DataCore Software Announces Support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
DataCore Software, a leading provider of storage virtualization, business continuity and disaster recovery software solutions, today announced support for native Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity for its SANmelody™ and SANsymphony™ storage virtualization solutions. The company has added the Emulex and Brocade FCoE converged network adapters (CNAs) and Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switches to its FCoE-qualified support list. Additional FCoE CNAs will be announced over the next year. FCoE software drivers are currently available for Microsoft® Windows® and VMware® ESX / vSphere®.
“With the addition of FCoE to our SAN connectivity options, DataCore continues to demonstrate the ease with which our storage virtualization software adapts to new technology and extends the life of existing investments,” stated Augie Gonzalez, director of product marketing, DataCore Software. “Our customers can immediately take advantage of FCoE in their highly scalable, non-stop storage pools without having to replace or modify their existing back-end storage, which may well include DAS, iSCSI and Fibre Channel interfaces."
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Serious About High Availability?; Virtual Storage Infrastructure – Can Software Take Center Stage?
Virtual Storage Infrastructure – Can Software Take Center Stage?
We’ve been conditioned to think of infrastructure as hardware. Is it time to rethink?...
Serious About High Availability?
Solutions like DataCore enable non-stop data access using commodity-priced storage devices from vendors of your choosing. Each side of the mirror can use different types of storage; they need not be from the same supplier. In fact, some of the solutions can reconfigure the equipment that you already have to eliminate storage downtime…
We’ve been conditioned to think of infrastructure as hardware. Is it time to rethink?...
Serious About High Availability?
Solutions like DataCore enable non-stop data access using commodity-priced storage devices from vendors of your choosing. Each side of the mirror can use different types of storage; they need not be from the same supplier. In fact, some of the solutions can reconfigure the equipment that you already have to eliminate storage downtime…
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Virtualize storage through SANs, says IDC
Industry Analyst Articles/Reports on DataCore
http://www.datacore.com/pressroom/pr_industry_analysts_reports.asp
Virtualize storage through SANs, says IDC
Analyst recommends firms create SANs with storage virtualization software rather than shelling out for new equipment
http://www.techcentral.ie/article.aspx?id=13895
The best way to virtualise your storage is through a storage area network (SAN), according to IDC.
In a new report entitled "Removing storage-related barriers to server and desktop virtualisation," the analyst firm claimed there is no need for high-end expensive systems to reap the benefits of virtualisation - just create a SAN with storage virtualisation software.
Carla Arend, analyst for European storage software and services at IDC, said in the report: "This hardware-independent approach complements server and desktop virtualisation without compromising availability, speed, or project schedules."
"Properly implemented, value-added functions like replication and snapshots can be used in a heterogeneous storage environment across storage model and manufacturer boundaries. Just as importantly, it can significantly lower capital and operational expenditure for physical and virtual environments alike."
The report said moving to a virtual environment will simplify management, improve disaster recovery and cut costs, but warned there were pitfalls too. These included initial investment and overlooking needs like shared storage.
Most importantly, IDC said any virtualization software your firm purchases should not be tied to any one set of hardware. As well, make sure the storage virtualisation software you pick properly addresses your physical servers.
"Otherwise, you may end up fragmenting the IT environment that you are eager to consolidate," said Arend.
http://www.datacore.com/pressroom/pr_industry_analysts_reports.asp
Virtualize storage through SANs, says IDC
Analyst recommends firms create SANs with storage virtualization software rather than shelling out for new equipment
http://www.techcentral.ie/article.aspx?id=13895
The best way to virtualise your storage is through a storage area network (SAN), according to IDC.
In a new report entitled "Removing storage-related barriers to server and desktop virtualisation," the analyst firm claimed there is no need for high-end expensive systems to reap the benefits of virtualisation - just create a SAN with storage virtualisation software.
Carla Arend, analyst for European storage software and services at IDC, said in the report: "This hardware-independent approach complements server and desktop virtualisation without compromising availability, speed, or project schedules."
"Properly implemented, value-added functions like replication and snapshots can be used in a heterogeneous storage environment across storage model and manufacturer boundaries. Just as importantly, it can significantly lower capital and operational expenditure for physical and virtual environments alike."
The report said moving to a virtual environment will simplify management, improve disaster recovery and cut costs, but warned there were pitfalls too. These included initial investment and overlooking needs like shared storage.
Most importantly, IDC said any virtualization software your firm purchases should not be tied to any one set of hardware. As well, make sure the storage virtualisation software you pick properly addresses your physical servers.
