Virtualization Solution Kits Showcase VMware and Lefthand Networks' Compatibility By VSM News Staff published: Tuesday, February 19 2008
Virtualization
Solution Kits Benefit SMB and Remote Office Environments by Delivering
High Availability, Scalability and Shared Storage Without Requiring
External SAN Hardware
BOULDER, Colo., February 18, 2008— LeftHand Networks,® the leading provider of highly available iSCSI SANs, announced today that its Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) for VMware ESX Server
is available as part of new Virtualization Solution Kits, which are an
industry first for providing highly available applications and storage
without requiring an external SAN. The Virtualization Solution Kits,
which consist of LeftHand Networks’ VSA software as well as VMware
virtualization software, are now available from distributors
Alternative Technology, Inc. and Avnet Technology Solutions. Small and
medium businesses (SMBs) and remote and branch offices (ROBOs) of the
enterprise now have access to an affordable solution that delivers the
high availability that they require. The LeftHand Networks VSA is also
the first virtual storage appliance to be certified and listed in the
SAN Compatibility Guide for VMware ESX Server.
Companies
have rapidly adopted VMware virtualization to optimize existing IT
investments and to ensure business continuity and data protection. The
LeftHand VSA, based on LeftHand’s award-winning SAN/iQ®
software, is a VMware Certified Virtual Appliance and provides complete
SAN management functionality through the VMware ESX Server. By
virtualizing the internal disk capacity of VMware ESX Server and
clustering the storage across multiple VMware ESX Server hosts,
LeftHand’s VSA eliminates the need for external shared storage
necessary to implement the advanced features of VMware Infrastructure,
making it easier for SMB and ROBO customers to take advantage of the
benefits of enterprise-class virtualization.
“The
combination of LeftHand’s VSA and VMware ESX Server provide customers
who have smaller deployments or remote and branch offices the ability
to implement a complete and attractively priced VMware virtualization
environment that provides high availability to both applications and
storage,” said Parag Patel, vice president, alliances at VMware. “VMware virtualization
software has quickly changed the IT landscape by helping customers
lower the cost of their IT infrastructures while enabling higher levels
of protection for business critical systems.”
Four Virtualization Solution Kits are now available from Avnet and Alternative Technology. The kits combine the LeftHand
Virtual SAN Appliance for VMware ESX Server with VMware Infrastructure
Acceleration Kits in combinations that provide customers with highly
available storage and/or applications while providing a choice of
configurations that yield significant price advantages. The
Virtualization Solution Kits extend the value of the VMware
Infrastructure Acceleration Kits by adding the VSA to provide the
shared storage required to implement advanced VMware virtualization
functionality such as VMware High Availability (HA), VMware Distributed
Resource Scheduler (DRS), and VMware VMotion™.
“LeftHand
Networks and VMware are driving new innovations into the SMB and ROBO
markets while changing the economics of virtualization,” stated Larry Cormier,
vice president of marketing, LeftHand Networks. “This announcement also
highlights our commitment to the channel and the partnership we have
with our mutual distributors who are responding directly to the
requirements of these customer segments by offering the Virtualization
Solution Kits. As these Kits exemplify,
virtualization technologies are quickly changing the IT landscape –
helping customers lower the cost of their IT infrastructure while
enabling higher levels of protection for business critical systems.”
The
VSA being certified and listed in VMware’s ESX Server SAN Compatibility
Guide (HCL) ensures full compatibility and support with VMware ESX
virtual infrastructure solutions. For certification, LeftHand’s VSA
passed the same certification tests applied to external SAN systems.
VIRTUALIZATION SOLUTION KITS
Virtualization Solution Kits for Virtual SANs
These
Virtualization Solution Kits are for customers who require complete
high availability for both their applications and storage. Customers
choose which Kit based on VMware features, number of VMware and VSA
licenses, and the need for implementation assistance.
- Virtualization
Solution Kit consisting of VMware Infrastructure Standard HA
Acceleration Kit and LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN - Ideal for
environments where high availability of infrastructure and data is
critical, this solution gives organizations the ability to help ensure
business continuity, while providing all the additional benefits
offered by server virtualization combined with a SAN. This Kit
combines two LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN Appliances (VSAs) for VMware
ESX Server, the VMware Infrastructure Standard HA Acceleration Kit, and
support and maintenance services.
