LAS VEGAS — In the age of big data, backing up your network can be a cumbersome task. And it’s a task that only gets slower as your data grows.
Hewlett Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) has updated its StoreOnce back-up offering (StoreOnce B6200) which includes adding its newest software innovation, HP StoreOnce Catalyst. StoreOnce and StoreOnce Catalyst allow backup speeds of up to 100 terabytes per hour and data recovery of up to 40 terabytes per hour.
Dave Donatelli, executive vice-president and general manager of the HP’s enterprise servers, storage and networking group, said the move reflects HP’s intent to completely change the storage industry. “(What these innovations represent) is how much faster we are than anything else in the marketplace today.”
John Olsen, senior vice-president and CIO for Richardson, Texas-based MetroPCS Communications Inc., said this kind of innovation can be critical for any business that requires short back-up windows. MetroPCS is the fifth largest mobile telecommunications service provider in the U.S.
“HP’s StoreOnce deduplication solution will give us around-the-clock application access with lightning fast backup and recovery so we can continue to serve our customers even in the face of unexpected disasters,” said Olsen.
David Scott, senior vice-president and general manager for HP storage, said that the speed of StoreOnce has increased at a rate even surprising to him.
“(Since our last release), in six months, we increased native backup speed by 40 per cent,” he said. “With the cost of downtime being in the millions of dollars a day, this is really a technology that every enterprise should have.”
On top of the speed, however, Scott said this update is part of HP’s recent focus on efficiency and simplicity. Because StoreOnce is a single technology, it is easier to manage it centrally. And it allows for dedupe everywhere, Scott says.
The interesting part of this announcement, however, is not just for big business. Tom Vaughan is the director of IT infrastructure at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and, for him, downtime is not an option.
When a patient comes in, it doesn’t matter what state the network is in; that file needs to be pulled. And medical records have the dual problem of rapidly multiplying and having strict compliance issues tied to them. “We’re building a hundred terabytes every month,” said Vaughan. “We keep growing and our back-up window keeps growing smaller and smaller.”
With better dedupe and a faster system, both time (and money) can be saved. “You no longer have to consume this excessive network bandwidth with deduped data,” says Scott. “That allows you to drive down your overall costs.”
