News
Dot Hill announces Improved Performance and Security in VMware Virtual Server Environments
February 2012 by Marc Jacob
Dot Hill Systems Corp. announced that the most recent version of its firmware for AssuredSAN™ 3000 storage systems will include VMware™ vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) support and Site Recovery Manager (SRM) support, to ensure improved performance and data security within VMware virtual server environments.
VAAI includes three separate capabilities: block zeroing, full copy, and hardware assisted locking. The AssuredSAN 3000 fully supports these functions with the new firmware and can now speed provisioning of new virtual machines, accelerate cloning and reduce the use of the CPU for storage vMotion functions.
SRM is VMware’s flagship product for data protection and disaster recovery across geographic sites. SRM is integrated with array-based replication to provide an efficient mechanism for maintaining replicas of virtual machines on multiple sites. The Dot Hill AssuredSAN 3000 Series, with built-in AssuredRemote™ technology, provides the critical replication element of the overall SRM solution, enabling customers to implement a comprehensive disaster recovery plan for their mission-critical virtual machines.
The VAAI support on the Dot Hill AssuredSAN 3000 Series is certified by VMware on vSphere 4.1 and 5. The SRM support on the Dot Hill AssuredSAN 3000 Series is certified by VMware on vSphere 5. These new features are available through a free software upgrade to the AssuredSAN array and are enabled by a free software plug-in to the VMware ESX servers.
Specifically, customers choosing the Dot Hill AssuredSAN 3000 array enjoy significant advantages over users of competitive offerings such as advanced data management, remote replication, snapshots, volume copy, energy-saving drive-spin-down and Dot Hill’s patented EcoStor™ green features. Dual redundant RAID controllers, dual power supplies and dual fans bring uptime figures to five 9s of availability. The Dot Hill AssuredSAN 3000 Series provides the highest levels of data protection for today’s virtualized environments and leverages VMware’s virtual file system and Storage VMotion technologies to perform proactive, non-disruptive storage migration, eliminate virtual machine I/O bottlenecks and free up valuable storage capacity, maximizing IT investments.
Dot Hill’s new firmware release featuring VAAI and SRM support will be available within 30 days. The firmware upgrade is free to existing Dot Hill AssuredSAN 3000 customers and can be accessed through Dot Hill support.
The Dot Hill AssuredSAN 3000 Series
The Dot Hill AssuredSAN 3000 Series offers support for 8Gb Fibre Channel storage area networks (SANs), dual interface 8Gb Fibre Channel/1Gb iSCSI and 6Gb SAS – attached JBODs, along with optional Dot Hill AssuredRemote data management software for remote replication. Advanced data management, such as AssuredCopy™ and Dot Hill’s volume copy technology enable the creation of independent data volume copies for additional data protection.
The AssuredSAN 3000 Series incorporates a number of eco-friendly features such as drive-spin-down capability and 595-watt 80 PLUS-rated (greater than 80 percent energy efficiency) power supplies for reduced operating costs. Additionally, the arrays feature Dot Hill’s patented EcoStor™ “green” battery-free alternative for cache memory, which leverages a combination of super capacitors and flash memory that outlasts traditional batteries nearly fivefold. Business benefits include lower maintenance and disposal costs and reduced server and application down time due to scheduled battery replacement and maintenance