- Virtualization
Solution Kit consisting of VMware Infrastructure Midsize Acceleration
Kit and LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN - This Kit serves the needs of
small and mid-market organizations looking for enterprise-class
solutions that bring all the benefits that virtualization and a
full-featured SAN have to offer. Additionally, this kit offers
training and consulting credits that can be applied to VMware training
courses or services that help organizations optimize the use of their
VMware virtualization solutions. This Kit combines three LeftHand
Networks Virtual SAN Appliances (VSAs) for VMware ESX Server, the
VMware Infrastructure Midsize Acceleration Kit and support and
maintenance services.
Virtualization Solution Kits for Shared Storage
These
Kits are for customers who need shared storage to support VMware
features such as VMware HA, VMware DRS or VMware VMotion™, but do not
require complete SAN functionality. Customers choose which Kit based on
desired VMware features, number of VMware software licenses needed, and
the need for implementation assistance.
- Virtualization
Solution Kit consisting of VMware Infrastructure Standard HA
Acceleration Kit and Shared Storage - Ideal for environments where high
availability of infrastructure and data is critical, this solution
gives small and mid-market organizations the ability to help ensure
business continuity, while providing all the additional benefits of
VMware virtualization and shared storage offers. This Kit combines a
single LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) for VMware ESX
Server, the VMware Infrastructure Standard HA Acceleration Kit and
support and maintenance services.
- Virtualization
Solution Kit consisting of VMware Infrastructure Midsize Acceleration
Kit and Shared Storage - For IT organizations that need to ensure
highly available applications to meet their business needs, this kit
includes not only VMware’s advanced virtualization software, but shared
storage capabilities without requiring additional external storage
hardware. Training and consulting credits are also included that can be
applied to VMware training courses or services to speed implementation.
This Kit combines a single LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN Appliance
(VSA) for VMware ESX Server, the VMware Infrastructure Midsize
Acceleration Kit and support and maintenance services.
“Alternative
Technology continues to deliver innovative virtualization solutions
that for the first time allow SMB and ROBO environments to easily
embrace the benefits of virtualization,” said Tom Zorn, executive vice
president, Alternative Technology,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions,
which is a business unit of Arrow Electronics, Inc. “These
Virtualization Solution Kits also allow customers to buy what they need
today and evolve their virtualization and SAN capabilities and
configurations as their business needs evolve and grow, and that’s a
huge benefit.”
With
the various Virtualization Solution Kit options, customers can select
the kit that best meets their high availability requirements. And, as
their IT demands evolve and increase, both VMware Infrastructure and
LeftHand Networks have upgrade paths into more robust virtualization
and iSCSI SAN solutions.
“Virtualization
is rapidly becoming one of the hottest technology solutions for SMB and
remote office environments because it offers significant cost and
resource savings,” said Tim FitzGerald, virtualization &
consolidation solutions group leader, Avnet Technology Solutions,
Americas. “The Virtualization Solution Kits are tailored to the unique
needs of SMB and remote office environments, combining high
availability storage and applications on a single server platform and
eliminating the need for additional SAN hardware. With Avnet’s
dedicated Virtualization and Consolidation Solutions group and newly
announced V Rewards Program, we’ll be able to help our partners
capitalize on this growing market by providing them with comprehensive
solutions designed to address their customers’ business challenges.”
Availability
The
Virtualization Solution Kits are available immediately through
Alternative Technology and Avnet Technology Solutions in the U.S. and
Canada. The Virtualization Solution Kits are typically priced less than
separately purchased server and storage virtualization products.
About LeftHand Networks
LeftHand Networks pioneered IP-based storage area networks (SAN) in 2001. SANs built using LeftHand’s SAN/iQ®
software are uniquely able to distribute and protect data across a
cluster of industry-standard storage servers. The company’s patented
architecture increases data availability, allows users to start small
and grow the SAN seamlessly, and simplifies management. The LeftHand
SAN is ideal for storage and server consolidation, multi-site SANs, and
disaster recovery. For more information, contact LeftHand at
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