Tiger Technology Brings Out cluStore TLE ($1,995)

Tiger Technology, developer of high performance SANing, software management tools and integrated appliances, announced cluStore TLE, a new server-based HSM software solution that leverages the universal IBM LTFS tapes and tape libraries for the Windows OS.

Aimed at the rich-media and entertainment industry and other communities challenged to store, access and archive petabytes of data, the tiered HSM structure represents a paradigm shift in the way users interact with their storage resources, as it allows archived data to be seamlessly integrated as part of the main storage pool for ease-of-use and interoperability in day-to-day operations.

"cluStore TLE turns any Windows server with IBM Tape Library into a highly interchangeable HSM solution and makes it easy to integrate a combination of DAS, NAS, SAN and LTFS tape or tape libraries into a single namespace under Windows," notes Alexander Lefterov, CEO at Tiger Technology. "We’re honored that IBM recognizes the unique value of cluStore TLE and provided us support early in their Windows-based LTFS development schedule, and look forward to further collaboration as we bring this advanced solution to market."

cluStore TLE offers a production proven and affordable HSM solution, that allows digital content to move over multiple tiers of storage (from flash to disk to tape) throughout its lifespan, all while always remaining visible and accessible to users and their applications.

With cluStore TLE, files are automatically stored on the primary storage, and then automatically archived to the IBM tape library after a specified period of time. The benefits are significant as the LTFS tapes are fully transportable and interchangeable, even with facilities that do not use cluStore TLE. If users ever need one of the archived files, they need to look in the folder where they last left it. When the file is accessed, cluStore TLE moves it from the tape back onto the primary tier of storage.

"Data tiering and life-cycle management have been in use in the IT space for years, but it is only beginning to make inroads at entertainment production/post facilities as digital content producers begin to realize they cannot continue to grow their disk-based storage infrastructures indefinitely," Bernard Lamborelle, director of sales at Tiger Technology, explains. "Our cluStore TLE server-based software offers a sophisticated, turnkey HSM solution that allows them to merge flash, disk and tape-based technologies into a unified pool that is incredibly simple to set up, use and maintain."

Howard Solomon, president at Creative Business Technologies, a network storage integration company based in New York, says: "Many of our clients have expressed concern about the lack of inexpensive and efficient storage management solutions. This is a recurring concern we hear often. cluStore TLE’s ease of use, great flexibility and affordability allows them to finally wrestle with the never ending larger data requirements they face while capitalizing on their existing infrastructures."

cluStore TLE Highlights

• Creates hierarchical and unified namespace for combining DAS, NAS, SAN and LTFS-based volumes on the Windows OS.
• Integrates  policy-based data tiering functionality for life-cycle management.
• Enables transparent movement of files between solid-state, disk-based and tape-based storage without breaking links to users and applications.
• Minimizes performance degrading fragmentation and tape wear that can occur in a multi-write LTFS environment by caching files to disk prior to moving them to tape.
• Eliminates 1:1 mapping of tape cartridges to file folders found in tape libraries by virtualizing individual tapes.
• Ensures continuous writing operation to tape library when number of files exceeds single tape capacity.

cluStore TLE is scheduled to ship in Q2 and is available for $1,995. Tiger Technology and IBM channel partners also offer cluStore TLE-enabled IBM servers with IBM LTFS Tape Libraries.

About cluStore TLE
cluStore TLE is a non-disruptive, flexible and easy-to-use storage virtualization software tool that combines multiple storage resources into a single virtual volume – the storage pool – that users can access through a universal mount point. cluStore TLE changes the way users interact with the available storage resources. Instead of accessing data through individual volumes, cluStore TLE provides users with an HSM solution from which users can access all their files.