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AppIQ StorageAuthority Suite R4.0 and OEM Editions Offer New Options for Centralized Command and Control of Heterogeneous Storage Infrastructure

Posted on: Monday, 13 June 2005, 12:00 CDT

New Solutions for Managing NetApp Filers, VERITAS NetBackup, and IBM ESS Storage Systems Highlight New Release

AppIQ(TM), Inc., The Storage Management Software Company(TM), announced today at Gartner PlanetStorage 2005 a new release of its storage area network (SAN) management and storage resource management (SRM) solution family that gives enterprises more unique capabilities for centralized command and control of heterogeneous storage infrastructure. AppIQ StorageAuthority(R) Suite R4.0 unifies SAN and Network Attached Storage (NAS) management with a new solution for centralized management of distributed NetApp(R) filers, adds fully integrated backup reporting and fault analysis for VERITAS NetBackup with the first in a series of new data protection modules, and extends the family's full range of management capabilities to IBM TotalStorage Enterprise Storage Server(R) (ESS) disk systems. AppIQ StorageAuthority Suite R4.0 and OEM editions of the AppIQ product family offered by Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), SGI, and Sun Microsystems distinguish AppIQ as a leading provider of software for enterprises that need to simplify storage operations, meet storage service levels, reduce operational costs, and build a scalable foundation for information lifecycle management (ILM), compliance, and consolidation.

"IT operations staffs have a wide range of storage management responsibilities, and are looking for technologies that can address their full hierarchy of needs, starting with data protection, and continuing with SAN management, storage resource management, provisioning, and other disciplines," said Raymond Paquet, vice president and distinguished analyst, Gartner, Inc. "SRM and SAN management vendors are smart to offer solutions that address data backup, which is the base level of the hierarchy and a must-have purchase. Multi-vendor backup reporting is a natural extension, since they can offer it as part of an integrated suite rather than a separate point tool, and they can leverage their knowledge of physical SAN infrastructure to identify the root causes of backup health and performance problems." The following modules are new in AppIQ StorageAuthority Suite R4.0: -- StorageAuthority for NetApp - This new module integrates with Data ONTAP(TM), NetApp's flexible operating system, to extend the full range of AppIQ management capabilities to all NetApp primary, nearline, and gateway network storage solutions. IT managers can use the module to visualize their distributed NetApp filer topology and centrally manage capacity, performance, health, and dependencies. Built-in links to NetApp FilerView(R) enable administrators to configure and provision individual filers from AppIQ's Web-based console. The module can be implemented stand-alone for customers that just want to manage their NetApp environments or as a seamless part of the AppIQ product family for fully unified SAN and NAS management. -- StorageAuthority Protection Manager for VERITAS NetBackup - The first in a new series of data protection modules extends AppIQ StorageAuthority Suite with fully integrated backup resource management, reporting, and SAN correlation capabilities. By automatically collecting, organizing, analyzing, and presenting information on backup jobs, service levels, media utilization, performance, and resource dependencies, this module improves IT's ability to protect information assets, meet service level agreements, comply with regulations, and minimize backup costs. Unlike backup reporting point tools, which only collect logical backup application information, StorageAuthority Protection Manager for VERITAS NetBackup leverages the topology management capabilities of AppIQ StorageAuthority Suite to present both the logical and physical views of backup infrastructure, enabling administrators to know where and when backups are failing, and pinpoint the root causes of failures and performance problems. "We are a long-time AppIQ customer, and have used the AppIQ solution family over the past two years for day-to-day storage operations, as well as to design and maintain our mirrored disaster recovery SAN," said Chris Pringle, assistant vice president, infrastructure engineering, Boston Stock Exchange. "We beta tested the new Protection Manager for VERITAS NetBackup, and like its unique combination of backup health reporting and SAN performance monitoring. Not only will we get a complete picture of how we're doing relative to our backup SLAs, but we'll also be able to drill down into our servers and fabric switches to determine why backups are failing or taking too long." -- StorageAuthority for Microsoft SQL Server - This new Application Module automatically discovers Microsoft SQL Server instances, databases, database files, and tables and leverages AppIQ's unique Application Explorer to graphically depict the dependencies of these SQL Server elements on the supporting SAN infrastructure. The path that each SQL Server-based application takes through host mount points; host servers; volume management software; HBAs and HBA ports; fabric switches and switch ports; and storage systems and disks is represented in a single, integrated view. Administrators can leverage these powerful dependency management capabilities in combination with the real-time performance monitoring features to predict the impact of planned and unplanned SAN downtime on SQL Server databases, and determine where in the SAN "supply chain" database performance is being impacted. StorageAuthority for Microsoft SQL Server adds to AppIQ's existing application modules for Oracle, Sybase, Microsoft Exchange, and File Servers. AppIQ StorageAuthority Suite R4.0 also includes the following enhancements: -- Managed storage system support for IBM TotalStorage ESS disk systems, including auto-discovery, path management, reporting, provisioning (volume concatenation, LUN mapping, LUN security), capacity management, performance analysis, and fault monitoring capabilities; -- Managed host support for SUSE LINUX Enterprise Server, adding to AppIQ's current support for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system; -- Management server support for Sun Solaris 10 -- Support for the Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2000 Dynamic Disk feature -- Support for EMC PowerPath 4.0 multi-path and load balancing software -- Support for Oracle implementations on VERITAS Cluster Server -- Numerous scalability, serviceability, and performance enhancements including remote management server diagnostics, built-in management server health monitoring, mass import of user groups for file-level scanning and user share monitoring, segmented synchronization for collecting details on different SAN elements at different times, and schema view optimization.

