DataCore Ships 64-bit SANmelody 3.0 and SANsymphony 7.0; Advances in Performance, Migration, Thin Provisioning, and High-availability Improve Storage

DataCore Ships 64-bit SANmelody 3.0 and SANsymphony 7.0; Advances in Performance, Migration, Thin Provisioning, and High-availability Improve Storage for Virtual Servers
http://www.dabcc.com/article.aspx?id=10691

For more details on the newest versions of SANmelody and SANsymphony, access the following presentation: www.datacore.com/software2009

'Mega Cache' for SAN performance, Simple & Fast 'Transporter' Option, 'Waste-free Reclamation' of Storage Space, and Non-Stop High-availability are now shipping

DataCore Software, the leading provider of storage virtualization, business continuity and disaster recovery software solutions, today announced the general availability of the newest versions of its flagship SANmelody(tm) and SANsymphony(tm) storage virtualization solutions. SANmelody 3.0 and SANsymphony 7.0 deliver SAN-wide performance boosts, radically simple, high-availability, and optimum disk utilization for virtual server and virtual infrastructure users. Product highlights include x64 versions, a new "Transporter" feature allowing for conversion between the different flavors of physical and virtual servers, a pioneering, waste-free space reclamation capability for thin provisioning, and ground-breaking support for "mega caches" that deliver lightning-fast (electronic memory speed), storage performance.

DataCore: Non-stop, Lightning Fast, Waste-Free Storage Solutions

"The x64 versions of SANmelody and SANsymphony materially improve performance, and utilization for virtual infrastructure shared storage especially through their ability to create very large memory-based caches," said Jack Fegreus, CEO, openBench Labs, a Southborough, Mass.-based consultancy and product testing firm. "More importantly innovations such as the new Transporter continue to make DataCore a leader in simplifying and consolidating virtual infrastructure management, which is the most critical area for IT cost savings. DataCore's combining these features into a server-centric approach is the wave of the future for virtual infrastructure as integration increases between SANs and servers."

Save More. Do More.

"DataCore is one of a few vendors that is answering user demand to do more with less. With solutions like this you can not only drive down capital [CapEX] costs while improving reliability you can also improve administrator and operational [OpEX] efficiency by centralizing storage operations to a single platform," states George Crump, founder and senior analyst, Storage Switzerland.

DataCore solutions offer incredible value since they enable customers to enhance, optimize and consolidate their storage infrastructure and to get more productivity out of their existing systems. DataCore consolidates and optimizes storage resources by 60%, while greatly accelerating performance. For lightning-fast performance, DataCore enables memory speed caching to accelerate read/write access so more work can be accomplished in the same given time.
Learn more about ROI and cost savings with DataCore at: www.datacore.com/costsavings .

New features in SANmelody 3.0 and SANsymphony 7.0 include:

* Lightning-fast, 64-bit "Mega Caches" Boost SAN-wide Performance

Leading the list of new features in SANmelody 3.0 and SANsymphony 7.0 are native 64-bit controller software with support for mega cache capacities, which is ideal for Database, Exchange and other I/O demanding applications "In large scale, consolidated data storage, cache is king," commented James Price, vice president channel and product marketing, DataCore Software. "DataCore's solutions will now support up to a terabyte (TB) of cache. They dwarf anything in the market and scale linearly with each node that you add to the fabric." The entire working set of a large number of virtual machines can now be kept in SAN-wide cache for unprecedented performance. Behind the cache, VMware, Citrix, Microsoft and other virtual server customers can grow their storage pools from a few hundred gigabytes to multiple petabytes.

* Non-stop, Radically Simple, High-Availability for Non-Stop Storage Virtual Infrastructure

Only DataCore allows maintenance, upgrades, expansion, and failures to take place throughout portions of the storage infrastructure without disrupting applications. According to George Crump, "The result is that you can confidently take half of your storage infrastructure out-of-service for routine maintenance any time of day without suffering downtime. And of course, you can sustain a major storage hardware failure without disturbing users" (Excerpted from George Crump's article "Are you serious about high availability?"). Link to full article: www.datacore.com/downloads/SeriousHA.pdf .

