Nexsan launches new version of archiving system, Assureon 6.0

Storage company Nexsan has added a new version Assureon 6.0 to its archiving system with extra security features and scalability.

The updated software includes AutoMaid green technology which helps in reducing energy consumption in a hosted data-centre. The Assureon 6.0 consists of archiving software, servers and disk storage in a single rack.

Nexsan applies its own data storage method, Maid (Massive Arrays of Idle Disks) exploiting the fact that disk arrays could be using energy on account of its continuous rotation. Maid deploys more of smaller disks so that at any one occasion many of the discs remain idle. This helped in reducing overall energy consumption.

According to Gregg Pugmire who is executive vice president of Nexsan’s business development, all companies were focussing on saving money and energy, whilst trying to increase efficiency by using new outsourced subscription models for their storage applications and software. He remarked that these features were useful for SaaS applications.

Assureon 6.0 also features CAS (content-addressable storage) capability, enabling virtualisation of a system into physically secure unlimited number of archives.

While Nexsan has yet to announce price for Assureon 6.0 system, it has thrown a challenge to iSCSI storage area network packages of LeftHand Networks and EqualLogic PS 5000.

UK’s Honda F1 Racing Team finds new back-up capabilities

The UK-based Formula One racing team has succeeded in finding new data storage and back-up capabilities. The heterogeneous product will back-up its multi-platform storage environment. This will enhance data protection and make the system cost effective.

100 TB data of this Northamptonshire-based team is stored on virtualised storage area network (SAN). The SAN provides information to 80 file servers, 700 clients and a number of Microsoft Windows, Unix and Linux systems. According to Matt Harris, the team’s technical infrastructure manager, existing EMC NetWorker backup software was not able to protect its varied storage environment. The team was in search of a solution with the flexibility to suit its backup needs.

Team was assisted by its IT supplier and BackBone NetVaultBackup in the installation of new backup facility. The interesting feature of the facility was that it had zero impact on users during the installation. Features like server-less backups, direct backups across SAN and use of the server client backup, facilitated the process.

The team has moved 30 TB of its data across 40 servers onto the system. The process of data migration to NetVault Backup is currently on and will soon be completed.The Honda F1 Racing Team can now freely backup its enormous data within no time.

CIOs should walk their talk on virtualised storage

A survey of delegates, who attended Gartner’ IT Expo by ONStor, revealed that 56 per cent of them considered virtualisation as worth deploying. But the truth is only 27 had actually implemented it in their companies. About 40 per cent of them acknowledged traditional storage methods would not work for long.
IT managers see many benefits in its implementation as regards flexibility, data accessibility and overall savings in costs. According to Marcos Burnett, UK country manager at ONStor, their research has highlighted the obsession of CIOs with the virtualisation. The unfortunate part is that very few are walking the talk on virtualisation. It is not being taken up as quickly and as earnestly as many would have thought.

The ONStor research showed that 90 per cent of IT managers expect perfect compatibility of their storage systems with virtualisation market leader VMware and such other vendors.  Marcos reports that companies would be more interested in seeking a high value price for performance ratio from the virtualised storage. Vendors who would demonstrate competitive advantage will only be able to survive in the expanding market, as per the conclusions of the research.

Security vendors not enthusiastic about government’s super data base

Vendors are sceptical to news that UK government is planning to set up a super data base. They cite governments track record in failing to protect several public data in past. The data base will be logging telephone call, email website visit and SMS made by 60 million UK citizens. Home office is incorporating this in the data communication bill to be announced in November. The large ISPs, which would keep the records for 12 months, and  hand them over for inspection with court’s permission.

The information stored would exclude content of emails and calls. It will only store location and time. Police would be able to use it to analyse communications by and between the suspects.
Jamie Cowper of PGP Corporation, remarks that it is absurd on the part of government to bring in ‘super-data base’ when public has lost confidence in security of data. Instead government should focus on fixing and testing security of existing data base. He has apprehensions that US companies might not trust the governments standards of security.

Chief security architect Chris Mayers of  Citrix UK, also opines that single data base would neither uphold national security nor protect the public.  Centralised data base is not required even as per The Data Retention Directive of the European Union. Public is not likely to benefit any way.  Security experts agree that public has no confidence in the security of data after the loss of 25 million records by HMRC.  But Richard Archdeacon of Symantec sees a sea change in attitudes at the highest levels of government regarding security, and assures that necessary measures are going to be firmly in place.