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Dot Hill Systems Corp., a provider of storage area network (SAN) solutions, announced that the most recent version of its firmware for AssuredSAN 3000 storage systems will include VMware vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) support and Site Recovery Manager (SRM) support, to help improve performance and data security within VMware virtual server environments.
VAAI includes three separate capabilities: block zeroing, full copy, and hardware-assisted locking. The AssuredSAN 3000 supports these functions with the new firmware and can now speed provisioning of new virtual machines, accelerate cloning and reduce the use of the CPU for storage vMotion functions. Dot Hill’s firmware release featuring VAAI and SRM support will be available within 30 days. The firmware upgrade is free to existing AssuredSAN 3000 customers.
SRM is VMware’s flagship product for data protection and disaster recovery across geographic sites. SRM is integrated with array-based replication to provide an enhanced mechanism for maintaining replicas of virtual machines on multiple sites. The AssuredSAN 3000 Series, with built-in AssuredRemote technology, provides the replication element of the overall SRM solution, enabling customers to implement a disaster recovery plan for their virtual machines.
VMware certifies the VAAI support on the AssuredSAN 3000 Series on vSphere 4.1 and 5, while the SRM support on the AssuredSAN 3000 Series is certified by VMware on vSphere 5. These features are available through a free software upgrade to the AssuredSAN array and are enabled by a free software plug-in to the VMware ESX servers.
“Customers using VMware virtualization require high performance and high availability network storage solutions. Dot Hill’s AssuredSAN 3000 series provides a unique combination of high speed and five 9’s of availability,” said Jim Jonez, senior director of marketing for Dot Hill. “The Dot Hill AssuredSAN 3000 array with VAAI and SRM support improves storage efficiency with added security for VMware users.”
Customers choosing the AssuredSAN 3000 array can access features, such as advanced data management, remote replication, snapshots, volume copy, energy-saving drive-spin-down and Dot Hill’s EcoStor green features. Dual redundant RAID controllers, dual power supplies and dual fans bring uptime figures to higher levels of availability. The platform leverages VMware’s virtual file system and Storage VMotion technologies to perform proactive, non-disruptive storage migration, eliminate virtual machine I/O bottlenecks and free up storage capacity.
“While users appreciate that they can free up server and I/O resources to support virtualized production workloads by moving I/O-intensive processes from their ESX hosts to their storage arrays, the actual level of benefit they’ll realize from VAAI will to a large degree depend on the underlying storage, said Mark Peters, senior analyst with IT research firm Enterprise Strategy Group. Flexible, scalable, high-performance storage systems with VAAI integration will logically allow customers to gain more efficiencies, increase consolidation and, therefore, reap greater returns on their VMware investments.”
The AssuredSAN 3000 Series offers support for 8G bit Fibre Channel SANs, dual interface 8G bit Fibre Channel/1G bit iSCSI and 6G bit SAS-attached JBODs, along with optional Dot Hill AssuredRemote data management software for remote replication. Advanced data management, such as AssuredCopy and Dot Hill’s volume copy technology enable the creation of independent data volume copies for additional data protection. It also incorporates a number of eco-friendly features such as drive-spin-down capability and 595-watt 80 PLUS-rated power supplies. Additionally, the arrays feature EcoStor “green” battery-free alternative for cache memory, which leverages a combination of super capacitors and flash memory that outlasts traditional batteries.