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Storage Virtualization Offering Clients Increased Vendor Choice

Posted on: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 00:00 CDT

Storage Networking World -- Businesses are faced with a tidal wave of data, according to IBM Storage General Manager Andy Monshaw, and storage virtualization is one the keys to helping clients manage and unlock that data, as well as offer clients greater vendor choice.

During a keynote address at today's Storage Networking World conference, Monshaw emphasized that clients were not only trying to capture the data deluge, but more importantly they're trying to figure out how to convert that data into information that they can use to manage and grow their businesses.

Storage virtualization software, such as IBM's industry leading SAN Volume Controller (SVC), is a key to helping manage that data, as clients have to worry less about incompatible storage hardware providers. Storage virtualization offers clients improved total cost of ownership (TCO), increased application availability, better utilization, and greater freedom of choice.

Adds Monshaw, "IBM today is announcing that it has eclipsed 1,900 virtualization engine customers with its SAN Volume Controller, managing more than 15 petabytes of data. Clients are recognizing that this leading technology not only provides costs benefits but actively improves business continuity and application performance, which is one reason IBM is adding, on average, approximately five new SVC clients each business day."

Virtualization offers customers better utilization and better control. It opens up the infrastructure and gives clients freedom of choice. Monshaw compared the increased freedom promised by storage virtualization to one of the key benefits delivered by Linux. "Five years ago, server customers were essentially locked into their operating system. Linux changed that by providing greater freedom of choice. Today, we're witnessing a similar game-changing time for the storage industry through storage virtualization."

Monshaw adds, "While other storage vendors have pointed to virtualization as a future endeavor, IBM is delivering real storage virtualization solutions to clients today. Virtualization is real. It's here. It's now."

IBM storage virtualization customers announced today include:

 --  Care New England Health System -- Working with IBM Business Partner     Lighthouse Computer Services, IBM implemented a virtualization solution for     Care New England Health, based in Warwick, Rhode Island. The virtualization     solution, built on IBM SAN Volume Controller, assists with data migration     from an old to a newly built data center and synchronously replicates more     than 3TB of data from the production environment to a DS4300 storage system     at the main data center. The solution also includes IBM TotalStorage and     TotalStorage open software technology, providing increased up-time and a     tiered, cost-effective storage architecture for Care New England.      --  Invensys Process Systems Division -- By implementing an IBM     virtualization solution, Invensys Process Systems has improved the     performance, reliability, scalability, flexibility and ease of management     of its storage environment. Invensys Process Systems provides products,     services and solutions for the automation and optimization of plant     operation. The previous storage environment was inflexible, which made     changing the configuration internally difficult. Now using the SAN Volume     Controller software, the organization can change configurations and     allocate storage in-house, reducing its overhead costs. Invensys can now     react quickly and flexibly to its changing storage needs.      

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and IBM Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.

 For additional information, contact:  Mike Darcy IBM 914-588-8355 mdarcy@us.ibm.com

SOURCE: IBM

Source: MARKET WIRE

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