DataCore Software Announces Support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)

DataCore Software Announces Support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)

DataCore Software, a leading provider of storage virtualization, business continuity and disaster recovery software solutions, today announced support for native Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) connectivity for its SANmelody™ and SANsymphony™ storage virtualization solutions. The company has added the Emulex and Brocade FCoE converged network adapters (CNAs) and Cisco Nexus 5000 Series switches to its FCoE-qualified support list. Additional FCoE CNAs will be announced over the next year. FCoE software drivers are currently available for Microsoft® Windows® and VMware® ESX / vSphere®.

“With the addition of FCoE to our SAN connectivity options, DataCore continues to demonstrate the ease with which our storage virtualization software adapts to new technology and extends the life of existing investments,” stated Augie Gonzalez, director of product marketing, DataCore Software. “Our customers can immediately take advantage of FCoE in their highly scalable, non-stop storage pools without having to replace or modify their existing back-end storage, which may well include DAS, iSCSI and Fibre Channel interfaces."

Virtual Storage Infrastructure – Can Software Take Center Stage?

Virtual Storage Infrastructure – Can Software Take Center Stage?
We’ve been conditioned to think of infrastructure as hardware. Is it time to rethink?...

Serious About High Availability?
Solutions like DataCore enable non-stop data access using commodity-priced storage devices from vendors of your choosing. Each side of the mirror can use different types of storage; they need not be from the same supplier. In fact, some of the solutions can reconfigure the equipment that you already have to eliminate storage downtime…

Virtualize storage through SANs, says IDC

Industry Analyst Articles/Reports on DataCore
http://www.datacore.com/pressroom/pr_industry_analysts_reports.asp

Virtualize storage through SANs, says IDC
Analyst recommends firms create SANs with storage virtualization software rather than shelling out for new equipment
http://www.techcentral.ie/article.aspx?id=13895

The best way to virtualise your storage is through a storage area network (SAN), according to IDC.

In a new report entitled "Removing storage-related barriers to server and desktop virtualisation," the analyst firm claimed there is no need for high-end expensive systems to reap the benefits of virtualisation - just create a SAN with storage virtualisation software.
Carla Arend, analyst for European storage software and services at IDC, said in the report: "This hardware-independent approach complements server and desktop virtualisation without compromising availability, speed, or project schedules."

"Properly implemented, value-added functions like replication and snapshots can be used in a heterogeneous storage environment across storage model and manufacturer boundaries. Just as importantly, it can significantly lower capital and operational expenditure for physical and virtual environments alike."

The report said moving to a virtual environment will simplify management, improve disaster recovery and cut costs, but warned there were pitfalls too. These included initial investment and overlooking needs like shared storage.

Most importantly, IDC said any virtualisation software your firm purchases should not be tied to any one set of hardware. As well, make sure the storage virtualisation software you pick properly addresses your physical servers.

"Otherwise, you may end up fragmenting the IT environment that you are eager to consolidate," said Arend.

Create SAN with storage virtualisation software: IDC
http://www.ciol.com/Technology/Networking/News-Reports/Create-SAN-with-storage-virtualisation-s/w-IDC/21809123918/0/

New IDC Viewpoint Research “Removing Storage-Related Barriers to Server and Desktop Virtualization” – Now Available for Download at DataCore Software http://www.snseurope.com/snslink/news/news-full.php?id=12799

Citrix Web site adds DataCore Links for DataCore Virtual SAN Appliance and StorageLink adapter

http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1855667

Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V, Express Edition
Seamless storage integration for Hyper-V
+ Download the free Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V Express Edition
+ Download the Virtual SAN Appliance for Citrix Essentials from DataCore™

Advanced StorageLink technology
How advanced StorageLink for technology works
http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1687089

Is the Sky falling on VMware?; Citrix XenServer a Suprise Hit; DataCore Teams with Citrix

Interesting articles from last week:

Citrix XenServer Virtualization a Surprise Hit with Fortune 500 Companies
http://vmblog.com/archive/2009/08/12/citrix-xenserver-virtualization-a-surprise-hit-with-fortune-500-companies.aspx
Citrix Systems, Inc. announced that more than 10 percent of Global Fortune 500 companies have downloaded and activated its Citrix® XenServer™ virtualization platform for production use in the last four months, with activations among large enterprises spiking significantly after the release of XenServer 5.5 in June. Since making XenServer available for free unlimited production deployment earlier this year, more than 150,000 users have downloaded the product...

A big reason for the recent surge among large enterprise organizations has been the release of XenServer 5.5 in June, adding a wide range of new enterprise-class capabilities. The Burton Group, in fact, recently certified Citrix XenServer 5.5 and its Citrix Essentials™ 5.5 management add-on as one of only two hypervisor platforms in the industry to meet 100 percent of the analyst firm’s required features for enterprise production.