* Waste-free, Efficient Space Reclamation for Thinly Provisioned Storage

Both SANmelody and SANsymphony offer the choice to thinly provision virtual disks and storage (independent of vendor brand name) rather than tie up physical capacity when LUNs are first created. In the new releases, previously allocated or thinly provisioned space can be reclaimed in the background after applications or file systems no longer need it.

* Windows Server 2008-based, Universal Storage Controllers

Configuring DataCore software on x86/X64 Windows servers transforms them into universal storage controllers. The new SANmelody 3.0 and SANsymphony 7.0 releases have been re-architected to exploit the power and scalability of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 for either virtual or physical x86 and x64 platforms as universal storage controllers.

* New Hypervisor Migration Support and Tighter Integration to VMware Virtual Center

DataCore's "Transporter" time saving migration facility is a new option in SANmelody 3.0 and SANsymphony 7.0. Transporter migrates disk images and workloads between different operating systems, hypervisors and storage subsystems - eliminating lengthy backups and restores due to complicated format conversions. A plug-in for VMware's Virtual Infrastructure Client is a no-charge option that allows administrators to non-disruptively provision, share, clone, replicate and expand virtual disks among physical servers and VMs.

SANmelody and SANsymphony Make Non-stop High Availability PracticalDataCore does high-availability better - making business continuity and disaster recovery solutions practical.

* Simple, fail-safe SAN data protection
* Unique, automatic failover and failback
* Priced right for Small and Mid-size Business
* Full-featured, HA SAN software (Thin provisioning, Snapshots, Synchronous and Asynchronous Replication)
* No-penalty upgradeability and a "future proofed" growth path

For more information, please go to www.datacore.com/SANpackages .

DataCore Announces Updated Partner Program at Microsoft Management Summit 2009: Targets Virtualization and Microsoft Hyper-V Partners

DataCore Encourages Resellers to "Knock Down Storage-related Barriers to Virtualization" with New Partner Benefits
http://www.dabcc.com/article.aspx?id=10690

DataCore Software is using the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2009 to announce updates to its SANvantage(tm) Partner Program. The updated Partner Program includes new lead registration incentives, as well as a new "open-door" model that helps encourage more resellers to sell DataCore solutions. DataCore is also using the occasion to demonstrate how new, ground-breaking features in the newest releases of SANmelody(tm) and SANsymphony(tm) benefit Microsoft users and therefore greatly increase opportunities for Microsoft resellers. The bottom-line: new partner incentives as well as new enhancements to DataCore's industry-leading storage virtualization technology solutions will enable virtualization and storage partners to fast-track sales of DataCore's business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR) software solutions.

Why Solution Providers and Resellers Should Partner with DataCore

DataCore is committed to the reseller community and working with solution providers to stimulate, accelerate and grow their virtualization business. DataCore's updated Partner Program and incentives serve as a stimulus program for partners - enabling them to accelerate their virtualization business.

* First, with its "open door" model, DataCore has made it far simpler for first-time solution providers to become a DataCore reseller.
* Second, as part of its updated Partner Program, DataCore has increased and simplified lead registration incentives. The lead registration incentives now apply to all software product sales - new customers, upgrades and follow-on sales.
* Third, DataCore has established "SAN starter" promotions for its industry-leading BC and DR packages that are designed for resellers to kick-start business and grow with DataCore's "value protection, upgrade path" model.

To learn more about the DataCore SANvantage Partner Program and find out how you can 'Knock Down Storage-Related Sales Barriers to Virtualization' please visit: www.datacore.com/stepuptodatacore .

Accelerate Your Sales and Empower Users to "Do More and Save More"
DataCore yields the highest availability, fastest performance and fullest utilization from your storage assets, making it an essential element of Microsoft Hyper-V configurations. DataCore's storage virtualization software solutions provide unmatched return on investment and help clients "Do More and Save More." Learn more at: www.datacore.com/costsavings .

