News

NetApp Announces Scale-Out Storage Systems

Systems include FAS8000 Series units and virtualization software.

• By David Ramel
• 03/10/2014

NetApp recently announced unified, scale-out storage systems designed to let enterprises manage and control data via one storage and data management platform.

Two primary components of the systems are new FAS8000 series enterprise storage systems and new FlexArray virtualization software.

NetApp said the FAS8000 is designed to unify storage area network (SAN), network-attached storage (NAS) and storage virtualization into one hybrid array. The FAS8000 series is the latest in a line of FAS (fabric-attached storage) systems and the first one specifically targeting scale-out storage environments running on top of clustered Data ONTAP, which is NetApp's proprietary operating system.

The company said the FAS8000 systems provide increased low-latency performance for large-scale workloads across enterprise systems through better flash acceleration and support, a new storage I/O-optimized architecture and more memory.

The accompanying software component, FlexArray virtualization software, lets the new hardware virtualize and manage data storage platforms from multiple vendors, easing the move to software-defined storage, a fast-growing industry trend.

Also announced was a new incarnation of the Data ONTAP OS, version 8.2.1, which improves data security and better manages Common Internet File System (CIFS) environments, among other improvements, the vendor said.

NetApp said enterprises moving to "unbound clouds" have problems managing data across private and public clouds. "Our new FAS8000 series and enhanced software offerings allow customers to respond quickly to changing business needs, move seamlessly to an era of unbound clouds, and eliminate the overprovisioning of people, time and money," said George Kurian, executive vice president at the company.