Today, at HP Discover in Frankfurt, we announced a new line of HP 3PAR storage systems boasting smarter architecture, higher storage capacity and greater performance for customers.
Built for converged infrastructure, cloud and virtual environments
Without being bias, I believe the HP 3PAR architecture holds a cutting edge story like no other. With full mesh architecture and the ability to scale as your virtual environment grows, 3PAR simply rocks. OK, that does make me sound like I have drunk the cool aid a tad, but a lot of customers like converged infrastructure models -that’s why 3PAR is in synch with our server stack and VMware technologies through management plugins.
Take a read why I think 3PAR architecture is a great platform for VMware environments and also read about our VirtualSystem offering in this space. And also Learn about other HP converged storage announcements in HP Discover in Frankfurt this week.
So without further ado, lets introduce these new kids:
HP 3PAR StoreServ 7200
The new HP 3PAR StoreServ 7200 series is the entry level 7000 series model in the family. This model offers a 2-node architecture, and up to 144 drives (SSD, SAS , NL) with a maximum capacity of 250TB raw. Perfect for the home offices of small to medium size businesses.
On the connectivity side of things, the HP 3PAR StoreServ 7200 offers up to 12 8GB FC ports and up to 4 x 10Gb ISCSI host ports with an additional 2 built-in ports dedicated for HP 3PAR remote copy replication use.
HP 3PAR StoreServ 7400
Need more grunt than the 7200 model? Enter the HP 3PAR StoreServ 7400 model. This model offers up to 4-node architecture with up to 480 drives (SSD, SAS, NL) for simply awesome tiering capability through the use of our Dynamic Optimisation and Adaptive Optimisation automated tiering functionality. With a maximum capacity of 864TB of raw space, this puppy won’t see you running out of space anytime soon.
For connectivity, the HP 3PAR StoreServ 7400 offers up to 24 8GB FC ports and up to 8 x 10Gb ISCSI host ports with an additional 4 built-in ports dedicated for HP 3PAR remote copy replication use.
Stay tuned for SPC-1 benchmark results on this model.
What is the difference between the two 7000 series models?
Technically speaking, the number of drives supported, maximum capacity and port counts are the major differences, with the 7400 model offering more than the 7200 model across all accounts.
Both support RAID levels 0, 1, 5 and 6 giving you the flexibility to choose, and not locking you into just one.
Take a look at the back of one.
The good thing to remember is that both models have support for our HP 3PAR software packages, which means that you can get the most out of your environment.
Still the same cool architecture and guarantees you’ve known from before…
System wide striping for greater performance – Everything touches everything, full mesh performance, write-cache mirroring, smart I/O processing for mixed workloads.
Gen4 ASIC for hardware based thinning – Good for those Eager-zero thick VMDKs and removing the excess “fat” from thick LUNs .
But wait there’s more, these bad boys also support HP 3PAR Dynamic and Adaptive Optimisation – policy-based autonomic LUN and sub-LUN meaning it will put your virtual machines on the right storage tier at the right time resulting in a cost-effective way to store your data.
Double VM density – guaranteed!
With the unique system wide striping, and support for mixed workloads (whether virtual or not), we can guarantee you twice the density of VM’s over legacy arrays. We have such tight support with VAAI primitives such as atomic test and set that we can offer HW-assisted locking on VMFS volumes as well as superior performance through Adaptive optimization.
Learn more about HP 3PAR Get Virtual Guarantee Program
50% less capacity – guaranteed
The key is in the magic sauce – GEN4 ASIC offering Silicon-level integration with VMware VAAI primitives such as Write Same for thin conversion/detection and Space Reclamation to keep virtual environments thin!
Support for VMware stuff?
You bet! These new models have Remote Copy Integration for VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) and Peer Persistence Integration with VMware MetroCluster.
HP 3PAR Management Plugin for vCenter
Given the recent announcements and developments released in vSphere 5.1 (read my post here on these), the plugin will be available via new Insight Control Storage Module for vCenter. This will be the one stop management plug-in for all HP Storage and HP Servers. Calvin Zito did a really good overview on this plugin and its capabilities, be sure to take a read.
The HP Insight Control Storage Module for vCenter v.7.1 is available free from the HP Software depot – download it here
Technical Specifications
Supportability
The HP 3PAR StoreServ models are supported on the following hosts:
- Citrix XenServer
- HP-UX
- IBM AIX
- Microsoft Windows Server, including Microsoft Hyper-V
- Oracle Linux (UEK and RHEL compatible kernels)
- Oracle Solaris
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux
- Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization
- SUSE Linux Enterprise
- VMware vSphere
Need a hand? Sure!
HP Technology Services can assist in getting you up and running as well as any migration services you may require. Get in touch with myself or check out these pre-canned services.
HP 3PAR StoreServ 7000 Storage Installation and Startup Service:
This carepack service can help you plan and deploy the new HP 3PAR StoreServ 7000 into operation with up to two hosts connected to the virtual volumes
A final oriental session ensures you are comfortable with the new platform.
HP 3PAR Best practices whitepaper for VMware vSphere 5.x
In closing, HP 3PAR is optimally built for virtual environments, if you have a VMware farm and looking to get more out of your environment – take a look at the official BP document.
Download this whitepaper here. Or get in contact with myself, as I am always happy to answer questions.