"Otherwise, you may end up fragmenting the IT environment that you are eager to consolidate," said Arend.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
New from StorageSwitzerland: Virtual Storage Infrastructure - Can Software Take Center Stage?
Virtual Storage Infrastructure - Can Software Take Center Stage?http://www.datacore.com/downloads/SoftwareCentricStorageInfrastructure-Handout.pdf
...Comprehensive storage virtualization software offerings like those from DataCore Software, a pioneer in the storage virtualization space, offer a superset of the advanced feature/functionality found on high-end storage systems, yet can be utilized across disparate disk resources and centrally managed. The same rich set of functions cover direct-attached and SAN-connected storage arrays, regardless of model or manufacturer. This software typically runs on standard x86/x64 servers and is fully portable between hardware generations so that customers are not faced with the usual obsolescence of proprietary storage appliances.
This capability provides data center managers with a number of distinct advantages.
Firstly, whenever a storage asset needs to be retired or upgraded, the migration process is non-disruptive and greatly simplified. The new array is presented to the storage virtualization engine and the data that was contained on the old array is transparently moved to the new array. No scheduled downtime is necessary.
Secondly, since command and control of the storage environment is in the hands of the overarching storage virtualization software, the backend storage can be purchased “bare bones”, without all the costly embedded firmware licenses. This has the effect of commoditizing storage and empowering the IT buyer to negotiate very aggressive discounts from multiple storage vendors.
Another interesting advantage of software-based storage virtualization kicks in when the software leverages “Moore’s Law” through the use of increasingly faster CPUs to speed up I/O processing. In effect, the storage virtualization server puts its internal processors and memory to use as high-speed caches for accelerating disk I/Os from anywhere in the virtual storage pool. Furthermore, this extra processing capacity helps offload advanced functions from the application hosts and the disk subsystems to ensure better quality of service across the board. This insulates the business from needing to incur costly proprietary disk controller storage upgrades and helps greatly extend the usable life of all storage assets on the data center floor.
What’s more, certain storage virtualization software can run as a virtual machine (VM) instance, alongside application VMs helping customers to further improve server resource utilization and truly maximize efficiencies throughout the data center...
...Comprehensive storage virtualization software offerings like those from DataCore Software, a pioneer in the storage virtualization space, offer a superset of the advanced feature/functionality found on high-end storage systems, yet can be utilized across disparate disk resources and centrally managed. The same rich set of functions cover direct-attached and SAN-connected storage arrays, regardless of model or manufacturer. This software typically runs on standard x86/x64 servers and is fully portable between hardware generations so that customers are not faced with the usual obsolescence of proprietary storage appliances.
This capability provides data center managers with a number of distinct advantages.
Firstly, whenever a storage asset needs to be retired or upgraded, the migration process is non-disruptive and greatly simplified. The new array is presented to the storage virtualization engine and the data that was contained on the old array is transparently moved to the new array. No scheduled downtime is necessary.
Secondly, since command and control of the storage environment is in the hands of the overarching storage virtualization software, the backend storage can be purchased “bare bones”, without all the costly embedded firmware licenses. This has the effect of commoditizing storage and empowering the IT buyer to negotiate very aggressive discounts from multiple storage vendors.
Another interesting advantage of software-based storage virtualization kicks in when the software leverages “Moore’s Law” through the use of increasingly faster CPUs to speed up I/O processing. In effect, the storage virtualization server puts its internal processors and memory to use as high-speed caches for accelerating disk I/Os from anywhere in the virtual storage pool. Furthermore, this extra processing capacity helps offload advanced functions from the application hosts and the disk subsystems to ensure better quality of service across the board. This insulates the business from needing to incur costly proprietary disk controller storage upgrades and helps greatly extend the usable life of all storage assets on the data center floor.
What’s more, certain storage virtualization software can run as a virtual machine (VM) instance, alongside application VMs helping customers to further improve server resource utilization and truly maximize efficiencies throughout the data center...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Is the sky falling on VMware? Good overview of the Microsoft and VMware Battle
http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid94_gci1364388,00.html#
..."Microsoft is clearly gunning for the virtualization space, and they have a pretty good track record of making a dent in a space that they want to be in," he said. Another real problem for VMware is that Hyper-V R2's management tools now manage VMware's ESX hypervisor, while VMware's tools won't manage Hyper-V R2. That's big for users who want to use both hypervisors, because only Hyper-V R2 will be able to manage the entire environment, Cappuccio said. "
I would hope [VMware is] paying attention," he added. "My fear is that 'good enough' always wins out in the long run, and if it's good enough and pervasive, VMware may lose out."VMware most stands to lose with companies that are not yet using any virtualization and are shopping for the right vendor, Wolf said. Those customers will likely look at VMware, Microsoft and Citrix Systems Inc.'s XenServer to decide on the right choices. "Microsoft and Citrix both, I think, are going to get a reasonable part of the market," said Chris Wolf, Burton Group...
