LSI Corporation has announced four new advanced software options for LSI MegaRAID 6Gb/s SATA+SAS controller cards. The new software offerings are designed to provide white box channel partners with enhanced performance and data protection capabilities, enabling end users to address key business challenges while helping to deliver a higher return on their IT investments.
“This is truly establishing LSI in the channel,” said Suresh Panikar, senior manager, worldwide channel marketing at LSI. “Last year we started our channel strategy with the 6Gb/s MegaRAID, and then added the LSI partner program, and then added to the portfolio in January by bringing out the 3ware brand with 6Bg tech, and then introducing 6 Gb JBODS in March.”
“Continuing that trend, what we are now doing is providing certain software packs, which will benefit system builders who do video applications, data center applications, high performance computing, storage appliances, and general purpose servers,” he said.
The one partners have been asking for the most is the LSI MegaRAID CacheCade software pack. It is designed to significantly accelerate the performance of hard disk drive (HDD) arrays by enabling solid-state drives (SSDs) to be configured as a secondary tier of cache, so that the most repeatedly read data is accessed through the SSD rather than the main drive. CacheCade software helps to maximize transactional I/O performance for read-intensive applications, delivering up to a 50X performance improvement with only an incremental investment in SSD technology.
The software is best suited for highly random I/O block-oriented applications that frequently read and re-read data from a small working set such as web, file, SQL and other transactional server applications.
The CacheCade software pack includes MegaRAID FastPath software and is delivered to customers as a bundled solution consisting of both products.
LSI MegaRAID FastPath software is basically an extension of CacheCade. It provides performance acceleration for SSD arrays connected to an LSI MegaRAID 6Gb/s SATA+SAS controller. The software is designed to substantially boost storage subsystem and overall application performance, particularly for workloads requiring high levels of random read/write operation such as transactional database applications.
With MegaRAID FastPath software enabled, SSD configurations can sustain over 150,000 read I/Os per second (IOPS) in RAID 0 environments. The software supports full optimization of SSD and HDD virtual disk groups to deliver a 2X improvement in read and write IOPS compared to MegaRAID controllers not utilizing FastPath software.
The third pack is LSI MegaRAID Recovery software, designed to enhance data protection through rapid file and volume-level data recovery capabilities using snapshot functionality. Users can capture snapshots of source volume data at designated points in time and restore data from those points should accidental or malicious data loss or corruption occur.
The software is designed to allow lost data from disks to be recovered in minutes, minimizing downtime and helping to eliminate the lengthy process of restoring data from tape. The software helps to satisfy the growing need for more frequent restore points and reduced recovery times, providing IT organizations with new levels of data protection and business continuity.
Finally, to avoid the high costs associated with data loss or theft, LSI MegaRAID SafeStore software, together with self-encrypting drives (SEDs), helps to secure a drive’s data from unauthorized access or modification resulting from theft, loss or repurposing of drives. SafeStore software combines local key management with drive-level encryption to provide businesses with cost-effective security of data at rest, while preserving system performance and ease-of-use. Panikar said there had also been substantial channel demand for this offering.
The MegaRAID CacheCade Software Pack sells for $USD 270, the MegaRAID FastPath Software, for $USD 165, the MegaRAID Recovery Software for $USD 150 and theMegaRAID SafeStore Software for $USD 90.
Source:http://www.echannelline.com/usa/story.cfm?item=25721
