The new software package designed for grid systems aims to simplify long-term data management and archiving to meet the compliance, corporate policy and e-discovery needs of enterprises.Data retrieval and security provider Permabit on Jan. 16 began shipping through resellers new enterprise data management and archiving software designed specifically to work on storage servers laid out in a grid system.
Grid computing provides higher overall throughput for an enterprise by leveraging a number of networked computers to distribute computing power across an infrastructure. Grids use the resources of many separate computers connected by a network (usually the Internet) to solve large-scale computation problems.
Permabits recently released Dynamic Information Services 3 software now works with grid storage systems, aiming to deliver scalability and efficiency for meeting the long-term compliance, governance and litigation support needs of organizations, a company spokesperson said.
"This isnt a large change [from what the software did before]" Jim Geronaitis, vice president of marketing and product marketing for Permabit in Cambridge, Mass., told eWEEK.
"Weve simply allowed for more scalability across the distributed processing a grid system enables. We break the information down into smaller chunks, which allows for a higher processing rate against it."
Dynamic Information Services 3 offers management controls for e-discovery, which provides the capability to index and search more than 370 file types in 77 languages and supports legacy application formats; a new interface that provides quick access to key business analytics; and utilities handling "soft quotas" and volume utilization, which alert key personnel when capacity expectations are exceeded.
The volume utilization capability is compatible with most host-based storage resource management agents and can be used for enterprise-level capacity trending and chargeback purposes, the spokesperson said.
Dynamic Information Services 3 also provides increased system security through deep integration with corporate directory services, including Active Directory, LDAP, and NIS-based mechanisms, the spokesperson said.
Read more here about HPs StorageWorks RISS 1.4.
The services suite also includes support for WebDAV volumes, which makes it easy for businesses to remotely access information using standard protocols while ensuring compliance is preserved.
The combination of grid storage with Dynamic Information Services 3 offers a highly scalable architecture that grows to meets long-term archive needs. The node-based design eliminates the need for major data migration events in the future. Automated load balancing and automated de-duplication of information down to the sub-file level for optimal use of storage are also key features, the spokesperson said.
"Grid design is a fantastic storage technology, but it is not a solution on its own," Geronaitis said.
"By combining a well-designed grid system with the intelligence and capability of Permabit Dynamic Information Services, you get a package that can easily scale from terabytes to petabytes to meet archive requirements indefinitely."
Complete Dynamic Information Grid 3 packages are available from AVNET Applied Computing Systems. These packages combine Permabit Dynamic Information Services software with hardware components from Intel and Hitachi and use AVNET ACS integration to create a grid platform which is highly available, scalable, and allows organizations to migrate to future-generation storage technology, the spokesperson said.
The systems modular design has been optimized for field serviceability to enable the dynamic expansion necessary to meet future information requirements and to provide automated redistribution that makes costly migrations a thing of the past, the spokesperson said.
Pricing information is available on an individual basis here.
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