Sepaton, HDS Unveil First 2PB Disk-Based Storage System

Bigger, better, less-power-hungry and supposedly faster. That’s where all storage systems have been going for years, but the “faster” part always depends upon factors that may be out of the control of the controller, so to speak.

The jury’s always out until the workload is actually in process. But at least one storage provider is getting a bit more specific about performance.

Storage software maker Sepaton, which likes to describe itself as a “maker of the world’s fastest backup and recovery solution,” introduced a 2PB-capable, disk-based storage appliance for big data workloads that runs on Hitachi Data Systems arrays. The announcement was made Oct. 16 at Storage Networking World Fall 2012 in Santa Clara, Calif., which continues through Oct. 19.

The S2100-ES3 series 2922 purpose-built appliance with version 6.3 software features Hitachi HUS 100 storage arrays that are said to provide 25 percent more capacity. It is designed for divisional or branch-office-type deployments.

Unlike some other C-level execs, CEO Mike Thompson wasn’t fearful of naming names when it comes to the competitors in this space.

“The ES3 product delivers 350 percent more single-system capacity than our nearest competitor, EMC/Data Domain—further widening our competitive advantage in large enterprises,” Thompson said. He wasn’t specific about how he arrived at the 350 percent figure.

Upstart Sepaton may or may not have a competitive advantage over EMC-Data Domain, but the latter company has long had the market-share advantage—something for which every storage company worth its bit capacity has a targeted strategy.

Sepaton’s S2100-ES3 is aimed specifically at large backup and restore operations for very large enterprise databases, such as Oracle, DB2 and SQL. The company’s version 6.3 software also supports OST optimized duplication, which enables faster duplication by reducing the workload on the company’s own NetBackup media servers and on the network.

Pricing for these babies starts at $335,000. Current S2100-ES2 customers can add new HDS HUS 110 storage to existing products by simply plugging them right in to native connections.