EMC Corp. this week rolled out a variety of software to let users in mid-size storage area networks (SAN) manage their storage resources more simply and efficiently.
The company introduced VisualSRM and VisualSAN and improved its Navisphere, SnapView and SAN Copy software for Clariion storage.
VisualSRM is designed to improve capacity utilization. It is storage-array-agnostic and does file-level reporting and storage resource management (SRM). Visual SRM supports Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server, Oracle and Sybase, and integrates with storage management applications from IBM Corp., Veritas Software Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP), Computer Associates Int. and BMC Software Inc.
With VisualSRM, IT managers can track storage consumption both system-wide and by individual, set rules for capacity thresholds and devise policies for moving, deleting and archiving data. In addition, they can track data based on factors such as when the data were last accessed, their age or their importance.
VisualSAN lets IT managers view all the devices in their SANs. It consists of three modules: Network Manager, Configuration Manager and Performance Manager. Network Manager is the interface for Configuration Manager and Performance Manager. Configuration Manager lets administrators capture the “state of the SAN” at any time to compare it with previous configurations for changes. The Performance Manager allows the IT manager to view and compare historical information and the status of links across the SAN.
New capability in Navisphere lets IT managers dynamically expand the size of storage volumes on the fly. Via a LUN Expansion Wizard, IT managers can create larger storage partitions to improve utilization and performance.
The company also added an instant-restore feature to its SnapView point-in-time copy software, which lets data be replicated locally among Clariion storage arrays. With SnapView snapshot rollback, IT managers can restore a rollback snapshot or business-continuance volume automatically.
EMC also announced point-in-time capability for Microsoft Exchange. It lets administrators schedule and automate the backup and recovery of Exchange databases. The company will also make this capability available for SQL Server by the end of the year.
Further, EMC announced that its Clariion remote replication software MirrorView will have asynchronous replication capability in the first quarter of 2004. Asynchronous replication is important for facilitating less expensive duplication of data over distance for availability and disaster recovery purposes.
The company will also support bidirectional data movement in its SAN Copy software. It supports movement between EMC Clariion and HP StorageWorks storage arrays. EMC claims that it will offer SAN Copy support for IBM, Sun Microsystems and Hitachi Data Systems Corp. arrays in the fourth quarter of this year.
VisualSRM starts at US$2,000; VisualSAN starts at US$6,000. The SnapView Integration Module for Exchange starts at US$6,500. Pricing for Navisphere, SnapView and SAN Copy remains unchanged. All products are available now.