NetApp unveils midrange storage refresh

Network Appliance (NetApp) has launched a major revamp of its midrange storage systems

Storage vendor Network Appliance (NetApp) has launched a major revamp of its midrange storage systems, featuring two new storage platforms, a series of storage management software upgrades and new implementation services.

Central to the refresh are two new storage systems, the FAS3070 and V3070, which NetApp describes as its highest performing midrange products. The 252TB systems support both 4Gb fibre channel and 10GbE iSCSI and can be integrated into both Storage Attached Network and Network Attached Storage environments, the company said.

John Rollason, product marketing manager for EMEA at NetApp said that the FAS edition would integrate into NetApp storage environments, while the V series integrates into heterogenous storage environments. He added that both systems offered impressive scalability as they use the same architecture as NetApp's high-end systems, making upgrades relatively simple.

Paul Hargreaves, Consulting Systems Engineer at NetApp, added that the new systems also offer more "bang for your buck" than rival midrange systems, pointing to a new report from testing firm VeriTest, also released today, which claims the FAS3070 system delivers 10 percent higher performance in a typical OLTP database environment, compared to EMC's CX3-80 midrange CLARiiON system.

Separately, NetApp announced a major upgrade to its management software capabilities, including enhanced data replication tools for Exchange and Oracle environments, a new Protection Manager suite which provides policy-based automated backup and replication management functionality, and a new monitoring suite called CommandCentral Storage by Symantec that promises enhanced visibility for administrators over heterogenous SAN environments.

Rollason said the new tools would help storage administrators manage their environments remotely, allowing them to reduce costs and improve support services.

Completing the refresh, NetApp also unveiled new professional services packages designed to help firms accelerate implementation of NetApp systems for Exchange, SQL and Oracle environments.