Modular Disk Arrays target entry-level market.
Press Release Summary:
Suited for small and mid-sized businesses, StorageWorks 2000 Modular Smart Arrays can scale up to 36 TB of capacity and support 4 Gb Fibre Channel or 1 Gb iSCSI host connectivity for deployment in physical or virtual server environments. MSA2000 Series will also meet remote office, departmental, secondary, and tertiary storage needs of enterprises. To minimize downtime, arrays include dual power supplies, optional dual controllers, and redundant hardware with automatic failover.
Original Press Release:
HP Introduces Advanced Family of Disk Arrays at Entry-level Prices
PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 6, 2008 - HP today introduced a new family of entry-level disk
arrays with enterprise-class features that can help customers more effectively centralize storage to lower costs, increase administrator efficiency and reduce business downtime.
The HP StorageWorks 2000 Modular Smart Array (MSA2000) family is composed of low-cost Fibre Channel and iSCSI disk arrays for highly available, storage area networks (SAN) that is designed for virtualized server environments.
The easy-to-use, enterprise-class systems are designed for small and mid-size businesses, however, enterprises also will find the MSA2000 is an ideal solution for their remote office, departmental, secondary and tertiary storage needs. The entry-level external storage market was $2.8 billion in 2006, according to analysts, and HP garnered a market-leading 21 percent market share in this segment in 2007.(1)
"HP's market strength and experience in the entry-level SAN segment allows them to
deliver cost-effective solutions that provide high levels of availability and scalability," said John Webster, principal IT advisor, Illuminata Inc. "There is a growing demand among customers with smaller storage needs for features to support high-profile data and applications, as well as deployments of virtual servers."
The MSA2000 arrays are easily deployed in physical or virtual server environments to
deliver an available and automated infrastructure. The modular arrays also support a
wide range of application deployments, including VMware virtualization software. The
MSA2000 enables customers to increase disk utilization by deploying any combination
of SAS or SATA drives to achieve an ideal mix of price, reliability and performance to
support their business.
New capabilities within the MSA2000 increase application uptime to better ensure that
the systems are available for the business. For example, features such as dual power
supplies, optional dual controllers and redundant hardware with automatic failover
significantly reduce business downtime.
To further minimize the risk of business interruption, the MSA2000 includes optional
management software for "snap and clone" capabilities. These new data duplication
capabilities are critical in protecting data and streamlining IT processes with rapid
backup and recovery operations. This more reliable data protection also features a
persistent cache that does not require a battery backup, thus reducing the potential
disposal of hazardous material.
Both the iSCSI and Fibre Channel MSA2000 arrays complement the HP BladeSystem
and feature a built-in management console to set up and configure the storage without
additional hardware and software. This enables HP BladeSystem customers to easily fit
the MSA2000 into their current management environment and configure all their blades
at once instead of one blade at a time.
The flexible and modular nature of the HP StorageWorks portfolio eases the addition of
file services to the MSA2000 family using HP ProLiant Storage Servers or an HP
StorageWorks EFS Clustered Gateway. By leveraging familiar ProLiant server
configuration and system management tools, minimal training is required for IT managers
and administration is simplified.
"Our modular storage arrays are perfect for customers who have a limited IT budget, but
need a solution that is quickly scalable for shared storage environments," said Robin
Hensley, vice president of Entry Storage, StorageWorks, HP. "Customers will benefit
from consolidating their storage and can take advantage of features like snap and clone
to protect their data and deliver value to their business."
The MSA2000 disk arrays can scale up to 36 terabytes of capacity and support either 4-
Gb Fibre Channel (MSA2000fc) or 1-Gb iSCSI (MSA2000i) host connectivity. The arrays can be configured with up to 48 SAS or SATA disk drives for an optimal mix of
performance, cost and energy efficiency.
Pricing and availability
The HP StorageWorks 2000 Modular Smart Array starts at U.S. list price of $4,999 with
general availability expected in March.(2)
More information about the MSA2000 is available at http://www.hp.com/go/msa2000.
About HP
HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers - from
individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing,
personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world's
largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $104.3 billion for the four fiscal quarters
ended Oct. 31, 2007. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at
www.hp.com.
(1) IDC Q3FY07 Disk Systems Storage Tracker, Dec. 5, 2007.
(2) Estimated U.S. list prices. Actual prices may vary.
