HP 3PAR Virtual Domains Software -
Overview & Features

Overview

HP 3PAR Virtual Domains Software is technology capable of providing thousands of secure "virtual private arrays" within a single, massively-scalable HP 3PAR Storage System. By providing secure administrative segregation of users, hosts, and application data, Virtual Domains allows hosting providers to deliver virtual private array services and enterprise IT organizations to deliver "self-service" storage that is both secure and capable of high quality-of-service levels. Through consolidation onto the massively parallel and dynamically-tiered HP 3PAR Storage System, individual user groups and applications achieve greater storage service levels (performance, availability, and functionality) than pre-consolidation levels with less infrastructure. Virtual Domains is ideal for both internal and external storage service providers, and for any enterprise deploying a converged infrastructure.

Features

• HP 3PAR Virtual Domains Software eliminates the costly purchase and time-consuming management of separate physical resources-either within a monolithic storage system or with multiple, dedicated modular storage arrays.
• Enables the creation of up to 1024 secure, "virtual private arrays" within a single, massively scalable HP 3PAR Storage System by delivering a simple, efficient, and scalable approach to secure segregation within a consolidated platform.
• Allows organizations to enjoy the benefits of storage consolidation-including greater resource utilization, reduced administration, centralized backup, and reduced energy and floor space consumption-while meeting diverse and distributed storage needs.
• Fully integrated with HP 3PAR Remote Copy Software for simple and secured access to replicated volumes, HP 3PAR System Reporter Software for simple historical performance and capacity utilization reporting by virtual domain, and LDAP support for centralized user authentication and authorization.

• Policy-based, virtual implementation preserves the benefits of massively distributing and sharing each application workload across all system resources (ports, processors, cache, loops, and disk drives).
• Administrative segregation of users, hosts, and application data enables individual user groups and applications to achieve greater storage service levels (performance, availability, and functionality) at a lower cost, with less infrastructure, and without compromising security.
• With secure, virtual implementation users only have access to virtual domains and logical elements that they have been granted access by a master administrator. IT organizations can deliver customized, secure, and even self-service storage to administrators, applications, departments, and customers.
• Ideal for internal or external service providers that must enable secure, consolidated, independent storage services to multiple administrators, applications, departments, and customers.

• Enables simple storage administrative tasks and monitoring tools to be turned over to system and application administrators in a "self-service" model that drives time and cost savings.
• Prevents deliberate or inadvertent presentations of a volume outside its virtual domain, thereby protecting authorized administrators against errors and aiding compliance efforts.
• Using the Autonomic Groups feature of the HP 3PAR InForm Operating System Software, multiple independent virtual domains can be grouped into a single logical entity thus simplifying storage administration and backups.
• Enables the secure consolidation of production with test and development environments to drive huge cost savings.