Is the sky falling on VMware?
Good overview of the Microsoft and VMware Battle: http://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid94_gci1364388,00.html#

..."Microsoft is clearly gunning for the virtualization space, and they have a pretty good track record of making a dent in a space that they want to be in," he said. Another real problem for VMware is that Hyper-V R2's management tools now manage VMware's ESX hypervisor, while VMware's tools won't manage Hyper-V R2. That's big for users who want to use both hypervisors, because only Hyper-V R2 will be able to manage the entire environment, Cappuccio said. "I would hope [VMware is] paying attention," he added. "My fear is that 'good enough' always wins out in the long run, and if it's good enough and pervasive, VMware may lose out."
VMware most stands to lose with companies that are not yet using any virtualization and are shopping for the right vendor, Wolf said. Those customers will likely look at VMware, Microsoft and Citrix Systems Inc.'s XenServer to decide on the right choices. "Microsoft and Citrix both, I think, are going to get a reasonable part of the market," said Chris Wolf, Burton Group...

DataCore, Citrix Make Virtualization Easy for XenServer and Microsoft Hyper-V
http://www.bsminfo.com/index.php?option=com_content%26task=view%26id=1508%26Itemid=170

The DataCore Virtual SAN Appliance and StorageLink Adapter can be downloaded at: http://www.datacore.com/virtualSANappliance.

DataCore, Citrix Team Up To Cut Storage Costs and help Customers

DataCore, Citrix Team Up To Cut Storage Costs and help Customers
http://www.tek-tools.com/wordpress/index.php/948/san-management/datacore-citrix-team-up-to-cut-storage-costs
In the same vein as networks like Small Business Web, two IT companies have joined forces in an effort to actually help customers.

DataCore Software and Citrix Systems - both located down there in balmy Florida - are now working together to cut storage costs. Companies that use Citrix's virtual server tools can now try out DataCore's virtual storage software, the DataCore Virtual SAN appliance: http://www.datacore.com/virtualSANappliance/, for free.

Basically, instead of losing stored data in a horrible virtual server crash, the customer can safely store data elsewhere by means of DataCore software. And it's free!

DataCore CEO and president George Teixeira said a big hurdle for Citrix customers was the cost to store that data."A company that wants to go to virtualization might get excited, they might see a cost savings," Teixeira said. "But when they go to buy the storage, they find the cost is actually high."He said storage hardware equipment costs, on average, $100,000.

This is a brilliant business move by Citrix and DataCore. Not that they need it, Ctirix especially.Last month, the company reported that second-quarter revenue was nearly flat, at $393 million, but profit grew 22% to $43 million.

A move like this means Citrix will only get bigger - and DataCore is happily going along on the ride.

DataCore Offers Virtual SAN Appliance and Citrix StorageLink Adapter for Microsoft Hyper-V and XenServer

DataCore Offers StorageLink Adapter for XenServer and Hyper-V
posted in XenServer - Server Virtualization by Simon Crosby

Download the Virtual SAN Appliance now: http://www.datacore.com/virtualSANappliance/
To find out more information about Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V, please visit: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1855667.

...We're pleased to announce availability of the first 3rd party developed adapter for Citrix StorageLink™ adapter, offered by DataCore™. This takes the form of a fully featured tiral SANMelody virtual appliance that is fully integrated in Citrix StorageLink v1.0.5 and above. The free trial license extends for 30 days.

The DataCore™ SANMelody virtual appliance (download here: ) allows the user to perform storage management tasks directly out of the Citrix StorageLink user interface. It unifies management of virtual machines and DataCore virtual storage into one single console, whether you're using XenServer or Hyper-V. It offers both FC SAN and iSCSI support. The cool thing about the virtual appliance is that it lets you experience a full blown SAN without having to roll in expensive new SAN disk arrays, since it acts as a network-based appliance that provides rich storage management features for a wide range of storage systems... Simon Crosby Blog:http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/simoncr

Download it now: http://www.datacore.com/virtualSANappliance/

To find out more information about Citrix Essentials, please visit: http://www.citrix.com/English/ps2/products/subfeature.asp?contentID=1855667.

Citrix Community BLog:http://community.citrix.com/blogs/citrite/simoncr/2009/08/03/DataCore+Offers+StorageLink+Adapter+for+XenServer+and+Hyper-V

Brian Madden: DataCore Offers StorageLink Adapter for XenServer and Hyper-V
http://webmail.datacore.com/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/the_official_citrix_blog/archive/2009/08/03/datacore-offers-storagelink-adapter-for-xenserver-and-hyper-v.aspx
Citrix StorageLink is a powerful set of technologies that completely automates the storage related functions for virtual infrastructure, including SAN management, and leveraging array or storage-appliance features for pooling, snapshots, and fast clones ...