DataCore's new solutions provide unmatched performance; particularly for those solution providers supplying Microsoft Hyper-V, Exchange and SQL based solutions. The newest, x64 versions of DataCore's flagship SANmelody(tm) and SANsymphony(tm) storage virtualization solutions include advances in performance, migration, thin provisioning, and high-availability that improve storage. Among the new features in SANmelody 3.0 and SANsymphony 7.0 that will certainly serve to benefit the demanding needs of Microsoft users are large 'mega cache' support to accelerate SAN performance, non-stop high-availability, universal storage controllers that are Windows Server 2008-based, a simple and fast 'Transporter' option, and 'waste-free reclamation' of storage space.For more details on these newest versions of DataCore's high-performance storage solutions, please visit: www.datacore.com/software2009 .

Get on Board with a DataCore Distributor - Today!
VARs and system integrators that want to learn more about the new benefits of DataCore's Partner Program should contact any of DataCore's ANZ distributors:

In Australia: Call itX at Phone 1300 36 25 25 or visit www.itx.com.au/contact

In New Zealand: Call Datastor Phone + 649 415 6220 www.datastor.co.nz/ or Email: sales@datastor.co.nz

See DataCore at Microsoft Management Summit 2009
MMS 2009 is the premier event of the year for IT Professionals seeking deep technical information and training on the latest IT Management solutions from Microsoft, Partners and Industry Experts. Microsoft Management Summit 2009 runs April 27 - May 1, 2009 at the Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada. DataCore Software is an Exhibiting Sponsor and may be found at Booth 617. For more, visit http://mms-2009.com/.

Datastor Forum in New Zealand

Virtualization is hot in New Zealand too!

And like just about everywhere else in the world, storage virtualization seems to be at the forefront of everyone's mind. DataCore will be joining our distributor there for their annual Forum, and invite everyone over to our booth for a chat about storage virtualization and how it could fit into your business.

For more information, Email DataCore at: ANZinfo@datacore.com
Or contact Datastor in New Zealand at:
Phone: +649 415 6220
Email: sales@datastor.co.nz
http://www.datastor.co.nz/

DataCore Software Empowers Partners to Knock Down Storage-related Barriers to Virtualisation

Resellers Register to Learn How to Remove the Storage-Related Sales Barriers to Virtualisation and Empower Customers to "Do More and Save More"

DataCore offers new partner benefits and encourages solution providers to visit www.datacore.com/stepuptodatacore and attend a webinar so that they can learn how to "knock down storage-related barriers to virtualisation"

Accelerate Your Sales; Get on Board with a DataCore Distributor:

DataCore is committed to the "Power of Partnering" and working with solution providers to stimulate, accelerate and grow their virtualisation business. For more information on DataCore solutions in ANZ, please contact:

In Australia: Call itX at Phone 1300 36 25 25 or visit www.itx.com.au/contact

In New Zealand: Call Datastor Phone + 649 415 6220 www.datastor.co.nz/ or Email: sales@datastor.co.nz

How to Capitalise on the Current Economical Climate: Why Partner with DataCore?

DataCore has established "SAN starter" promotions for its industry-leading BC and DR packages that are designed for resellers to kick-start business and grow with DataCore's "value protection, upgrade path" model.

In addition, DataCore's storage virtualisation software solutions provide unmatched return on investment and help clients "Do More and Save More."

Learn more at: www.datacore.com/costsavings

Partner Spotlight: A Radically Simple, High Availability Storage Virtualisation Solution

Designed for Virtualised IT Environments:"DataCore has helped us to get our foot in the door with a lot of customers," said Lak Gill of Interware Systems, a VMware and DataCore Gold partner. "With a DataCore foundation, we can easily upgrade these customers later on - enabling their infrastructures to grow as their companies grow." The flexibility to grow with DataCore was a key consideration in the decision of The State Group to select a combined DataCore and VMware solution implemented by Interware Systems.

