’ve had in the enterprise for quite a while,” Parks notes. Longer term, he adds, HPE plans to establish closer integration and an upgrade path between its StoreVirtual and 3PAR product lines.
The target market for all of HPE’s StoreVirtual offerings is midsize companies looking to virtualize and consolidate their infrastructure. To help those customers pack unstructured file data into StoreVirtual 3200 deployments along with the block data the system accommodated previously, HPE also unveiled a new device named the StoreVirtual 3000 File Controller today. That product features native integration with Microsoft’s Windows Server operating system, plus sub-file deduplication and compression capabilities that HPE says can cut file storage costs by up to 60 percent.
“That lets customers tap into the same pool of capacity, [and] get better return on investment, more value, out of this consolidated storage infrastructure,” Parks says.
Companies can reduce networking costs too, according to HPE, by deploying a new StoreVirtual 3200 SKU introduced today that supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE) connections over standard twisted pair copper wiring, rather than more expensive optical cables.
That unit sells for $6,500 and up. Prices for models designed for 1 Gigabit Ethernet start at $6,000, just as they did in August.
As 10GbE networking finally approaches the mainstream, storage vendors are beginning to introduce products for SMBs capable of capitalizing on its faster speeds. Both Buffalo Americas Inc. and NETGEAR Inc. shipped 10GbE NAS systems last week.
All of the StoreVirtual 3200 enhancements HPE introduced today are available immediately worldwide.
