HP announces virtual storage solutions

Hewlett-Packard has come out with a virtual storage bundle that features HP StorageWorks along with LeftHand Networks’ P4000 SAN solutions to cost-effectively deploy, replicate, and manage data across shared storage resources.

“To ensure that application requirements are met, administrators can cost-effectively deploy shared storage within virtual server environments over a SAN, while using existing technology infrastructures,” said Bill Chambers, vice-president, LeftHand Networks Division, HP Asia Pacific and Japan. This Storage Area Network (SAN) can be deployed within HP’s blade server infrastructure and expanded across multiple blade enclosures to meet high growth storage needs. The iSCSI SAN market worldwide, worth $1.4 billion last year, is expected to increase at 36.7 per cent compounded annual growth rate through 2012 to reach $3.4 billion, according to research firm IDC. “India and China represent more than half the current iSCSI SAN market. Server virtualisation will be a key driver of future growth in this market,” Chambers, who is founder CEO of LeftHand Networks, said.

HP purchased LeftHand Networks in September last year for $360 million. LeftHand has developed software which works with VMware to pull DAS (Direct-Attached Storage) into a single virtualised storage environment. After acquiring LeftHand, HP has also moved to take advantage of VMware’s virtualisation capabilities for external storage works.