HP Details Strategy to Help Companies Unlock the Value of Stored Data

Powerful storage grid architecture turns "corporate memory" into dynamic information services, changing the way information can be put to work

HP today outlined its strategy and roadmap to transform the network storage industry by unlocking the value of information in real time, regardless of how it was created or where it is stored. Created in HP Labs, the company's central research facility, the HP StorageWorks Grid strategy is designed to allow customers to better focus on how they use data, not how they store it.

With more than 1,000 customers and partners in attendance at this week's conference, HP Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina described how HP is delivering on its powerful storage grid architecture to help customers turn static stored data, or "corporate memory," into dynamic information assets to help meet the future in which information is increasingly becoming digital, mobile, virtual and personal.

New customers, including NASDAQ, are leveraging the HP StorageWorks Grid to enable information services today, such as e-mail archiving and retrieval, and to help them capitalize on change tomorrow. HP's open approach to StorageWorks Grid includes collaboration with industry leaders such as Cisco Systems, Brocade and McDATA. By working with its partners, HP expects to deliver new capabilities while integrating with customers' existing investments.

"HP's StorageWorks Grid is a visionary architecture for an intelligent, scalable, reliable and agile storage platform," said Joseph Zhou, senior analyst, D.H. Brown Associates. "It leverages HP's storage and server technology expertise, as well as research done at HP Labs, to create a new storage environment that delivers long-promised capabilities in novel and very useful ways."

To help extend its worldwide leadership in the storage market, HP also introduced the Simply StorageWorks initiative to provide small and medium business customers and HP's commercial channel partners with education, tools and expert guidance to help explain how network storage technologies can increase productivity, lower costs and reduce risks.

HP StorageWorks Grid - Changing the face of storage

The StorageWorks Grid stores information across a number of individual "smart cells." These smart cells form a standard, modular and intelligent infrastructure that adapts to deliver the information service a business needs in real time, laying the foundation for greater business agility and competitive advantage. By focusing on making more data more accessible to more people, the HP StorageWorks Grid essentially changes the way information can be put to work.

Over the next year, HP will build on the success of its initial StorageWorks Grid-based offerings with the introduction of a series of solutions for file serving, archiving and management. In the next phase, HP will focus on solutions that provide management co-existence in the storage environment, such as block serving smart cells, downloadable smart cell functionality, integrated heterogeneous array controllers and grid-based management.

Extending the roadmap into 2008 and beyond, HP plans to deliver on management convergence for the StorageWorks Grid through capabilities including changeable smart cell functionality, virtually seamless repository virtualization and a completely unified StorageWorks Grid.

"As more data and business processes go digital, customers need technology that helps them break down the walls that divide their data and transform it from a static form into something that works for them," said Mike Feinberg, chief technology officer, Network Storage Solutions, HP. "HP's StorageWorks Grid architecture is the starting point for current and future solutions that will help our customers grow without limits, change without chaos and realize simplicity without compromise, creating even more value from their digital information and furthering their journey to becoming Adaptive Enterprises."

HP StorageWorks Grid - In practice

As working proof of the strategy, NASDAQ has deployed the HP StorageWorks Reference Information Storage System (RISS), an all-in-one archive and retrieval solution for storing, indexing and rapidly retrieving information based on the StorageWorks Grid architecture. RISS improves NASDAQ's ability to adhere to new compliance regulations regarding e-mail archiving as well as the organization's desire to deploy an automated process for retrieving files. The system also provides a foundation for the organization's overall information lifecycle management strategy.

"At NASDAQ, we were seeking an archiving solution that would not only provide the performance and scalability required to store the massive quantities of emails that we must retain, but also one that could cost-effectively retrieve a single e-mail out of millions to support our stringent regulatory requirements," said Bob Greifeld, president and chief executive officer, The NASDAQ Stock Market. "The HP StorageWorks Reference Information Storage System has helped us automate what was once a time consuming and labor-intensive process and we expect to see a positive return on investment."

