BIOS: Technology Means Business

Fujitsu Siemens Computers has announced the launch of two new models of its Virtual Tape Appliance (VTA), CentricStor.

The new VTA 500 and VTA 1500 offer companies an 'attractively' priced opportunity to enter into the world of ‘cutting-edge’ virtual tape technology.

CentricStor enables platform-independent, fully integrated ‘disk-to-disk-to-tape’ backup and makes data backup and tape suitable for Information Lifecycle Management (ILM). With CentricStor, companies can back up all the data of their mainframes, open systems or NAS systems, while consolidating their entire tape processing at the same time.

Claus Egge, Program Director at IDC’s European Storage group said: “Virtualised tape backup solutions continue to grow in popularity and are now starting to stir up interest within smaller and more specialised data centres. Fujitsu Siemens Computers’ CentricStor virtual tape appliance addresses the data-protection needs of customers by utilising disk-based backup and virtual tape functionality, and optimising the use of physical tape.”

Dr. Helmut Beck, Vice President Storage at Fujitsu Siemens Computers, commented; “With CentricStor VTA 500, we are now able to accommodate the budgets of smaller data centers as well. In open-systems environments in particular, CentricStor offers more than just the so-called Virtual Tape Libraries (VTL): our Virtual Tape Appliance delivers True Tape Virtualisation, i.e. it fully and independently automates the storage of all data on tape at the backend and also takes charge of the entire administration of the tape media. CentricStor is the only virtual tape solution that can be used with almost any operating system and its backup applications and that uses integrated ILM functions to support different service levels for data protection concepts.”

Thanks to the new models, now even smaller system environments can take advantage of CentricStor technology. A previously important function in tape processing, the complicated cloning of data media, is now a thing of the past.

CentricStor uses synchronised ‘dual save’ to create two identical data copies on tape at the same time, each completely independent of the other. Tape reorganisation, i.e. the optimisation of physical tapes, and tape refresh, the automatic storage of jeopardised data to new data media as soon as signs of tape deterioration are detected, provide guaranteed availability and thus the required protection against the loss of business-critical data.

CentricStor VTA 500 is the smallest entry-level model. If desired, it can be expanded with the addition of RAID systems with a cache capacity of up to 22TB. As another option, two tape archives can also be connected (Multiple Library Support). CentricStor VTA 1500 is based on the CentricStor Grid Architecture of its sister model, the VTA2000, to allow an affordably priced entry into the world of highly scalable, cross-enterprise solutions with up to 173 TB of cache capacity. All in all, the cache can accommodate up to half a petabyte of compressed data. Further upgrades with additional virtual drives and the increased data throughput they provide mean that 100TB a day can now be easily stored on tape month after month.

The new models will be available from December 2006. CentricStor VTA 500 is priced starting at £86207, while CentricStor VTA 1500 costs from £206,897.

[Best Storage Device Pricing UK]
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