HP makes storage moves

Hewlett-Packard today introduced a new storage array that it hopes will better compete in the fiercely contested midrange storage market. The new system is the StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) 3000 (EVA3000) and will be the "little brother" to HP's existing EVA5000 systems, says Pete Korce, director of HP's enterprise storage array business.

According to Korce, the EVA3000 will feature 56 drives, totaling 8TB of capacity -- significantly smaller than the EVA5000 that comes standard with 290 drives and provides 35TB of capacity. Korce says the two systems will be managed the same and possess the same features, such as a continuous access capability.

For now the continuous access functionality, which is a remote replication feature, will only be offered in the EVA5000 and will make its way to the EVA3000 in the third quarter of 2003 says Korce. HP contends the EVA3000 offers two times the performance as EMC's CX400 Clariion. "The EVA3000 will set a new standard in the midrange market," says Korce. "It's easy to manage and uses virtualization, which offers better disk utilization."

Also last week Hewlett-Packard announced a new version of its virtualization appliance (OpenView CASA) that runs at 1Gbps and comes equipped with 24 ports, 8 more than the previous version. Mark Sorenson, vice president of HP's storage software division, explained the new version "exploits HP's new ProLiant servers" that run at 2.8Ghz.

Additionally, HP has worked to better integrate the device with its OpenView Storage Area Manager (SAM) software suite, explains Sorenson. This permits the management of CASA through a single console, along with the rest of storage products in the HP line.

CASA supports HP StorageWorks arrays as well as those from EMC, Hitachi, and Dell. It also supported HP-UX, Microsoft Windows NT, and Windows 2000; Sun Solaris; Linux; IBM AIX; and Novell NetWare operating systems.