HP Unveils Extreme Storage

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced a highly scalable storage system designed to simplify the management of multiple petabytes(1) of data at an affordable cost, making it ideal for online and digital media businesses.

New business services offered by Web 2.0 and digital media firms such as photo sharing, streaming media, video-on-demand and social networking – generate massive amounts of file-based data that needs to be stored, managed and retrieved in an instant. Large enterprises in sectors such as oil and gas, security and surveillance, and genetic research have similar demands.

The HP StorageWorks 9100 Extreme Data Storage System (ExDS9100) addresses these requirements by offering vast storage capacity and simplified, integrated management. No other file-based network-attached storage (NAS) system on the market today offers a single management interface while scaling to the multi-petabyte level. For the first time, administrators can easily manage petabytes of storage instead of just terabytes. This reduces the number of administrators and the cost necessary to manage these highly demanding data storage environments.

The ExDS9100 is the first in a series of HP offerings for scale-out environments such as cloud computing, which is an emerging category where services are delivered via the Internet. With an architecture that cost-effectively manages these environments, the ExDS9100 enables customers to deliver new online services or enhance existing offerings to drive new revenue streams.

“Many companies are struggling with file-based growth – not only how to cope with the sheer growth, but also how to leverage their digital and static media to create additional revenue by delivering online services,” said Mark Peters, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. “HP is aiming to address these dual market needs, which are much more than just petabyte scalability at an affordable price. Customers are looking for systems that combine scalability with simplified management, ease of use, and all-in-one application support. Put very simply, new business models require usability as much as storability.”Hewlett-Packard Co.