Compellent Upgrades SAN

July 18, 2007: Storage area network (SAN) specialist Compellent has announced that it is adding file server consolidation capabilities to its repertoire.

The company is offering file server consolidation with a new network attached storage (NAS) unit, an add-on to its Storage Center SAN version 3.6. It says the system now supports both block- and file-level storage access to simplify management and reduce storage cost and complexity.

Aimed at large organisations, Compellent promises rapid recovery, continuous snapshots, automated tiered storage, thin provisioning and remote replication with the Storage Centre SAN 3.6. It also says that the new kit simplifies deployment by enabling booting of the diskless NAS system from the SAN using its bundled setup tools.

The firm has also been working with Microsoft to marry the file sharing features of Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 with its dynamic block architecture in order to deliver a unified, scalable platform for storage consolidation. The solution employs data de-duplication technology, enabling savings of more than 35 percent in disk space according to Compellent.

“Microsoft’s Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 platform is designed to enable end-to-end enterprise storage solutions that are easy to deploy, reduce storage complexity and scale to meet the needs of any organisation,” said Bala Kasiviswanathan, director of storage solutions marketing at Microsoft. “Our partnership with Compellent and the seamless integration with the Storage Center SAN delivers the ease of use that small enterprises demand, as well as the enterprise-class availability and performance that larger organisations require.“

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