HPE With Entry Hybrid Flash Array Starting at $9,877

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) announced shared storage solutions that help SMBs modernize their IT with hybrid flash and software-defined storage platforms that bring enterprise capabilities to sub-$10,000 price points.

For years, SMBs have been forced to subjugate business requirements due to the cost and complexity of enterprise storage. While others have deployed flash for app acceleration, leveraged software-defined storage for cost savings, and are exploring hyper-convergence to accelerate time-to-value, smaller customers and others with entry budgets have been priced out of these game-changing technologies.

The leader in servers ⁽¹⁾ and storage ⁽²⁾, the company is bringing enterprise storage data services to the entry space with modern storage that eliminates technology dead ends. The StoreVirtual 3200 provides a next-generation, entry storage array starting at $6,000 with an easy on-ramp to software-defined storage while the MSA 2042 delivers hybrid flash for application acceleration starting at under $10K. ⁽³⁾ Both systems feature a set of data services from data migration, to flash tiering to embedded resiliency across systems and sites.

“No matter your size, when it comes to today’s digital transformation, ‘good enough’ storage is no longer good enough,” said Bill Philbin, VP and GM, storage, HPE. “By lowering the cost of flash and enabling a composable data fabric across storage systems and hyper-converged appliances, HPE is helping customers get off the disposable technology treadmill and onto storage they can grow with, not out of.“

Modern shared storage with software-defined DNA starting at $6K
The StoreVirtual 3200 storage is a next generation, flexible shared storage system built on the company’s software-defined storage platform with over 200,000 StoreVirtual deployments worldwide. ⁽⁴⁾ The StoreVirtual 3200 provides SMBs with a dual-controller array based on 64-bit ARM technology, a RAID stack and storage data services like snapshots, thin provisioning and replication at an unprecedented price point. It also provides customers with a futureproof and risk-free path for growth through a composable data fabric that spans StoreVirtual Systems and VSA software running on ProLiant servers, firm’s hyperconverged appliances, and Synergy. By using the same software-defined storage OS everywhere, the company’s vision is to provide customers the freedom to grow in any direction, at any time, across any form factor or consumption model.

Architected on a foundation with five-nines availability, the StoreVirtual 3200 is a new StoreVirtual array that gives customers the flexibility to consolidate workloads, add flash when they are ready and scale to meet future demands. Advanced features are available which allow the system to address real-time workload changes by dynamically reacting to I/O fluctuations. This approach utilizes a small amount of flash storage to deliver application acceleration with no user intervention–making it for server virtualization and productivity apps ⁽⁵⁾.

Deployable in minutes and manageable with zero learning curve, the StoreVirtual 3200 introduces SMBs to a consumer-driven user experience based on the same design framework now shared across firm’s enterprise storage and data center offerings. This simplicity extends to a new remote, cloud-based analytics capability featuring a built-in best practices engine and capacity planning tools to simplify management and reduce risk.

The StoreVirtual 3200 provides resiliency across systems and sites as well as built-in support for more than 2,000 snapshots for rapid, granular recovery designed to keep small to mid-sized businesses running. For additional protection, with software such as HPE VM Explorer, data can be backed up and stored on StoreOnce Disk Backup.

To ease the technology transition, tools such as StoreVirtual Migration Manager software are available to simplify and de-risk workload migrations. Existing StoreVirtual customers will find the StoreVirtual 3200 can provide the same performance and capacity at 58% lower cost than existing 2-node StoreVirtual 4000 configurations. ⁽⁶⁾

Entry SAN array ⁽⁷⁾ gets flash makeover for under $10K
The MSA 2042 takes company’s entry array – with nearly half a million units sold to-date ⁽⁸⁾ – and turbo-charges it with 800GB of built-in SSD capacity plus a software suite that delivers enterprise capabilities, at a starting price under $10,000. ⁽⁹⁾ With flash acceleration, automated tiering and data protection features now standard and price-reduced, the MSA 2042 delivers up to 60% increase in database transactions per second and 80% faster application response times ⁽¹⁰⁾ at a 54% cost savings, ⁽¹¹⁾ making it for customers looking to accelerate apps such as databases and consolidate on a proven platform.

With simple management designed for IT generalists and ProLiant server users, the MSA 2042 offers the same ease of use as the rest of the MSA family. It provides the flexibility to use built-in SSD capacity as either a read cache accelerator or as a performance tier for read and write acceleration with no additional licensing costs. The system features a ‘set-and-forget’ tiering engine that optimizes flash capacity by reacting on-the-fly without manual intervention.

Out-of-the-box support for up to 512 array snapshots and remote replication to any MSA system provides affordable application availability with instant recovery to help businesses protect their data and their businesses ⁽¹²⁾. A replication wizard simplifies the task of setting up and establishing replication pairs from a unified, easy-to-use GUI.

To protect investments and eliminate technology dead-ends, the MSA 2042 allows businesses to start small and scale with any combination of supported flash and traditional disk drives. As with the other members of the MSA family, the 2042 offers data-in-place upgrades that eliminate data migration headaches and allow customers to carry forward their drive investments.

Pricing and availability

• StoreVirtual 3200 storage systems are available worldwide with US street pricing starting at $6,055 (€5,800 in Europe.)

• MSA 2042 storage systems are available worldwide immediately with US street pricing starting at $9,877 (€9,000 in Europe.)

• StoreVirtual Migration Manager available worldwide in Q3 2016.

⁽¹⁾ IDC Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker for 1CQ16, June 2016. HPE continues to lead in the worldwide server market by revenue. It is the #1 in worldwide revenue for multiple consecutive quarters. See.
⁽²⁾ Based on the Q1 2016 IDC WW Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker for Total Storage Revenue growth (external, internal and ODM storage systems) in 1Q16. HPE is ahead of EMC in revenue, but statistically tied for #1 position. See.
⁽³⁾ Estimated US street price for 1.2TB configuration with hardware and software.
⁽⁴⁾ Based on the company’s internal analysis, June 2016.
⁽⁵⁾ Based on software capabilities available with the Advanced Data Services suite.
⁽⁶⁾ Estimated US street price comparison between a two-node StoreVirtual 4330 vs equivalent StoreVirtual 3200 with 14.4TB raw capacity.
⁽⁷⁾ Based on the Q1 2016 IDC WW Quarterly Enterprise Storage Systems Tracker for External Entry (PB 1-4) SAN Storage revenue in 1Q16.
⁽⁸⁾ Based on internal reporting of total MSA units shipped.
⁽⁹⁾ Based on US street pricing for the MSA 2042 with 800GB of built-in flash and all-inclusive software license suite. See pricing section for additional details.
⁽¹⁰⁾ Based on third-party testing of MSA 2042 with built-in SSDs and read cache vs. MSA 2040 with HDDs.
⁽¹¹⁾ Based on flash capacity and software now included with the MSA 2042 array, as compared to purchasing flash capacity and software separately prior to August 15, 2016.
⁽¹²⁾ One firm’s Remote Snap license is provided with the MSA 2042. One license per array is required for replication between arrays. Remote Snap is not supported on SAS host-attach models.