..."Microsoft is clearly gunning for the virtualization space, and they have a pretty good track record of making a dent in a space that they want to be in," he said. Another real problem for VMware is that Hyper-V R2's management tools now manage VMware's ESX hypervisor, while VMware's tools won't manage Hyper-V R2. That's big for users who want to use both hypervisors, because only Hyper-V R2 will be able to manage the entire environment, Cappuccio said. "
I would hope [VMware is] paying attention," he added. "My fear is that 'good enough' always wins out in the long run, and if it's good enough and pervasive, VMware may lose out."VMware most stands to lose with companies that are not yet using any virtualization and are shopping for the right vendor, Wolf said. Those customers will likely look at VMware, Microsoft and Citrix Systems Inc.'s XenServer to decide on the right choices. "Microsoft and Citrix both, I think, are going to get a reasonable part of the market," said Chris Wolf, Burton Group...
Monday, August 17, 2009
Citrix Web site adds DataCore Links for DataCore Virtual SAN Appliance and StorageLink adapter for Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1855667
Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V, Express EditionSeamless storage integration for Hyper-V:
+ Download the free Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V Express Edition
+ Download the Virtual SAN Appliance for Citrix Essentials from DataCore™
Advanced StorageLink technology
How advanced StorageLink for technology works
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1687089
Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V, Express EditionSeamless storage integration for Hyper-V:
+ Download the free Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V Express Edition
+ Download the Virtual SAN Appliance for Citrix Essentials from DataCore™
Advanced StorageLink technology
How advanced StorageLink for technology works
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1687089
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
DataCore Advanced Site Recovery (ASR) Solution Delivers a More Flexible and Powerful Approach to DR for VMware vSphere 4
DataCore Advanced Site Recovery -ASR- delivers site recovery in a new and industry-pioneering way. It automates and radically simplifies how one or more, smaller, remote IT facilities take over workloads from a central site in the event of a disaster or scheduled outage. Rather than attempt to fully recreate the central datacenter at another major site, ASR can distribute responsibilities for keeping the business going among a few remote offices and branch offices (ROBO) based on business and operational capabilities. ASR also takes care of returning control of the workloads to the central IT site when the main IT center is deemed capable of accepting them.
For a recorded podcast on DataCore ASR from SearchDisasterRecovery.com featuring commentary from SearchStorage.com's Beth Pariseau and IDC's Rick Villars, click here.
"Unlike some other site recovery approaches that are limited to just virtual machines, DataCore ASR enables both physical and virtual servers to be protected across multiple sites," stated George Crump, president, Storage Switzerland. "This advanced approach to DR - one that encompasses distributed disaster recovery, is an important milestone and I am happy to see companies like DataCore reaching it."
Designed for both virtual and physical IT infrastructures
A new addition to DataCore's comprehensive business continuity portfolio - DataCore ASR enables businesses to embrace Distributed Disaster Recovery (D-DR). The solution allows organizations to cost-effectively spread disaster recovery (DR) responsibilities across several smaller sites. Additionally, the solution makes no distinction between physical and virtual servers, unifying their DR operations in a common, automated process.
DataCore ASR: Solution Highlights for VMware Users
*Supports physical and virtual servers.
*Enables Distributed Disaster Recovery (D-DR) encompassing multiple sites in a one-to-many or many-to-many relationship.
*Delivers storage flexibility and thereby not depending on duplicating expensive equipment offsite, such as top-of-the-line disk arrays and specialized networking gear.
*Embraces a bi-directional approach.
*DataCore ASR has the ability to send the VMs and the storage to a remote site as well as to recover it from the remote site and bring it all back to the primary site. Having central site restoration built-in ensures rapid restoration of the central IT site from the widely dispersed branches through ongoing bi-directional replication.
For a recorded podcast on DataCore ASR from SearchDisasterRecovery.com featuring commentary from SearchStorage.com's Beth Pariseau and IDC's Rick Villars, click here.
