The iSCSI array is a version of HP’s existing MSA line-up, and is called the MSA 1510i. The devices carries a list price starting at $7,995. Customers buying the 1510i can move SCSI disk drives from existing servers into the 1510i.
Although HP has previously sold NAS devices offering iSCSI support, the 1510i is the company’s first pure block-level iSCSI device, which will offer much greater performance than a NAS implementation of the protocol.
HP is stepping into the still very nascent iSCSI market a little later than its rivals. IBM Corp launched its first low-end iSCSI array last year and EMC added iSCSI support to its entire range of Clariion disk arrays in February.
HP’s new backup software is called Data Protector Express. HP already sells a backup tool call Data Protector, but it insisted that Data Protector Express is not a cut-down version of its larger tool, but was instead developed from scratch.
DPE carries a list price of $799 including twelve months free support and, according to HP, is the first backup tool designed specifically for SMB use. It will face strong competition from Symantec’s Backup Exec software, which accounts for around 50% of all backup software sales into Windows environments.
While the latest version of Backup Exec includes a CDP facility, HP will be reselling Microsoft’s CDP-like Data Protection Manager software pre-installed on an HP server.
DPE supports NetWare, Linux and Windows and embodies a three-tier architecture, which HP said makes the software the fastest in its class.
