HP Releases Mid-Range EVA

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- HP today introduced an easy-to-manage virtual storage disk array designed specifically for midsize customers who need to reduce the costs and complexity of implementing a storage-area network (SAN).

The HP StorageWorks 4400 Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA4400) offers a combination of high-performance and availability features, virtualization capabilities and advanced provisioning software that makes it ideal for midsize businesses that want to cost-effectively manage large amounts of data in a SAN environment without investing in deep storage experience.

Third-party testing has shown that IT managers spend up to 75 percent less time managing the EVA due to its superior ease of use when compared to competing arrays from EMC and NetApp.(1) Midsize customers who adopt server virtualization can further reduce their storage costs and simplify consolidation by using the EVA4400.

To validate how much better the user experience is for customers and partners using the EVA4400, HP held a challenge of array products comparing the EVA4400 and EMC's competing storage array.

"After working with both the EVA4400 and EMC products, I would definitely choose the EVA," said Buzz Kaaz, director of IT at Georgia-based Pattillo Construction, the largest private industrial developer in the southeastern United States. "The interface was easy enough to use that I could do it myself and save the cost of hiring a consultant. With limited resources, Pattillo is forced to make every technology decision align with our business needs. The EVA aids this as a result of its unique virtualization capabilities, which eliminate management complexities. It allows us to aggregate and automate array tasks so we can manage more storage capacity with fewer people."Hewlett-Packard Co.