HP solutions for the StorageWorks Grid highlighted today are:

-- HP Document Capture, Retention, and Retrieval Solution - HP's Document Capture and Management (multi-function printers, digital senders and HP AutoStore middleware) and the HP StorageWorks RISS solutions combine to allow customers to transform paper documents into digital information that is managed and retained by individual policies and available for fast retrieval. This allows customers to simply capture a filing cabinet, storeroom or warehouse of paper documents and transform them into a searchable "digital filing cabinet" on the StorageWorks Grid.

-- HP StorageWorks RISS - The first system based on the StorageWorks Grid and smart cell technology, RISS is designed to simplify long-term data management, reduce costs and address growing regulatory data retention requirements. Now available in a 1 terabyte (TB) configuration as well as the original 4 TB configuration, RISS offers application-aware, content-based indexing and powerful search tools to enable unprecedented accessibility to reference information. RISS solutions currently are focused on active archiving of e-mail and Microsoft® Office documents. Future releases, including HP Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) partner program integrations, will expand support to cover all forms of reference information.

-- HP StorageWorks Scalable File Share - A self-contained file server that enables bandwidth to be shared by distributing files in parallel across clusters of HP ProLiant servers and StorageWorks arrays, Scalable File Share is designed for high-performance computing environments and allows applications to see a single system image regardless of the number of servers or storage devices connected to it.

-- HP StorageWorks XP12000 - A new enterprise-class disk array with outstanding performance and scalability, the XP12000 provides a two-tier storage architecture and the simplicity of single-system image management. External storage support includes the HP StorageWorks Modular Smart Array 1000 - this convergence of technologies is a key element of the HP StorageWorks Grid strategy.

HP extends Simply StorageWorks campaign for SMBs and channel partners

HP continues to make investments in support of its storage business with the expansion of its successful Simply StorageWorks education initiative in Europe, Middle East and Africa to include the United States and Canada. Covering the industry-leading HP StorageWorks portfolio in three comprehensive programs, the Simply StorageWorks initiative is designed to make storage technology easier to understand and own.

HP is educating small and medium business customers on how its proven networked storage solutions can help them optimize budgets and staffing and improve productivity with easy, reliable access to information, allowing them to focus on their businesses.

-- My First SAN demystifies storage area networks (SANs) by providing an explanation of what SANs are and the benefits they provide, a breakdown of the key hardware components that make up a SAN and how these components fit into an HP StorageWorks entry-level portfolio.

-- Easy as NAS explains how network-attach storage (NAS) fits alongside SANs as a key enabler to improving efficiencies. The program helps to make NAS simple and easy to use and creates awareness for NAS as a cost-effective alternative to traditional direct-attach storage (DAS) and complementary to SAN.

-- Ultimate Business Protection focuses on products and solutions for data backup and restore to help ensure business continuity in the event of a threat. The program helps customers choose an appropriate data protection solution that suits their specific business and budgetary requirements.
The program also includes a 70-city Better Together Tour - the Simply StorageWorks customer and channel partner road show - which kicks off today at the HP Americas Storage Conference. The HP Better Together trailer is fully equipped with the latest storage technologies and provides attendees with HP storage expertise through a series of live presentations and product demonstrations.

More information about the Simply StorageWorks program is available at http: //www.hp.com/go/smbstorage.

HP storage innovation - A legacy of leadership

The HP StorageWorks Grid strategy extends the company's long and successful history of innovation in the network storage industry. HP helped to drive the industry shift from DAS to SAN environments with the introduction of homogeneous SANs in 1997 and heterogeneous SANs in 1999.

HP also became the first vendor to envision storage as a utility service with the unveiling of the Enterprise Network Storage Architecture in 1998. In 2001, HP helped to pioneer the fusion of NAS and SAN storage into a single integrated network and brought to market the industry's first virtualized modular arrays with the introduction of the HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array family.

Complete information on HP's announcements at the HP Americas StorageWorks Conference is available at http: //www.hp.com/go/storageworks/asc.