Pillar Data Systems Extends Its Application-Aware Capability To Microsoft Virtualization Customers
Pillar Data Systems, a leading provider of Application-Aware Storage Systems, recently announced its Window Server certification and application compatibility with Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft's newest server operating system with built-in, hypervisor-based virtualization. The Pillar Axiom Storage System and Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V work together so customers can more efficiently run multiple operating systems in parallel on a single server and more fully leverage the power of x64 computing.
With the Application-Aware Pillar Axiom, performance is dynamically adjusted for those applications that require it, and storage utilization is greatly increased due to the system's innovative architecture. Pillar customers will see storage utilization rates at 80 percent or higher, backed by the company's unique guarantee program. Combining Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V with the Pillar Axiom allows customers to more fully utilize the capacity and computing power of their existing physical servers. The resulting virtual infrastructure enables better server utilization and availability, power and space savings, and the ability to more effectively create an affordable disaster recovery solution.
"Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V delivers a cost-effective way for IT organizations to adopt and implement virtualization technology, which in turn enables them to rapidly provision and improve the utilization of server resources – resulting in a more optimized infrastructure," said David Greschler, director of integrated virtualization marketing, Microsoft Corporation. "The Application-Aware capability from Pillar extends these benefits by enabling customers to prioritize the way data is stored and retrieved so storage resources are used as efficiently as possible, helping to further reduce their total cost of ownership."
Pillar, a Microsoft certified Gold Partner, was the first to include physical space and utilization rates to best measure overall storage efficiency, and is the only vendor to guarantee performance, utilization, and per system availability. The Pillar Axiom storage system can sustain utilization rates well above 80 percent without any negative impact to performance.
The Pillar Axiom's ability to consolidate network storage for SAN and NAS within the same storage enclosure makes it the ideal storage solution for any data center. The Axiom's ability to be provisioned similarly to how virtualized servers are provisioned makes it the ideal storage solution in virtualized environments.
Pillar Data recently surveyed more than 1,000 users and found the underlying problem with virtualization projects is that they often require customers to purchase additional storage capacity to alleviate the utilization and performance degradation associated with virtualization. Problems typically occur when virtual machine performance is hindered by a server-to-storage I/O bottleneck. Traditional storage architectures cannot effectively manage the random I/O patterns created by virtual machines. The Pillar Axiom was designed differently and excels under extreme and varied workloads because of its patented Quality of Service functionality. The Pillar Axiom's ability to dynamically assign or re-assign priorities to applications that companies deem most important improves overall storage performance, while reducing the I/O bottleneck seen in legacy storage systems.
"With the daily increase in data that needs to be stored and the increase in the average size of data volumes, more businesses are turning to virtualization as a means to increase efficiencies," said Bob Maness, vice president of worldwide marketing, Pillar Data Systems. "By using Microsoft's Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V with Pillar's Application-Aware capability, customers can achieve the highest utilization rates in the industry, while keeping their IT infrastructure costs to a minimum."
About Pillar Data Systems
Founded in 2001, Pillar Data Systems develops Application-Aware Storage systems for midsize and enterprise organizations. With the highest utilization rates in the storage industry, the Pillar Axiom solution is the most efficient storage system on the market today. The Pillar Axiom cuts administrative time and total cost of ownership by more than 50 percent as well as provides the only storage system that can differentiate services based on application priority. Designed from the ground up as the only true Application-Aware Storage system, the Pillar Axiom allows users to match multiple application characteristics to the appropriate service levels within a single storage platform. Pillar Data Systems is privately funded by Tako Ventures, LLC, the venture arm of Larry Ellison. For more information, visit: http://www.pillardata.com
SOURCE: Pillar Data Systems