Features - Storage Innovations:

NEW GLOBAL STORAGE MANAGER A HIT FOR STORABILITY SOFTWARE

Continuing to set the pace in the enterprise storage resource management (ESRM) market, Storability Software announced the availability of Global Storage Manager Version 3.6. In Version 3.6, Global Storage Manager expands upon its already robust backup and restore functionality by adding a new level of tape library support, for improved management efficiency, and also includes extensive file-level reporting functionality for greater control in managing data growth. Using Version 3.6, customers will have a centralized, end-to-end view into the entire environment, from applications to DAS, NAS, SAN-attached storage, secondary storage and archive backup systems.

"Storability consistently leads the way in the ESRM market with both technical advances and strategic vision," said Tim Leisman, Storability Software CEO. "This latest release of Global Storage Manager, combined with the storage and server provisioning technology recently acquired from ProvisionSoft, enables us to deliver the most comprehensive ESRM solution available today. This marks another milestone in our strategy to enable enterprises to align storage management operations and service levels with the business processes that drive storage infrastructure requirements."

Global Storage Manager enables large enterprises to efficiently manage multi-vendor, multi-site storage infrastructures at every level, from discovery through "just-in-time" provisioning. In Version 3.6, Global Storage Manager expands upon its existing backup and restore application support by adding a level of tape library functionality that is not available in any other ESRM solution. IT managers now have the ability to view all libraries from one screen and gather vital statistics on performance, library capacity and utilization, media utilization, trending, error logs, and more. This allows IT managers to quickly identify exactly which tape is in which drive, and easily locate the necessary tapes when performing a restore operation. In addition, with this new level of centralized visibility across their entire library infrastructure, IT managers can increase utilization rates and avoid unnecessary costs.

"Expanding ERSM product functionality to include Tape Library support is a feature of growing importance in the data center. Large enterprises demand that storage management products provide functionality that offer improved levels of efficiency and control," said Raymond Paquet, vice president and research director of Gartner Inc.

The new version of Global Storage Manager includes file-level reporting capabilities enabling enterprises to more effectively manage and control data growth. Using the new functionality, administrators can see individual files by owner, by file type, and by access date allowing them to quickly identify "stale" data that is not accessed frequently and move it to less expensive storage. This also helps to more accurately calculate backup sizes before the backup window starts, and perform chargebacks based on actual consumption.

"Storability has added library visualization to enhance a customer's ability to pinpoint problems in the backup process. In addition, Global Storage Manager now has file management features, which will help users streamline the amount of data being backed up," said Nancy Marrone-Hurley, senior analyst for Enterprise Storage Group. "By providing both front-end file level visualization and back-end reporting and visualization, Global Storage Manager is unique in enabling users to perform end-to-end backup management."

Additional functionality in Global Storage Manager Version 3.6 includes enhanced volume reporting for detailed correlation between volumes, hosts, mirror copies and switch ports; and enhanced storage exception reports to identify misconfigured or misallocated storage which can immediately be reclaimed.

Storability's solutions enable customers to effectively discover and visualize their infrastructure as well as manage data, from creation, storage and retrieval, to eventual disposal. Storability plans to continue extending its offerings by providing an integrated suite of next generation software solutions that deliver automated business-driven storage management that address these customer requirements. Storability's vision is to enable enterprises to align storage management operations and service levels across three primary areas -- availability, performance and cost, with the business processes that drive storage infrastructure requirements