Utility Storage: 3PAR Launches Virtual Machine Software For Utility Storage

3PAR, the leading global provider of utility storage, announced recently 3PAR Virtual Domains, new virtual machine software for 3PAR InServ Storage Servers that delivers secure access and improved storage services for different applications and user groups. 3PAR Virtual Domains enables organizations to deliver customized, secure, and even "self-serve" storage services to multiple users, applications, departments, and external customers on a shared infrastructure for workload consolidation. By providing secure, administrative segregation of users and hosts within a tiered, massively parallel 3PAR InServ Storage Server, individual user groups and applications are able to affordably achieve greater storage service levels (performance, availability, and functionality) than previously possible with dedicated workload infrastructures.

3PAR Virtual Domains is ideal for internal and external IT service providers that need to offer independent privacy, control, reporting, and compliance capabilities but also want the benefits of a simple and efficient consolidated storage environment. "With 3PAR Virtual Domains, we are able to consolidate what would otherwise have been multiple physical storage arrays," said Eric Putter, Director of IT, AON Consulting. "We achieve compliant volume isolation and improved service levels while reducing the size, complexity and cost of our storage environment."

Traditional high-end array partitioning schemes rely on the physical and manual segregation of array resources. 3PAR Virtual Domains offers a new approach that uses a policy-based, logical implementation to deliver secure, shared access for up to 2,000 virtual arrays per InServ Storage Server. Through private, logical separation of users or groups of users, hosts and storage resources, Virtual Domains is designed to give organizations the security and control they require while preserving the inherent benefits of a massively scalable tiered-storage platform, including the fine and even distribution of each and every application workload across all system resources (e.g., ports, processors, cache, loops, and disk drives). With 3PAR Virtual Domains, overall storage utilization is maximized and individual users or groups of users retain end-to-end security and control with higher, more affordable levels of service.

Problem: Security and Control as Barriers to Consolidation
While the benefits of storage consolidation are well understood, too often disparate user groups, departments, and external customers cannot share traditional storage resources due to concerns surrounding privacy, control, the potential for administrative error, and even compliance requirements. The result is that organizations must resort to the costly purchase and time-consuming management of separate physical resources--either within monolithic storage systems or through multiple, dedicated modular storage systems. In either case, these concessions mean forfeiting the consolidation benefits of greater resource utilization, reduced administration, centralized backup, and reduced energy and floor space consumption.

3PAR's Solution: Virtual Domains
3PAR Virtual Domains enables organizations to define multiple autonomous, secure, and policy-based virtual arrays or "domains" within a single, massively-scalable utility storage platform. Since users and user groups only have access to those domains to which they have been granted access, they are able to independently and confidently administer and monitor the system without exposing themselves to the actions or visibility of other users and domains. To use 3PAR Virtual Domains, a master administrator first creates a domain and then assigns logically-defined entities to it. These include one or more logical host definitions, one or more provisioning policies defining storage tiers and associated capacity, and one or more privilege-specified system administrators. Depending on the level of access, users are able to create, export, and copy standard volumes or thin provisioned volumes. These activities are carried out within capacity thresholds defined by the master administrator. 3PAR Virtual Domains is completely virtualized and requires no reservation of physical resources.

"With Virtual Domains, 3PAR has again harnessed the value of virtualization for the enterprise," said Steve Norall, Taneja Group Senior Analyst & Consultant. "Individual user groups maintain the control and privacy they demand, yet leverage a broader set of storage resources and functionality than they could afford on their own. IT organizations are able to deliver higher levels of service while increasing utilization rates. This is what virtualization was meant to do."

3PAR Virtual Domains is ideal for internal and external storage service providers who understand the benefits of consolidation but must deliver secure, independent storage services to multiple administrators, applications, departments, and external customers. Additional use cases of 3PAR Virtual Domains include:

• "Self-Serve" Storage--3PAR Virtual Domains, when combined with the simplicity of management offered by the InServ Storage Server, enables storage administrators to grant system, database and application administrators their own domains and associated privileges.
• Error Management--Even in trusted multi-administrator environments, 3PAR Virtual Domains enables administrators to limit activities and statistics to a selected domain, thereby preventing inadvertent errors that could affect other applications or user groups.
• Compliance--Some service level agreements and requirements call for total data and administrative segregation. 3PAR Virtual Domains allows for secure logical separation of resources while permitting physical pooling of resources.
• Unified Test, Development, and Production--In many environments, the simple but secure consolidation of production with test and development resources represents significant cost savings.

"Virtual Domains is designed to give today's pressured CIOs the means to address the last barriers confronting workload consolidation in the enterprise," said David Scott, CEO of 3PAR. "As 3PAR Virtual Domains demonstrates, 3PAR continues to drive storage innovation in order to dramatically improve the business agility and economics of our customers."

3PAR Virtual Domains is optional software available since early October 2007 for all new and previously installed InServ Storage Servers. 3PAR Virtual Domains pricing begins at $1,500 and varies based on InServ configuration. In addition to standard management interfaces, 3PAR Virtual Domains is fully integrated within the 3PAR InSpire Architecture, offering support with:

• 3PAR Remote Copy--for secured access even to remotely replicated domain volumes
• 3PAR System Reporter--for historical performance and capacity utilization reporting by domain
• 3PAR LDAP support--for centralized InServ, Domain, and overall IT user authentication and authorization via use of the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP)

About 3PAR
3PAR is the leading global provider of utility storage, a category of highly virtualized tiered-storage arrays built for utility computing. 3PAR Utility Storage allows users to reliably serve more with less. Organizations creating virtualized IT infrastructures for workload consolidation and flexible resource allocation use 3PAR to reduce the costs of allocated storage capacity, storage administration and SAN infrastructure. Distinct advantages in simplicity, efficiency, and massive scalability make 3PAR Utility Storage well-suited for open systems storage consolidation, integrated data lifecycle management, and performance-intensive applications. For more information, visit the 3PAR Website at: www.3PAR.com.

SOURCE: 3PAR