DataCore Advanced Site Recovery (ASR) Solution Delivers a More Flexible and Powerful Approach to DR for VMware vSphere 4

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/07/prweb2672574.htm
DataCore Software highlighted the power of its new ASR solution for VMware environments. DataCore ASR allows organizations to leverage readily available IT assets between different sites, to minimize or eliminate business disruptions and data loss attributed to planned and unforeseen site outages. ASR builds on DataCore's universal storage virtualization software to move IT operations from a central site to one or more distributed contingency locations - and back again.

For a recorded podcast on DataCore ASR from SearchDisasterRecovery.com featuring commentary from SearchStorage.com's Beth Pariseau and IDC's Rick Villars, click here:http://searchdisasterrecovery.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid190_gci1361899,00.html

"Unlike some other site recovery approaches that are limited to just virtual machines, DataCore ASR enables both physical and virtual servers to be protected across multiple sites," stated George Crump, president, Storage Switzerland. "This advanced approach to DR - one that encompasses distributed disaster recovery, is an important milestone and I am happy to see companies like DataCore reaching it."

Designed for both virtual and physical IT infrastructuresA new addition to DataCore's comprehensive business continuity portfolio - DataCore ASR enables businesses to embrace Distributed Disaster Recovery (D-DR). The solution allows organizations to cost-effectively spread disaster recovery (DR) responsibilities across several smaller sites. Additionally, the solution makes no distinction between physical and virtual servers, unifying their DR operations in a common, automated process.

New Data Sheet on Advanced Site Recovery [ASR] from DataCore

Advanced Site Recovery (ASR): Advanced Site Recovery software enables businesses to embrace Distributed Disaster Recovery (D-DR) that allows organizations to cost-effectively spread disaster recovery (DR) responsibilities across several smaller sites. ASR makes it practical to move IT operations from a central site to one or more distributed contingency locations - and back again. Additionally, the solution makes no distinction between physical and virtual servers, unifying DR operations in a common, automated process.

See Advanced Site Recovery DataSheet

Storage Virtualisation in Local Governments Worldwide Booms. Cities and Towns Around the Globe Select DataCore

http://www.it-director.com/enterprise/public_sector/news_release.php?rel=12421

As governments around the globe feel the economic pinch, many are realizing the benefits of storage virtualisation - risk avoidance, productivity increases, cost containment, investment protection, and more.

DataCore Software announced that the City of Atascadero in California and the Town of South Windsor in Connecticut have become two of the latest cities to embrace the benefits delivered by DataCore's storage virtualisation solutions.

DataCore's products are equally well-represented in Northern Europe, particularly the UK. Local governments in Britain using DataCore storage virtualization software include Ashfield District Council, Borough of Poole, Bournemouth Borough Council, Mole Valley District Council, Shepway District Council, Waverley Borough Council, and West Dorset District Council, among others. (see below additional worldwide listings).

The City of Atascadero investigated other vendors and, according to Systems Administrator Ken Phillips, DataCore gave the IT department the best combination of the features that he needed with a price point that the city could afford. The city is now using DataCore's SANmelody™ storage virtualisation solution to serve as its storage area network (SAN).
"DataCore SANmelody has been 100% reliable," noted Phillips. "The biggest benefit we have seen is the fact that we can add storage without bringing anything down. Now we are not paying for any storage that we are not using. We were also looking for a product that would give us the ability to facilitate DR and thin provisioning. Both of these requirements were met with the DataCore SANmelody product."
See full release on The City of Atascadero: Click here or visit http://www.datacore.com/pressroom/pr_live.asp?date=07/22/2009

Town of South Windsor in Connecticut has also realized tremendous benefits after deploying DataCore's SANmelody storage virtualisation software as its SAN. Prior to DataCore, the Town of South Windsor was grappling with an older, converted Novell network that the IT Department had migrated to Microsoft. In the words of the current network administrator for the town, this was literally riddled with "single points of failure" everywhere. After being sold on VMware to address the IT Department's server-sprawl, it knew a SAN was needed to support the virtual machines.
"However, the hardware SAN approach was just not going to happen," said Scott Roberts, IT director, Town of South Windsor. "Traditional SAN vendors were asking upwards of $250,000 just for the storage piece of the infrastructure puzzle. Our entire budget was $125,000 - for virtual servers, storage, new equipment, everything. The fact that DataCore allowed us to repurpose servers we already had on hand was a tremendous advantage as well."
See full release on Town of South Windsor: Click here or visit http://www.datacore.com/pressroom/pr_live.asp?date=07/08/2009

