| Q1. |
What is the difference between this solution and similar systems marketed as ‘unified storage’? |
| A1. |
‘Unified storage’ is not a new concept in the storage industry. For several years, companies including HP have provided products that can deliver network attached storage (NAS) functionality as well as storage area network (SAN) functionality via the iSCSI storage interface. However, network storage technologies are generally not designed with the needs of smaller customers in mind.
HP All-in-One Storage Systems do provide unified NAS/SAN functionality but that is where they leave the competition behind. HP All-in-One Storage Systems go beyond unified storage by tightly integrating storage with comprehensive data protection software and a revolutionary management interface designed specifically for the types of IT professionals that manage small and mid-size IT environments.
Designed for IT generalists, not storage experts, the All-in-One Storage Manager software interface hides storage complexity by handling all of the underlying storage tasks. Storage capacity is presented in application-centric terms, giving application administrators’ newfound control over the capacity allocation and data protection related to their rapidly growing application data environments. Administrators can quickly and easily expand application data areas, migrate data from capacity constrained application servers, implement disk and tape backup policies, setup end-user file shares, and more. ASM has setup and data migration wizards for Microsoft Exchange 2003/2007 and SQL Server 2000/2005. |
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| Q2. |
What is the difference between this solution and bundling HP ProLiant Storage Server, iSCSI Feature Pack and HP StorageWorks Data Protector Express software? |
| A2. |
HP All-in-One Storage Systems are built using industry standard building blocks and utilize components such as HP Data Protector Express software to enable key functions. However, the HP All-in-One Storage family is much more than a simple bundle. HP is lowering the cost and complexity of storage and enabling smaller installations by integrating these technologies and storage functions under a radically simple management console; now customers can utilize a single interface to gain control of their storage. The All-in-One Storage Manager (ASM) software includes intelligent tools which have been designed specifically for the types of IT professionals that manage small and mid-size IT environments. Designed for IT generalists, not storage experts. These tools handle all of the underlying storage tasks and present capacity usage in application-centric terms, giving application administrators’ newfound control over the capacity allocation and data protection related to their rapidly growing application data environments. Administrators can quickly and easily expand application data areas, migrate data from capacity constrained application servers, implement disk and tape backup policies, setup end-user file shares, and more. ASM has setup and data migration wizards for Microsoft Exchange 2003/2007 and SQL Server 2000/2005. |
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| Q3. |
How do HP All-in-One Storage Systems compare to separate SAN, NAS, and Data Protection products? |
| A3. |
HP is a market leader in storage technology for small and mid-size companies and has individual products which provide application data storage (SAN), file/print serving (NAS), and data protection functions. These individual products are an excellent option for customers looking to implement only a single function such as file serving (HP ProLiant Storage Server) or who need the higher performance and scalability of a dedicated application storage array like the HP StorageWorks Modular Storage Array (MSA) or HP StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA). HP also develops standalone data protection software solutions for installation on existing servers or network environments (HP StorageWorks Data Protector Express Software) HP All-in-One Storage Systems focus on affordability, integration, and ease of use by providing these three functions under a radically simple management umbrella designed for the types of IT professionals that manage small and mid-size IT environments. The AiO400 and AiO600 cost substantially less than implementing these separate products and the integrated management lowers the cost and complexity of expanding storage environments. Choose an HP All-in-One Storage System instead of network attached storage (NAS) when you would like the ability to expand application servers via the iSCSI SAN technology and/or when you would like integrated data protection software. Choose an HP All-in-One Storage System instead of a dedicated storage area network (SAN) when you need a lower cost solution, if you also need to serve files, and when you value ease of use and management over high performance scalability. |
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| Q4. |
Is my data safe and secure… What happens if there is a disaster with my HP All-in-One Storage System? |
| A4. |
As a leader in server and storage solutions for small and mid-size companies, HP understands how critical it is that your data is safe and secure. That is why we have taken so many steps to insure that your experience will be worry-free. Data protection is a core aspect of all HP All-in-One Storage Systems. Administrators can implement flexible data protection policies for different data stores. Snapshots provide fast and easy backup and restore enabling roll-back in the case of problems. HP integrated a full version of HP StorageWorks Data Protector Express Software into the All-in-One Storage Manager so that data can be backed up and recovered from tape, virtual tape, optical, or external disk on the network. Data can be replicated between systems in two ways. First, the HP All-in-One Storage Systems run Windows Storage Server 2003 R2, which enables replication of files via DFS-R from one system to another which enables rapid recovery in the event of disaster. For replication of both iSCSI LUNs and files you can use HP StorageWorks Storage Mirroring for real-time replication and failover. Second, we built redundant hardware features into the product itself. Every All-in-One Storage System includes hot-swappable redundant hard drives with hardware RAID so that you are safe against drive failure. The AiO600 adds hardware redundancy by coming standard with redundant hot swappable power and cooling systems. Third, HP All-in-One Storage Systems integrate into the larger HP data protection infrastructure. They use HP industry standard hardware components to enable fast recovery because parts are easier to locate and service personnel are better trained. Lastly, HP’s award winning support organization and partner network is available to help keep your data safe and secure. Optional Care Packs enable hardware replacement in as little as 4 hours with 24/7/365 access to support professionals. |
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| Q5. |
What happens if I outgrow my All-in-One Storage System and need to move to a dedicated high performance Fibre Channel Array? |
| A5. |