SANs are essential for virtual server environments. However, the high costs of most SANs put them beyond the reach of most customers. In particular, true-high availability between physically separate locations, even when located in the same building, can be prohibitively expensive. "DataCore allows us to put together solutions for our clients that do the job right within their budgets," explained Tim Rettig, President, LAN Solutions, a DataCore reseller partner. "What is more, we feel strongly that our clients are getting robust, enterprise-level SANs at SME prices."Continued Rettig, "With DataCore, the client can pick among hardware offerings from their favourite hardware vendors, and even mix and match them," Rettig said. "When their requirements approach their systems' limitations, we can non-disruptively upgrade them to faster, newer technology, possibly from a different supplier who then offers a better price/performance alternative. Because it offers an adaptable enterprise solution to our clients - in terms of capabilities, performance and reliability, all for a reasonable price, we feel that DataCore helps our firm to build lasting relationships with our clients."

Prospective Partners Should Attend A "How To" Webinar Titled "Knock Down Storage-Related Sales Barriers to Virtualisation"

DataCore has made it easy to learn about the benefits of its partner program, please visit: www.datacore.com/stepuptodatacore . The brief introduction and new monthly webinars are available exclusively for solution providers and IT consultants advising clients on server and desktop virtualization.

Click here to register: www.datacore.com/partner or email: ANZinfo@datacore.com

Thin provisioning and Reclamation

From Informationweek's Storage Blog

What keeps many organizations from seeing significant improvement generally centers on two areas that have plagued some thin provisioning implementations; conversion to thin and reclamation....

The second issue that has plagued thin provisioning is that during use, deleted items do not properly get reclaimed. This is because most file systems do not really delete data when you give the delete command, they just set the data as eligible to over write. If you go through a big house cleaning operation on a volume, that freed up space is not reallocated to the global storage pool that thin provisioning storage systems count on. It stays with the volume.

The result of these two factors is that thin provisioned systems put on a little weight both initially and over time. While some thin provisioning is better than no thin provisioning these challenges lead to the poor results on the survey. Companies like 3PAR, HDS and DataCore have all announced technologies that can address both the conversion to thin issues as well as the ongoing space reclamation issues.

With these technologies companies can intelligently convert to thin to see immediate storage savings and can keep their volumes thin over time. Thin provisioning is more than a check mark feature, it is a serious technology that when all the challenges are properly addressed can save significant storage costs in the enterprise.

See also: Full Use with Space Reclamation for Thinly Provisioned Storage

Partner with DataCore: "Knock Down Storage-Related Sales Barriers to Virtualization"

Partners Are Building Their Practices Around DataCore

DataCore makes it easy for partners to build their virtualization and business continuity practices around DataCore™ software solutions. The BIG REASON: because DataCore makes high-availability SANs practical.

According to Tim Rettig, President of LAN Solutions, "A real differentiator for DataCore is their elegant approach to dual-node redundancy, coupled with auto-failover and auto-failback, as well as physical separation of disk arrays to eliminate storage-related disruptions." He also admits that a big advantage of DataCore is that it is an open platform, which enables his team to tailor the hardware components to meet each customer's manufacturer preferences.

For information on the benefits of becoming a DataCore partner and how DataCore can help you "Knock Down Storage-Related Sales Barriers to Virtualization", please visit: www.datacore.com/stepuptodatacore/

Solution Providers should contact the Value-add Distributors in ANZ providing DataCore solutions:

In Australia itX: Click for itX Contact Info

In New Zealand Datastor: sales@datastor.co.nz

DataCore SANmelody Storage Virtualization Software Wins 2009 Network Computing Award for 'Software Product of the Year'

DataCore SANmelody Storage Virtualization Software Wins 2009 Network Computing Award for 'Software Product of the Year'

UK's leading networking awards recognize SANmelody's dramatic impact on software storage management, provisioning and utilization for network managers.