"With the introduction of our new Protection Manager module for VERITAS NetBackup and our support for NetApp and IBM ESS storage systems, AppIQ continues to offer the broadest and deepest management capabilities available for building a business-focused storage utility," said Ash Ashutosh, chief technical officer, AppIQ. "Our technology gives customers the flexibility and confidence to select the storage hardware that best meets their business needs, rather than forcing them to adapt their businesses to a single vendor's hardware and software agenda. Best-of-all, AppIQ delivers its industry-leading capabilities through a truly integrated, standards-built platform that facilitates operational efficiency, as opposed to disparate point tools that integrate only on marketing collateral."

Availability

AppIQ StorageAuthority Suite R4.0 will be available starting in Q3 2005 through certified AppIQ Solution Partners and strategic OEM partners HDS (see HDS' related announcement, "Hitachi Improves Application Optimization with Enhancements to HiCommand Suite"), Hewlett-Packard, SGI, and Sun Microsystems.

"The capabilities that HiCommand Storage Services Manager, powered by AppIQ, brings to the HiCommand Suite have been instrumental in Hitachi's rapid growth in the Storage Area Management market," said Jack Domme, vice president, storage management software, Hitachi Data Systems. "We are really seeing the benefits from HDS' and AppIQ's mutual commitment to standards-based architectures. With the update to HiCommand Storage Services Manager 4.0, our HiCommand Suite has the added ability to meet the expanding needs of our customers. We are committed to delivering Application Optimized Storage to leverage our global support services team's experience with new products like QoS for SQL Server and QoS for NetApp to do just that."

"Storage Resource Management software is fast becoming a key component in helping enterprises streamline storage operations, control costs, and implement strategic initiatives like compliance, consolidation, and ILM," said James Whitemore, vice president of marketing for Network Storage at Sun Microsystems. "We have been offering AppIQ technology as part of the Sun StorEdge Enterprise Storage Manager for more than a year, and it has been well-received by our customers. The new support for NAS and backup solutions will help us provide customers with more tools and greater options for managing their complex storage environments."

About AppIQ

AppIQ(TM), Inc. is a leading provider of open Storage Area Network (SAN) management and Storage Resource Management (SRM) solutions. Customers worldwide in almost every industry rely on AppIQ software to simplify the management of storage infrastructure, reduce operational costs, and synchronize IT resources with business needs. AppIQ StorageAuthority(R) Suite and "Powered by AppIQ" solutions are "Enabling the storage utility"(TM) for today's data-intensive enterprise by seamlessly integrating storage resource visualization, provisioning, monitoring, reporting, and policy-based automation, and by correlating the availability of business-critical applications with SAN configuration, capacity, and performance. AppIQ products are sold across all continents through strategic OEM partners Engenio, Hitachi Data Systems, HP, SGI, and Sun Microsystems, and a global network of resellers. AppIQ is based in Burlington, MA, USA. For more information, visit www.appiq.com.

(C) 2005 AppIQ, Inc. AppIQ, "The Storage Management Software Company," and "Enabling the storage utility" are trademarks and StorageAuthority is a registered trademark of AppIQ, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.

Source: Business Wire

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