DataCore’s Storage Virtualization Software Reshapes Server and Disk Resources
SANsymphony-V uses adaptive caching and performance-boosting techniques to absorb wildly variable workloads in an open software platform.
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DataCore Software has released SANsymphony-V, a storage virtualization software solution that enables IT organizations to eliminate storage-related barriers preventing them from realizing the financial and operational goals of their virtualization initiatives.
SANsymphony-V software enables data centers to use existing equipment and conventional storage devices to achieve the robust and responsive shared storage environment necessary to support highly dynamic virtual IT environments. This contrasts sharply with the expensive “rip-and-replace” approaches being proposed to support desktop and server virtualization projects.
The new software helps to cost-effectively avoid the many performance problems caused by I/O bottlenecks and the lost business suffered from downtime that make customers very hesitant to virtualize crucial business applications, such as mail and database systems. SANsymphony-V uses adaptive caching and performance-boosting techniques perfected over the past 10 years to absorb wildly variable workloads while simultaneously removing storage as a single point of failure and disruption.
SANsymphony-V offers a flexible, open software platform from which to provision, share, reconfigure, migrate, replicate, expand, and upgrade storage without slowdowns or downtime.
DataCore uses software to reshape server and disk resources already in use to meet the largely unpredictable and unforeseen workloads that virtual machines and virtual desktops throw at newly consolidated data centers – delivering compelling operational and economic value.
Enterprise-class Solution Designed to Meet Mid-Market Practicalities
DataCore designed SANsymphony-V to meet the needs of midmarket end users and solution providers, especially those familiar with Windows Server administration eager to adapt their IT operations to accommodate the many variables that server and desktop virtualization introduce.
Although some vendors in the virtualization field recommend that customers lock themselves into specific storage hardware configurations and exotic purpose-built appliances, SANsymphony-V frees customers from hardware vendor lock-in by decoupling the virtual infrastructure from the underlying disks. It also optimizes the I/O response obtained from standard storage devices that would have otherwise needed to be replaced. When they need to expand capacity, enterprises can choose the best deal at the time from a number of competitive suppliers rather than be limited to one specific vendor’s hardware.
In addition to reducing capital expenses, SANsymphony-V also takes a big bite out of operational costs by removing complexity from the care and feeding of virtual IT infrastructures. It does this by instituting best practices through the use of automation and guided workflows to ensure:
- Cost savings through software flexibility to meet change, portability, and device independence
- Fastest application response by auto-tuning “mega caches” and selecting the best I/O paths
- High-availability stretched across rooms or off-site, eliminating single points of failure and disruption through physical separation with full auto-failover and recovery capabilities that insure the highest levels of business continuity
- Optimum disk space utilization through infrastructure-wide thin provisioning and pooling
- No downtime to repurpose and migrate systems and workloads with DataCore’s non-disruptive pass-through capability that enables file systems and storage to be migrated
- Reduced administrative complexity and risk through intuitive infrastructure-wide storage management, automation, and wizard-like guided GUI
- Multi-site and bi-directional recovery management of data and VMs across sites
- Time-saving recovery with continuous data protection (CDP) to rapidly roll back in time and recover workloads and VMs
SANsymphony-V further accelerates the transition between physical and virtual machines by putting to full use the disk drives and data mounted on the original systems. The rich set of advanced features, all device-independent, includes disk pooling, high-speed caching, synchronous mirroring, asynchronous remote replication, non-disruptive disk migrations, and low-impact online snapshots. SANsymphony-V also includes advances to better safeguard your workloads and avoid disruptions, including integrated continuous data protection (CDP), multi-site recovery, and high-speed and traffic compressing replication.
Getting the Most Out of Your Storage Resources
With SANsymphony-V, you can:
- Reduce your deployment risk for virtualization projects because a complete storage and process overhaul is not required; changes can be implemented incrementally, tried, or undone selectively
- Enjoy cost-effective business continuity and disaster recovery to safeguard your business
- Use infrastructure-wide administration and automation to increase your staff productivity
- Increase savings from consolidating, repurposing, and better utilizing your existing resources
- Reduce complexity and have greater control to manage growth and optimize your budgets
Pricing and Availability
SANsymphony-V software is available now globally. The new release features a simple licensing and pricing structure based on instances of the software (generally two copies for high availability) and managed disk capacity. Five different models and price points are available to meet needs from large to small.
Software licenses for a fully redundant, high-availability configuration start under $10,000 U.S., including annual 24x7 technical support.
More information is available at www.datacore.com.