"Unlike some other site recovery approaches that are limited to just virtual machines, DataCore ASR enables both physical and virtual servers to be protected across multiple sites," stated George Crump, president, Storage Switzerland. "This advanced approach to DR - one that encompasses distributed disaster recovery, is an important milestone and I am happy to see companies like DataCore reaching it."
Designed for both virtual and physical IT infrastructures
A new addition to DataCore's comprehensive business continuity portfolio - DataCore ASR enables businesses to embrace Distributed Disaster Recovery (D-DR). The solution allows organizations to cost-effectively spread disaster recovery (DR) responsibilities across several smaller sites. Additionally, the solution makes no distinction between physical and virtual servers, unifying their DR operations in a common, automated process.
DataCore ASR: Solution Highlights for VMware Users
*Supports physical and virtual servers.
*Enables Distributed Disaster Recovery (D-DR) encompassing multiple sites in a one-to-many or many-to-many relationship.
*Delivers storage flexibility and thereby not depending on duplicating expensive equipment offsite, such as top-of-the-line disk arrays and specialized networking gear.
*Embraces a bi-directional approach.
*DataCore ASR has the ability to send the VMs and the storage to a remote site as well as to recover it from the remote site and bring it all back to the primary site. Having central site restoration built-in ensures rapid restoration of the central IT site from the widely dispersed branches through ongoing bi-directional replication.
"DataCore ASR enables users to execute site recovery operations in a way that is fundamentally different from existing solutions in the marketplace today by bringing the data center together into a single solution," commented Augie Gonzalez, Director of product marketing, DataCore Software. "Many other disaster recovery products are limiting in that they assume recovery, from one environment to an identical or very similar environment or they support only a subset of the infrastructure. Often physical servers are not supported or require a separate solution from applications and virtual servers."
ASR Additional Information, Pricing and Availability
To view a complete Backgrounder on DataCore ASR, please Click Here.
Advance Site Recovery software is available today through DataCore ASR-certified implementation partners - starting at $2,000 per site.
Monday, August 10, 2009
DataCore and Citrix Make Advanced Server and Storage Virtualization Easy for XenServer and Microsoft Hyper-V; Try Citrix Essentials with the New DataC
No New Hardware Required - Free to Try, Downloadable, StorageLink certified, Virtual SAN Appliance Includes Storage Virtualization, Thin Provisioning, High Performance Caching, and Snapshots for Instant Volume Cloning and Fast Disk to Disk Backups.
Download the Virtual SAN Appliance now: http://www.datacore.com/virtualSANappliance/
To find out more information about Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V, please visit: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1855667.
DataCore, Citrix Combine to Distribute Free VSAN Appliance
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Data-Storage/DataCore-Citrix-Combine-to-Distribute-Free-VSAN-Appliance-818930/
The Virtual SAN Appliance will enable IT shops that use Citrix Systems virtual server tools to test out DataCore Software's storage software at no cost. The Virtual SAN Appliance evaluation software connects Citrix Essentials with a StorageLink-certified, iSCSI shared-storage SAN that can pool up to 1TB of disk space.
The DataCore Virtual SAN Appliance and StorageLink Adapter can be downloaded here.
Storage virtualization and disaster recovery provider DataCore Software said Aug. 6 that it has joined with Citrix Systems to distribute a free virtual storage area network appliance for IT managers to test out.
The Virtual SAN Appliance software will enable IT shops that use Citrix's virtual server tools to test out DataCore's storage software at no cost.
DataCore said Citrix has "released a Citrix StorageLink adapter to integrate its storage virtualization solutions with Citrix Essentials for XenServer and Microsoft Hyper-V. The Virtual SAN Appliance evaluation software ... [connects] Citrix Essentials with a StorageLink-certified, iSCSI shared-storage SAN that can pool up to 1TB of disk space...
The virtual appliance also features thin-provisioning storage for virtual machines, speeds up application performance and creates snapshots for "Instant Volume Cloning and Fast Disk-to-Disk Backups," DataCore said.Thin provisioning is a method of storage resource management and virtualization that lets IT administrators limit the allocation of physical storage to what applications immediately need. Thin provisioning also enables the automatic addition of capacity on demand up to preset limits so that IT departments can avoid buying and managing excessive amounts of disk storage. The DataCore Virtual SAN Appliance and StorageLink Adapter can be downloaded here.
IT Analysis: DataCore and Citrix Make Advanced Server and Storage Virtualisation Easy.
http://www.it-analysis.com/news_release.php?rel=12544
Download the Virtual SAN Appliance now: http://www.datacore.com/virtualSANappliance/
To find out more information about Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V, please visit: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1855667.