Other local governments and government entities using DataCore SAN solutions in the US include: Alabama Department of Public Health (AL), Alameda County Medical Center (CA), Brockport Central Schools (NY), California School Employees Assn. (CA), Charter Township of Canton (OH), City & County Of Honolulu (HI), City of Carmel (IN), City of Elk Grove (CA), City of Elk Grove Police Department (CA), City of Hampton (VA), City Of Inverness (FL), City of Marysville (OH), City of Newport News (VA), City of Norfolk (VA), County of Butte (CA), Dinwiddie County Government (VA), Douglas County Circuit Courts (OR), Jefferson County Library Cooperative (AL), Los Angeles County Office of Education (CA), Los Rios Community College District (CA), Meridian Board of Education (CT), Mississippi Department of Health (MS), New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJ), Oolagah-Talala Schools (OK), Orange County Data Center (CA), Oswego County School District (NY), Owasso Public Schools (OK), Peoria Unified School District (AZ), Rankin County (MS), Rocklin Unified School District (CA), Sacramento County District Attorney's Office (CA), San Diego Housing Commission (CA), San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office (CA), Seminole County Sheriff's Office (FL), Stanislaus Union School District (CA), State of South Dakota (SD), The City of Newport Beach Fire Department (CA), Thurston Regional Planning Council (WA), Town of Branford (CT), Town of Clinton (CT), Town of Jackson (WY), Town of South Windsor (CT), Town of Westford (MA), and Wayne County Government (IN), among others.

City and local governments worldwide benefit from the benefits of storage virtualisation powered by DataCore
Central Europe: In Central Europe, Germany is leading the pack in terms of adoption at the city and local government level. German cities and states that have deployed DataCore include: Aalen, Ahaus, Ahrweiler, Altoetting, Aurich, Bad Hersfeld, Bad Kreuznach, Baden-Baden, Barsinghausen, Belm, Bramsche, Bremen, Cuxhaven, Deggendorf, Dresden, Emsdetten, Erlangen, Erlangen-Hoechstadt, Frankfurt a.M., Geesthacht, Georgsmarienhuette, Greven, Guetersloh, Heidelberg, Hermsdorf, Hof/Saale, Ingolstadt, Kaufbeuren, Kleinmachnow, Koblenz, Kronberg im Taunus, Lambrecht, Langenau, Langenfeld (Rhld.), Lippstadt, Mannheim, Merzig, Muenchen, Neustadt a.d. Weinstrasse, Nordhorn, Oldenburg, Osnabrueck, Osterholz Scharmbeck, Peine, Ploen, Rheine, Rhein-Lahn Kreis, Ruegen, Ruesselsheim, Siegburg, Speyer, Steinburg, Sulzbach-Rosenberg, Sylt, Traunstein, Troisdorf, as well as Witten, among others.
Other cities in Central Europe include the Dutch city of Oost-Groningen and Bern in Switzerland.
Southern EuropeTowns and cities across France are equally prolific in their adoption of DataCore. Representative cities and towns include: Mairie d'Asnieres Sur Seine, Communauté du Pays Voironnais, Conseil General de la Martinique, Communaute Agglomeration de Douai, La communauté d'agglomération de La Rochelle, Mairie de Maisons Laffitte, and Mairie de Chelles, among others. Other cities in Southern Europe include the Italian cities of Cervia, Lugo di Romagna Rivoli, and Sala Bolognese.

Asia PacificCountries in the Asia-Pacific region are increasingly turning to storage virtualization just as they have embraced server virtualization. Local governments are no exception. Notable cities that are using DataCore as the foundation of a virtual infrastructure span Australia - City of Greater Dandenong, Kingston City Council, Upper Hunter Shire Council; Korea - Paju City, DaeGu City, Damyang Provincial Government, Gangjin Provincial Government, Kwangyang City, Suncheon City, Youngju City; and Taiwan - Taipei City Government, Information Management Center.

Disaster Recovery News: Rick Villars from IDC and Beth Pariseau of SearchStorage discuss DataCore's Advanced Site Recovery

DataCore Software debuts Advanced Site Recovery for physical and virtual disaster recovery http://searchdisasterrecovery.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid190_gci1361899,00.html
DataCore Software Corp. recently introduced a new product, Advanced Site Recovery (ASR), that allows organizations without a secondary data center devoted to disaster recovery (DR) to fail over physical and virtual servers to multiple remote or branch offices (ROBOs) in a disaster.

Beth Pariseau, senior news writer for SearchStorage.com
Rick Villars, vice president of storage systems and executive strategies at IDC

They will answer questions about Advanced Site Recovery such as:

What are the main features of Advanced Site Recovery, and what do users need to set it up?

This product is meant for organizations without a secondary data center devoted to disaster recovery, so is DataCore going after the SMB market?

Do you think SMBs that may not currently have a DR plan in place need this level of protection?

What are the drawbacks of this setup?

What are the differences between Advanced Site Recovery's functionality and what VMware is working on?

Play the Interview