DataCore Software, the leading provider of storage virtualization, business continuity and disaster recovery software solutions, today announced that it has scooped the Software Product of the Year Award at Network Computing Magazine's prestigious 2009 Annual Awards dinner held last week at the Tower Hotel in London, beating stiff category competition from finalists EMC, CA and Attempo, among others.

Keith Joseph, Regional Manager, Northern Europe, DataCore Software, commented, "It's great to receive this award as it demonstrates that network managers are moving away from the traditional hardware-based solutions that disk manufacturers advocate in favor of a software storage solution that operates on anything and reutilizes the storage and disk already in the network to provide greater utilization, manageability, productivity, uptime and performance."

The Awards, voted on by thousands of Network Computing Magazine's readership, signifies the readers' appreciation of SANmelody and how it easily and cost-effectively converts physical Intel/AMD servers -- as well as virtual machines (VMs) -- into fully capable, virtual storage servers that are able to optimize, protect and manage storage over existing networks to fulfill the needs of application servers.

Other features that enticed winners' votes include SANmelody's thin provisioning for disk space capacity automation, point-in-time snapshots for fast disk-based backups, and powerful data protection services that provide auto failover across redundant disk servers and long distance, asynchronous replication for disaster recovery over IP WANs.

The Network Computing Awards were established in 2004 to recognize best-in-breed, easy-to-use solutions that make the working lives of network managers easier and more effective.

Do more, save more - try DataCore for your storage today!

For more information on the full-line of Feature-Packed Virtual Storage Solutions, please visit: www.datacore.com/SANpackages.

DataCore's 'Transporter' Hypervisor Migration Option

DataCentre Times - DataCore demonstrates new SAN solutions
Tony Lock, Programme Director and Analyst from Freeform Dynamics states:
...the most interesting announcement concerns DataCore's "Transporter" which supplies Hypervisor Migration capabilities and better Integration to VMware Virtual Center." These functions could prove to be very useful as organisations begin to look at using multiple hypervisors in their environments and try to manage them as a pool rather than as a number of isolated islands of virtualisation. However DataCore needs to be very active to educate interested parties in how such functionality, and indeed the capabilities of its entire portfolio, can be exploited."

To learn more about DataCore migration capabilities, please visit: http://www.datacore.com/solutions/migration.asp

The Storage Management Gap

http://entmag.com/reports/article.asp?EditorialsID=142
In the world of storage solutions, management remains a huge gap in the administration of storage subsystems. It's a challenge to manage storage at any level, because data center hardware growth is typically heterogeneous.

Although many strategies exist to help manage the terabytes, the proprietary solutions available today only rarely interoperate. "To date," says Jon Toigo, an expert on storage management, "the industry has shown only limited interest in making products work together in any sort of coherent management scheme. Until some of the incompatibilities in array controllers and fabric switches are fixed, the success of a storage virtualization strategy in delivering these values may be limited. As with most technologies, try it before you buy it."

Solutions for these incompatible systems range from simple backup, to archives and replication, to single-instancing. But one of the tools that has seen growth is storage virtualization. In fact, more and more products such as SANmelody from DataCore Software Corp. ...

Are you serious about high availability?

Check out the new white paper by noted storage expert George Crump of Storage Switzerland:
Are you serious about high availability?

How can we entertain such mirrored HA configurations when budgets are tight?

A possible solution is found in storage virtualization. DataCore Software, as an example, offers a straightforward and affordable software solution for organizations of all sizes. It runs on standard x86 servers, or on a virtual machine in an existing server virtualized by one of the popular hypervisor products from VMware, Microsoft, Citrix, Parallels and Virtual Iron.
Solutions like these 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.

What are the performance implications when mirrors are stretched?
DataCore as an example employs advanced caching techniques that enable data to be written simultaneously to a perfectly mirrored pair at higher speeds than you would experience with the standalone array. When one side of the pair has to be taken down or suffers an unexpected outage, all the storage I/O is sustained from the second mirror without manual intervention. Nothing needs to be scripted or reconfigured. Read more...