Storage Capacity Management: MonoSphere Delivers Comprehensive Capacity Management Capabilities For HDS Storage Environments

MonoSphere Inc., creator of award-winning storage capacity management software, recently introduced Storage Horizon 3.5, a comprehensive solution delivering exceptional visibility into Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) storage arrays. Ideal for managing many hundreds of terabytes to petabytes of storage, this enterprise-class software solution provides Global 3000 companies with a unified view of current and projected storage capacity usage of heterogeneous storage environments. This provides companies the insight to develop effective storage capacity plans and maximize utilization of existing and future storage assets.

The Storage Horizon solution is unique because of its ability to determine storage array usage (the amount of storage that contains application or end user data) through its agent-less server, application and storage system data collection and association process. Determining actual array usage is a critical step to effectively managing storage capacity. After storage usage is determined, advanced forecasting and analysis are applied, forming the foundation for a well-defined capacity management process. Successful implementations can decrease storage capital expenditures by as much as 50 percent, and drastically reduce operational expenditures such as power, cooling and data center floor space.

"Due to exponential growth of storage consumption by applications, compliance requirements and data protection, storage administrators are looking for solutions to help them manage the out-of-control growth of their storage environments," said Laura DuBois, research director of Storage Software at IDC. "Understanding and analyzing actual array usage is critical in making well-informed purchasing decisions to reduce unnecessary hardware spending."

New in this version of the Storage Horizon software is support for the popular HDS product family – Lightning 9900 V series, Thunder 9500 V Series, and TagmaStore Universal Storage Platform arrays. As the only capacity management solution to determine actual and forecasted usage for HDS storage arrays, Storage Horizon:

• Automatically develops optimized storage capacity plans allowing users to grow existing capacity without purchasing additional storage.
• Identifies dark storage that can be re-directed to areas in need of additional capacity.
• Pinpoints over-provisioned areas so wasted storage can be reclaimed.
• Provides early warning of potential over-utilization issues before they become out-of-storage emergencies.

"Until now, administration teams had to manage the capacity of storage arrays either by allocation percentages or, if they invested in agent deployment, by the utilization of application server volumes. The results of these methods have proven to be misleading, inaccurate and wasteful," said Frank Kettenstock, MonoSphere's vice president of marketing. "The Storage Horizon solution enables administration teams to manage their storage capacity infrastructure by actual storage usage, allowing companies to much more efficiently spend their precious capital budget."

As with previous versions, Storage Horizon 3.5 does not require installation of software agents on application servers, so the system deploys in hours and immediately collects storage usage data. Available now, Storage Horizon 3.5 pricing is determined by the number of terabytes managed. Interested parties can see Storage Horizon 3.5 in booth 112 during Storage Decisions, taking place Sept. 26-28 in New York City.

About MonoSphere
MonoSphere provides agent-less storage capacity management software that enables Global 3000 companies to forecast, plan and optimize their storage capacity. Providing unprecedented visibility into an organization's storage resources, MonoSphere's award-winning Storage Horizon software dramatically reduces spending on storage infrastructure. Headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., the company is venture-backed by top-tier investors Intel Capital, ComVentures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. More information can be found at www.monosphere.com.

SOURCE: MonoSphere Inc