Alongside larger disk and doubled capacity, the RISS gets de-duplication or single-instance storage, as well as application connector software to handle the archiving of files, which adds to existing connectors for database and message data.
The other new HP products are a re-branded version of the CDP software that HP is OEM’ing from Mendocino Software Inc, application recovery manager tailored for Microsoft Exchange and SQL databases, and an in-band virtualization appliance OEM’ed from Hitachi Ltd.
HP has also updated its OpenView Storage Data Protector backup and recovery software, adding full synthetic backups for version 6.0 of the software. The multiple-controller Reference Information Storage System or RISS is HP’s CAS-equivalent to CAS products such as EMC’s Centera disk archive.
RISS version 1.5 introduces de-duplication or single-instancing software that effectively compresses data by factor of typically three and five to one, HP said, at the block, or sub-file level.
Frank Harbist, vice president and general manager of HP’s storage software and ILM division, said that this de-duping was one of the most important of all of the updates HP has announced recently. Given that disk is so much more expensive medium than tape for archiving, any way to squeeze more data into a disk archive must be welcome.
By launching software called StorageWorks Reference Information Manager for Files, HP has completed a hat-trick of application connectors for the RISS.
HP was already shipping RIM connectors for databases and messages. The new software provides continuous capture of files stored on Windows desktops or file servers, which are then indexed by the RISS search engine, HP said.
With the new connector we’ve completing our archival strategy. We’ve got structured, semi-structured and now unstructured data covered, said Harbist.
HP’s RIM for Databases adaptor is OEM’ed from OuterBay Technology Inc, and has been updated with an industry first ability to automatically migrate and converts tables within an operational database into open XML format. EMC OEMs the same software from OuterBay, so it presumably will not be far behind with this.
Mendocino’s CDP software has been re-branded by HP as StorageWorks Continuous Information Capture, which can roll back databases to any point in time, and do it around four times faster than conventional database roll-back mechanisms, HP said.
