HPE Launches MSA Gen7 2U Performance-optimized Storage Systems

By Britt Terry, OEM Storage product management group, with responsibilities covering HPE MSA Storage, D-Series JBODs, Storage Networking, and XP Storage businesses.

A new-gen of HPE MSA Storage is here. This marks the 7th Gen of the MSA storage system. HPE MSA Storage has been operating on the principles of simple, fast, and affordable storage through its evolution since 1996.

The HPE MSA Gen7 brings new levels of storage performance and scalability to small to SMBs. Gen7 random read performance gets a 2x boost compared to Gen6, with the ability to reach up to 783,000 IO/s. Sustained throughput improves from up to 13.1GB/s to up to 14.1GB/s. Scalability also expands up to 7.37PB using optional expansion enclosures.

HPE MSA Gen7 also adds features that focus on simplifying routine system maintenance. It also now includes on-device access to the cloud-based HPE MSA Health Check tool and support for online firmware updates for both controllers and drive media, eliminating required downtime for maintenance.

The company’s MSA Storage is a top-performing storage array in the entry-level segment. It consistently delivers high performance across a large variety of businesses and their uses cases.

“Our experience with HPE MSA Storage for our backup applications has been a tremendous success, showcasing its impressive capacity and reliable performance,” said Howard Jares, manager, infrastructure services, University of Houston. “Initially, we were concerned about recovery times with high-capacity drives, but HPE MSA’s advanced disk group technology, MSA-DP+, exceeded our expectations – cutting recovery times from days to just hours. The HPE MSA Health Check has made it easier than ever to manage our system while improving availability. Moving forward, we’re especially excited about the potential of HPE MSA Smart Assist on HPE MSA Gen7 to further elevate system health management, drastically reduce backup times, and streamline operations to an entirely new level.

Affordable storage uncompromised
While HPE MSA Storage is an affordable solution, it doesn’t sacrifice quality, performance, or essential features. Even though the cost is lower than premium storage options, you can still expect very reliable performance and a solid range of features. This is key, especially if you’re an SMBs needing to balance budget constraints with IT needs. You can configure MSA Storage to be one of the lowest-priced storage systems on the market or to be a high performance or high-capacity storage system at an affordable price.

The MSA Storage has the features and performance that typical SMBs need in a shared storage system. Smaller-sized companies tend not to have dedicated storage administrators. This is why HPE MSA Storage focuses on simplicity and ease of use for the IT generalist, who must be versatile to cover many technologies and products, including software and hardware. It’s why MSA Storage has features like guided workflows for setup and monitoring, rather than complex tools that require extensive training or years of expertise.

Increased simplicity with Smart Assist
With the introduction of HPE MSA Gen7, we’ve added a new feature called Smart Assist. Smart Assist is a new technology that comes built into every HPE MSA Gen7 Storage system. It automatically works tasks, so you don’t have to. For example, you can have Smart Assist automatically check configuration and health of the array in real-time. New features can be created by the company and added to existing systems. Smart Assist is available on day one with MSA Gen7 arrays and will be enabled soon on the MSA Gen6 platform.

HPE MSA Gen7 Storage portfolio includes 3 new base array offers:

• HPE MSA 2070 high capacity with ‘à la carte’ customization
  The MSA 2070 is a shared storage system that is flash-ready and hybrid-capable with extensive customization choices. Design and build a unique storage system with the largest number of configuration options available on any MSA offering. Configure for high capacity or start small and scale as needed with any combination of SAS SSDs, high-performance enterprise SAS HDDs, or lower-cost midline SAS HDDs. Its core performance combined with an extensive number of customization options allows you to select the perfect balance between capacity, performance, and price for your target workload.
• HPE MSA 2072 cost-effective hybrid storage
  The MSA 2072 is a shared storage system that is flash-enabled and hybrid-capable with automated tiering included. Each 2072 includes 2 high-performance SSD drives with 3.84TB of total raw capacity and can be expanded with a combination of SSDs, high-performance enterprise SAS HDDs, or lower-cost midline SAS HDDs. Design and build a hybrid storage array that automatically moves data between high-performance and archive storage tiers. Its core performance combined with a bundled option price, including media and software, can provide better cost savings than building a fully customized hybrid-flash solution.
• HPE MSA 2070 Flash Bundles cost-effective high-performance
  The MSA 2070 Flash Bundle is an all-flash, shared storage system that includes 12 factory-integrated high-performance SSDs. Start with 23TB or 46TB of high-performance flash with the option to build out capacity anytime with HPE SSD 6-pack drive bundles. Easily serve applications that demand high performance with a system capable of delivering up to 2X more IO/s performance than MSA Gen6 and is 1 of the fastest entry-level arrays available today. The MSA 2070 Flash Bundle with factory integrated SSDs provides HPE’s lowest price for an all-flash configured storage solution. 

The new performance-optimized HPE MSA Gen7 Storage is available to order starting on December 2, 2024.