Delivers the critical “third dimension” to virtualization: software to cost-effectively shape the shared storage infrastructure required by virtual IT environments
Microsoft Tech-Ed North America 2011
ATLANTA: DataCore Software, the industry’s premier provider of storage virtualization software, today announced that it is showcasing its SANsymphony™-V solution at this week’s Microsoft Tech•Ed North America 2011 conference. SANsymphony-V is DataCore’s next-generation storage virtualization software solution that enables IT organizations to eliminate storage-related barriers preventing them from realizing the financial and operational goals of their virtualization initiatives.
Tech-Ed 2011 takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta from Monday, May 16 until Thursday, May 19, 2011. DataCore is a Silver Sponsor and is exhibiting in Booth 1629. To read more about DataCore’s solutions and use cases in Microsoft environments, download the Taneja Group profile, “Building the Virtual Infrastructure with DataCore SANsymphony-V.”
DataCore™ SANsymphony-V enables data centers to use existing equipment and conventional storage devices to satisfy shared storage requirements introduced by highly dynamic, virtual IT environments. It provides a Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V SP1 based set of advanced storage virtualization functions to provision, share, reconfigure, migrate, replicate, expand, and upgrade storage. This cost-effectively speeds up applications, delivers uninterrupted data access, and extends the useful life of storage devices, contrasting sharply with the expensive “rip and replace” approaches being proposed to support desktop and server virtualization projects.
“Microsoft’s full range of virtualization solutions provide partners and customers with an effective way to save costs, increase availability, and improve agility within their business infrastructure,” said Mike Schutz, senior director of product management for the Server and Cloud division at Microsoft Corp. “By using Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V SP1 and Microsoft System Center, customers can also take advantage of DataCore SANsymphony-V and explore ways to reduce the cost of storage while delivering improved performance and availability.”
Enterprise-class Solution Purpose-Built for Windows Server 2008 R2
Two years in development, DataCore designed SANsymphony-V to meet the needs of midmarket end-users and solution-providers, especially those familiar with Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V SP1 administration eager to adapt their IT operations to accommodate the many variables that server and desktop virtualization introduce. It is interoperable with Microsoft’s virtualization infrastructure, including Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V SP1, System Center, and Failover Clustering.
While some vendors in the virtualization field recommend that customers lock themselves into specific storage hardware configurations and exotic purpose-built appliances, SANsymphony-V frees customers from hardware lock-in by decoupling the virtual infrastructure from the underlying disks. It also optimizes the I/O response obtained from standard storage devices that would have otherwise needed to be replaced. Then when customers need to expand capacity, they can simply choose the best deal at the time from a number of suppliers rather than be limited to one specific vendor’s hardware.
“Shared storage is often the ‘weak link’ in server and desktop virtualization initiatives; first as a performance bottleneck and then as a single point-of-failure. Many times, virtualization projects intended to reduce server or desktop costs hit the storage wall,” said George Teixeira, president and CEO of DataCore Software. “We employ sophisticated software portable and scalable across Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V SP1 to overcome the storage-related roadblocks standing between IT organizations and their virtualization objectives.”
Real-world Successes Built on Virtualization Software
At Tech Ed 2011, DataCore is also highlighting a number of customers that deploy Microsoft solutions in conjunction with a virtualized storage infrastructure powered by DataCore Software.
Cloud services provider AcXess, for example, is using DataCore’s SANsymphony™ software to create a dynamic, resilient virtual storage infrastructure that cost-effectively supports the company’s Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V virtualization environment and its business model.
AcXess has built its business around flexible virtualization technologies designed to meet the needs of key customers who rely on AcXess to provide reasonably priced services such as on-demand sales demos, proof-of-concept (POC) labs, and training sessions in virtualized environments to thousands of employees, partners, and customers. Using Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and DataCore, AcXess has doubled the number of users year over year and has grown its business 300 percent, while saving $5 million in hardware costs. A full case study is available on Microsoft’s website.