HP Launches 3PAR Array, Migration Software

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HP on Tuesday rolled out a new business-critical 3PAR storage system and software that allows customers to move constantly-changing application workloads between storage systems.

The HP P10000 3PAR Storage Systems (V-Class) comes in two models--the V400 and V800--and is targeted at the largest enterprise-class virtual and cloud-based data centers that have unpredictable application workloads and multiple tenants. It is designed for customers that have virtualized their servers, implemented the cloud, and whose applications have a widely swinging utilization. The new P10000 arrays complement the F-Class mid-range and T-Class mid- to high-end storage for enterprise data centers.

The V-Class has double the storage capacity of the T-Class and double the performance--the V400 can operate at 4,800 Mbps and the V800 performs at 9,600 Mbps. Both arrays support Serial ATA (SATA), Fibre Channel, and solid state drives and have a maximum capacity of 800 TB for the V400 and 1.6 PB for the V800.

The V-Class incorporates 3PAR’s Generation 4 application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), making for better performance, storage optimization, increased capacity utilization, and mixed application workload support. The ASIC also allows connection between the 3PAR mesh-active storage controllers.

Like the F-Class and T-Class, the V-Class uses the HP 3PAR InForm Operating System, which enables four 3PAR technologies: Thin Conversion, Thin Persistence, Thin Copy reclamation, and Thin Reclamation for Symantec’s Veritas Storage Foundation.

The V-Class connects to the storage area network (SAN) via 192 8-Gbps Fibre Channel ports. The company also plans to introduce 10-Gbps iSCSI and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connections soon.

Included with the V-Class is HP 3PAR Thin Provisioning software, which lets IT administrators allocate virtual volumes once and only consume physical capacity for written data, letting them meet capacity requirements, support multiple service levels, and purchase new capacity only when they actually need it.

The V-Class also works with HP PAR Virtual Copy software, which makes reservationless point-in-time copies for data protection.

In addition, HP announced Peer Motion software for its 3PAR and LeftHand storage systems. Peer Motion federates or links systems together into a single entity, so that application workloads can be moved or redistributed between systems based on need. In addition, Peer Motion gives the IT manager the ability to retire storage arrays and migrate data to newer systems non-disruptively. The software can also use federated thin provisioning to move data to systems with available capacity. Peer Motion can be deployed on systems over a metropolitan area and provides any-to-any connectivity between 3PAR class storage systems or with Left Hand storage systems. Data migration speed is throttled to reduce the impact on application performance and the RAID level, drive type, stripe width, and subsystem failure protection level are adjusted automatically to increase the quality of service levels.

Both HP VirtualSystem and HP CloudSystem converged infrastructure systems including the HP 3PAR V-Class Storage System will be available later this year. The HP P10000 3PAR Storage System is expected this month starting at $288,633. HP 3PAR Peer Motion is available separately for an additional charge. HP LeftHand Storage Systems customers can upgrade their operating systems to include Peer Motion for no charge.

Deni Connor is founding analyst for Storage Strategies NOW, an industry analyst firm that focuses on storage, virtualization, and servers.IT teams areas are packing more information on fewer devices, delivering faster throughput while using less space and power, and managing the needs of more applications with fewer people. Our new report shows how smart CIOs will accelerate this trend by adopting new multipurpose arrays and converged networks. Download our report here. (Free registration required.)