Data Domain Rolls Out New Quad-Core Mid-Range Array

Data Domain, a storage systems vendor that is benefiting from the intense interest in data de-duplication, introduced a new mid-range array today that offers more capacity and speed than the system it replaces. The DD660 includes quad-core Xeon processors and 1-TB SATA drive support, a step up from the dual-core DD580 it replaces that used 500-GB disks. It also adds support for an optical 10-Gigabit Ethernet connection to the copper version already available. It is positioned just below the company's DD690 system.

The system provides up to 2 TB per hour of aggregate inline de-duplication throughput, and up to 700 GB per hour for a single stream, the company says. It offers up to 36 TB of raw capacity. With its data reduction capabilities, the system can handle from 520 TB to 1.3 PB of logical capacity. An entry-level model includes 12 TB of disk in a 2U chassis. It also includes support for NFS, CIFS, and NetBackup OpenStorage. The base price for a DD660 system with 12 TB of disks is around $130,000, compared to around $120,000 for the model it replaces, which had around 7.5 TB.

Orchid Cellmark, which provides DNA testing services for agricultural medical markets, has been testing the system on backup data sets and says it improved performance compared to the DD560 appliance it has been using. "Over three months, we tested backup and replication performance and functionality using production data sets with Symantec Backup Exec, vRanger, and VCB backups, and the results were impressive. The DD660 doubled the performance of our backups and we saw a significant improvement in disk utilization," Carlos Ramos, executive director of IT and security for the company, said in a statement.

The new hardware comes several weeks after Data Domain issued a new version of its operating system that it says boosted backup throughput by up to 100 percent on some systems. Version 4.6 uses the company's proprietary Stream-Informed Segment Layout, or SISL, to minimize the number of disk lookups needed to speed up throughput, executives said. "Our controllers are based on standard Intel chips and we've tuned the software to take advantage of the multi-core technology," says Brian Biles, vp of product management. "As the CPUs get faster we get faster."

Biles says that strategy lets Data Domain constantly speed up its systems by using the fastest processors Intel makes available, and by tuning its software to take advantage of chip developments. "Our controllers and systems today can do 20 times more throughput and handle 30 times more capacity, while using less power and taking up less space," he says."They are riding the Intel wave," says Brian Babineau, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group. "As processors get faster so can their systems and it is easy for customers to get the benefits. It is all based on industry standard components."

Customers may also see greater data reduction rates through the use of faster controllers and larger drives, he says. "For customers, one of the appeals is the simplicity. They don't really have to change out much to get the benefits."

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