DataCore, Citrix Combine to Distribute Free VSAN Appliance
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Data-Storage/DataCore-Citrix-Combine-to-Distribute-Free-VSAN-Appliance-818930/
The Virtual SAN Appliance will enable IT shops that use Citrix Systems virtual server tools to test out DataCore Software's storage software at no cost. The Virtual SAN Appliance evaluation software connects Citrix Essentials with a StorageLink-certified, iSCSI shared-storage SAN that can pool up to 1TB of disk space.
The DataCore Virtual SAN Appliance and StorageLink Adapter can be downloaded here.
Storage virtualization and disaster recovery provider DataCore Software said Aug. 6 that it has joined with Citrix Systems to distribute a free virtual storage area network appliance for IT managers to test out.
The Virtual SAN Appliance software will enable IT shops that use Citrix's virtual server tools to test out DataCore's storage software at no cost.
DataCore said Citrix has "released a Citrix StorageLink adapter to integrate its storage virtualization solutions with Citrix Essentials for XenServer and Microsoft Hyper-V. The Virtual SAN Appliance evaluation software ... [connects] Citrix Essentials with a StorageLink-certified, iSCSI shared-storage SAN that can pool up to 1TB of disk space...
The virtual appliance also features thin-provisioning storage for virtual machines, speeds up application performance and creates snapshots for "Instant Volume Cloning and Fast Disk-to-Disk Backups," DataCore said.Thin provisioning is a method of storage resource management and virtualization that lets IT administrators limit the allocation of physical storage to what applications immediately need. Thin provisioning also enables the automatic addition of capacity on demand up to preset limits so that IT departments can avoid buying and managing excessive amounts of disk storage. The DataCore Virtual SAN Appliance and StorageLink Adapter can be downloaded here.
IT Analysis: DataCore and Citrix Make Advanced Server and Storage Virtualisation Easy.
http://www.it-analysis.com/news_release.php?rel=12544
Monday, August 3, 2009
New Data Sheet on Advanced Site Recovery [ASR] from DataCore
Advanced Site Recovery (ASR): Advanced Site Recovery software enables businesses to embrace Distributed Disaster Recovery (D-DR) that allows organizations to cost-effectively spread disaster recovery (DR) responsibilities across several smaller sites. ASR makes it practical to move IT operations from a central site to one or more distributed contingency locations - and back again. Additionally, the solution makes no distinction between physical and virtual servers, unifying DR operations in a common, automated process.
See Advanced Site Recovery DataSheet
See Advanced Site Recovery DataSheet
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Disaster Recovery News: Rick Villars from IDC and Beth Pariseau of SearchStorage discuss DataCore's Advanced Site Recovery
DataCore Software debuts Advanced Site Recovery for physical and virtual disaster recovery http://searchdisasterrecovery.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid190_gci1361899,00.html
DataCore Software Corp. recently introduced a new product, Advanced Site Recovery (ASR), that allows organizations without a secondary data center devoted to disaster recovery (DR) to fail over physical and virtual servers to multiple remote or branch offices (ROBOs) in a disaster.
Beth Pariseau, senior news writer for SearchStorage.com
Rick Villars, vice president of storage systems and executive strategies at IDC
They will answer questions about Advanced Site Recovery such as:
What are the main features of Advanced Site Recovery, and what do users need to set it up?
This product is meant for organizations without a secondary data center devoted to disaster recovery, so is DataCore going after the SMB market?
Do you think SMBs that may not currently have a DR plan in place need this level of protection?
What are the drawbacks of this setup?
What are the differences between Advanced Site Recovery's functionality and what VMware is working on?
Play the Interview
DataCore Software Corp. recently introduced a new product, Advanced Site Recovery (ASR), that allows organizations without a secondary data center devoted to disaster recovery (DR) to fail over physical and virtual servers to multiple remote or branch offices (ROBOs) in a disaster.
Beth Pariseau, senior news writer for SearchStorage.com
Rick Villars, vice president of storage systems and executive strategies at IDC
They will answer questions about Advanced Site Recovery such as:
What are the main features of Advanced Site Recovery, and what do users need to set it up?
This product is meant for organizations without a secondary data center devoted to disaster recovery, so is DataCore going after the SMB market?
Do you think SMBs that may not currently have a DR plan in place need this level of protection?
What are the drawbacks of this setup?
What are the differences between Advanced Site Recovery's functionality and what VMware is working on?
Play the Interview
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