HP to roll out storage hardware, software updates

Over the next quarter HP is expected to enhance its storage management software, its continuous data backup and recovery product and its business continuity software for midrange storage, as well as introduce a new line of storage arrays for small and midsize businesses.

At an event in Marlborough, Mass., this week, the company hinted at new versions of its Storage Essentials storage resource management software, Data Protector continuous data protection software and its Replication Solutions and Continuous Access EVA (Enterprise Virtual Array) and a new family of iSCSI and network-attached storage (NAS) arrays for SMBs that allow non-storage-savvy IT administrators to manage them.

Storage Essentials 5.1's functionality enhancements include support for Network Appliance's Qtree and quotas, Microsoft Storport, automated agent installation, server-to-storage attachment chargeback and enhanced Microsoft Active Directory integration. It also now supports the discovery of HP and Sun NAS devices, Linux RedHat 4.0, 64-bit Windows, SQL Server 2005 Viewer on Itanium, Brocade's 48000 director-level switch and MPIO support for the HP EVA. Also, Storage Essentials now has tighter integration with System Insight Manager, OpenView and EVA provisioning software.

A new module for Storage Essentials 5.1 is the NAS Manager for HP NAS, which discovers, manages and performs topology mapping and reporting of NAS devices. The company has also added the Backup Manager for HP Data Protector to the Storage Essentials Suite, which gives backup resource management and reporting of the storage infrastructure. Storage Essentials 5.1 is expected to be available in September.

Data Protector 6.0, HP's continuous backup and recovery product, is expected to include synthetic full/virtual full-incremental forever capability. In synthetic backups, an IT administrator takes a full backup and incremental backups thereafter. Virtual full-incremental capability reconstructs the backup from the full and incremental backups to give the administrator a picture of the storage environment.

The product also now will include instant recovery for Exchange 2003 databases, as well as point-in-time restorations. This feature will make use of Microsoft's Volume Shadow Copy Service and Virtual Disk Service. Data Protector will also support HP EVA Continuous Access/Business Copy replication and mirroring, as well as HP EVA on Windows x86-64, and a variety of Unix, Linux, NetWare and SCO servers and application environments.

The family of SMB arrays is intended to be bought by companies with network managers that manage application-based servers dedicated to Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes or SQL Server. The family of SMB iSCSI and NAS arrays is expected to be released by the end of September this year. The arrays are in beta test now.

"The arrays must be dead easy simple to install and manage," says Debbie Young, Worldwide Marketing Manager for the StorageWorks Division, who says these customers don't understand storage concepts such as logical unit networks, stripe sets or snapshotting.