Introduction of PrimeFlex for Storage Spaces Direct by Fujitsu

Fujitsu Ltd. extends its PrimeFlex integrated systems portfolio with the introduction of PrimeFlex for Storage Spaces Direct, targeted at helping enterprise reduce complexity and risk in deploying performance, Microsoft-based hyper-converged infrastructures in data centers.

Based on the company’s virtual infrastructure configurations that combine servers, storage and networking, the latest PrimeFlex system supports changing business requirements, and helps drive down costs.

Integrated System PrimeFlex is a comprehensive set of pre-configured and pre-tested systems for the business centric data center. The latest addition uses Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct technology included with Windows Server 2016 to make use of locally attached HDDs in server systems to create highly available, scalable software-defined storage at a fraction of the cost of traditional SAN or NAS arrays. As a result, PrimeFlex provides a foundation for the implementation of a future-proof IT infrastructure, reducing deployment risk, cost of ownership, and cutting the deployment time for hyper-converged IT environments.

One of the first company’s customers to benefit from PrimeFlex for Storage Spaces Direct is Make IT, Swedish IT service provider.

Adam Lantsales, director, Make IT, says: “The PrimeFlex solution gives us excellent performance and reduces cost in several ways – for storage, floor space, power and cooling in the data center. The flexible PrimeFlex platform design means we can serve the needs of customers of all sizes, translating into investment protection for our future growth aspirations.”

Olivier Delachapelle, head, enterprise business, category management data center, Fujitsu EMEIA, says: “Data center virtualization has been a game-changing technology with huge boosts for the efficiency, performance, availability and flexibility of IT infrastructures. As organizations move to digital business processes, the move to hyper-converged infrastructures is the next step forward. Hyper-converged is resilient and agile, meaning that businesses can easily adapt IT resources to changing business demands. However, it does not make economic sense to try and build a hyper-converged infrastructure foundation from scratch, as it is highly complex and time-consuming, and requires specialist skills. To take the headache out of moving to hyper-converged systems, Fujitsu and Microsoft have worked together to provide a proven, integrated platform.”

Speed is a key attribute of the PrimeFlex system, which delivers responsive sub-millisecond response times thanks to a resource-efficient hypervisor-embedded design in combination with high-speed all-flash storage plus high-throughput, low-latency networking technology. Configurations start from just two servers and flexibly scale up to 16 machines, supporting up to 800 virtual servers or desktops, and offer extensive automation capabilities, helping save time and money on maintenance tasks. These are key reasons why Integrated System PrimeFlex for Storage Spaces Direct is for businesses where IT support is limited, such as SMBs, and for enterprises with ROBOs.

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The PrimeFlex for Storage Spaces Direct is available in EMEIA from May 2017 directly from the company and through the firm’s partners. Pricing depends on configuration and region.

The company provides PrimeFlex for Storage Spaces Direct as an all-in-one package including hardware, software and support. The compute and storage infrastructure leverages high-performance, energy-efficient Primergy x86 servers in combination with the software-defined server and storage technology already integrated in Windows Server 2016. Developed based on the firm’s experience with Microsoft hyper-converged infrastructures, this solution joins existing PrimeFlex Integrated Systems for Microsoft environments including PrimeFlex Cluster-in-a-box, which is based on the software-defined storage technology introduced in Windows Server 2012.

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