HP All-in-One Storage Systems can be expanded through the addition of external MSA storage enclosures (JBODs) but if your business reaches the point that it needs a consolidated high performance storage array you will benefit from HP’s universal drive carrier technology and Smart Array technology. This enables you to simply take the drives out of your All-in-One Storage System and plug them straight into an HP StorageWorks Modular Storage Array, giving you a simple and cost effective long term upgrade path. |
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| Q6. |
What resources does HP commit to services? |
| A6. |
HP has over 60,000 service professionals in over 160 countries, a global services network of 16 strategically located customer support centers WW delivering 24x7 problem solving help by telephone, the internet, and using electronic service tools, and over 5,000 professionals focused exclusively on storage. HP has a very broad set of lifecycle services that can assist with initial overall design and implementation, as well as capacity and performance tuning, or even obsolescence or eventually even disposal services…covering the entire lifecycle. HP can help you with IT processes like backup, disaster recovery, server and/or storage consolidation…whatever IT area you need help addressing. |
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| Q7. |
What expertise does HP have in Microsoft Exchange and SQL environments and how has this expertise gone into the HP All-in-One Storage System? |
| A7. |
HP employs more than 28,000 Microsoft-trained professionals including over 3,400 Microsoft-certified professionals. HP has over 11 million Windows seats and more than 13 million Microsoft Exchange seats deployed or under contract. HP is endorsed by Microsoft as a Worldwide Prime Integrator for Microsoft Windows 2003 Storage Server R2, Microsoft Windows 2003, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Exchange 2003, Microsoft BizTalk 2004, and Microsoft .NET technologies. HP Services manages 300,000 Microsoft Exchange mailboxes and server environments, 500,000 Microsoft Windows desktops and laptops worldwide and has relationships with 61,000 Microsoft employees, vendors, and contractors in up to 68 countries. This cumulative experience in Microsoft environments has gone into the development of the HP All-in-One Storage System. Specifically, the ‘best practice’ storage algorithms for migrating and storing Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server data. This experience also means that HP and HP partners have the knowledge and experience to support your business. |
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| Q8. |
Does the All-in-One Storage System support the use of 3rd third party ISV software packages for backup and restore? |
| A8. |
Customers that have standardized on another backup application or wish to use an application other than the integrated features of HP Data Protector Express have two choices. First, you can easily use existing software by backing up the iSCSI LUN’s via the host server which is managing that data. File data on the All-in-One Storage System can be protected using backup agents from any Windows qualified backup application. The second option, for customers who want to backup iSCSI LUNs directly from the All-in-One Storage System, is to use our scripting interface to backup directly from snapshots. Whitepapers are available which describe this option in more detail. |
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| Q9. |
What version of Data Protector Express does the All-in-One Storage System use and what extensions do I need? |
| A9. |
The All-in-One Storage System ships with the full version of the HP Data Protector Express backup server LTU (3.5); additional product licenses are not required to back up the data stored on the All-in-One Storage System. The architecture of the All-in-One Storage System allows the application data stored on the iSCSI target to be snapped and then backed up without requiring a Data Protector Express agent on the host. You can install the Data Protector Express D2D2Any option which adds automated and policy driven movement of the disk backups to tape or other supported media. You can also install the Data Protector Express 1 Drive Expansion option in cases where the All-in-One Storage System is connected to a multi-drive tape device. If you would like to consolidate your backup and use the All-in-One Storage System as a backup server for other systems you can purchase network backup agents for those systems and back them up to Virtual Library Devices managed through ASM. |
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| Q10. |
Can I install the All-in-One Storage System behind a Microsoft cluster? |
| A10. |
Microsoft does support clusters in the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target on the All-in-One Storage System; specifically it supports the RESERVE/RELEASE mechanism within the Windows Server 2003 OS. Whitepapers are available on hp.com which describe how to implement this functionality. |
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| Q11. |
Can I use the All-in-One Storage System to host data for applications other than Microsoft Exchange and SQL Server? |
| A11. |
Yes, you can use the ‘Host a User Defined Application’ wizard in quickly and easily setup your storage. For Windows 2003 Servers you can use this wizard to expose an iSCSI LUN with an NTFS file system all the way to a server. The ASM agent must be installed on the application server when this method is selected. For other operating systems this wizard will provision storage for the application and expose the storage to the given iSCSI initiator. You will need to manually setup the iSCSI initiator on the host and present the iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) for that application. This option can be used for hosts running Linux, VMware ESX Server, etc. |
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| Q12. |
Does the All-in-One Storage System support different tiers of storage? |
| A12. |
Yes. ASM will recognize both SATA or SAS HDDs connected internally or via direct attached MSA enclosures. ASM will allow you to select either SATA or SAS as part of the provisioning process within the setup wizards. Using this Tiered Storage approach will allow you to utilize both SATA and SAS HDDs in the same AiO system and assign workloads to the HDD best suited to the task. For example you could choose SATA for basic file serving or archiving because of the high capacity and low cost; on the other hand for I/O intensive applications such as Exchange or VMware you may choose SAS because of the higher performance and reliability characteristics. |
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| Q13. |
What about support for non-Windows hosts? |
| A13. |
The integrated Microsoft iSCSI Software Target is compliant with iSCSI industry standards and compatible with industry standard iSCSI initiators. Interoperability has been verified for Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, VMware ESX Server 3, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10, RedHat Enterprise Linux 5, and Qlogic 4050c. For additional information visit www.microsoft.com/storage. |
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