* Compellent Storage Center 4.0 manages data inside the volume
Compellent unveiled a new storage array last week that it claims can reduce the number of disk drives a user requires by as much as 80%. The Compellent Storage Center 4.0 includes new software that allows tiering and thin provisioning, both technologies that let users reduce their storage costs and power consumption.
Compellent Storage Center 4.0 manages data inside the volume to enable the automated tiering of storage within each drive. This capability allows users to increase storage utilization and reclaim unused disk space.
The company has also introduced new software applications that help free up disk drives and reduce energy consumption. Fast Track allows frequently accessed data to be placed on the outer tracks of a disk drive so it can be accessed faster.
Thin Import allows existing data to be converted into thin-provisioned volumes, thus reducing disk drive requirements by as much as 50%.
Free Space Recovery frees up the space taken by Windows files that have been deleted. In a traditional storage-area network, when Windows files are deleted, the system will continue to report that the space is unavailable.
Finally, Application Optimizer tunes storage performance by application. IT can set the size of data transfers to match the I/O performance characteristics of the application.
In addition, the company is offering a new controller – the Series 30 – that offers increased performance, while still being backward-compatible.
Compellent Storage Center starts at $57,200 for 7.2TB of storage, a single controller, Fast Track, Thin Import and Free Space Recovery software.
