Reduce storage networking costs 50% and say hello to the new foundation for Converged Cloud

[#1]

At HP Discover this week, we’re announcing the next wave of HP Virtual Connect innovation – one that will change how we think about storage networking in Cloud environments.  HP Virtual Connect now provides the industry’s first direct attach connection to Fibre channel storage not requiring dedicated Fibre Channel switches. This new capability in Virtual Connect FlexFabric modules increases the efficiency of server and storage connectivity by flattening the SAN Fabric.  Designed for virtual and cloud workloads, this solution reduces storage networking costs by 50% and enables 2.5X faster provisioning compared to competitive offerings. 

HP Virtual Connect Direct-Attach Fibre Channel

                  

It’s vital that you are able to consolidate thousands of virtual machines onto the single storage system that’s connected via HP Virtual Connect. With the advent of the highly scalable HP 3PAR Storage Systems, you get this benefit in addition to greater performance and Virtual Connect non-disruptive workload migration. This new feature of Virtual Connect can handle even the most complex IT environment. You can now connect HP 3PAR Storage Systems directly to the HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric Module, and remove the need for an intermediate SAN fabric.

In addition to being much more cost-efficient, management of your storage solution is made easier. HP Virtual Connect Direct Attached Fibre Channel has removed the complexity of FC switch management, zoning and provisioning. Based on HP Engineering testing, on average, the time per server for storage provisioning, zoning and propagation takes less than 10 minutes. Valuable IT resources are freed up reducing operational expenses, along with greatly reduced equipment capital expense.

HP Virtual Connect Direct-Attach for HP 3PAR Storage Systems helps you to:

Reduce costs

•        Do away with the need for expensive SAN fabrics

•        Save on operating costs and cut down on capital expenditure

•        Scale with the “pay-as-you-grow” model, which lets you pay for only what you need now

Overcome complexity

•        Connect Virtual Connect FlexFabric Fibre Channel directly to HP 3PAR FC storage to simplify your server connections

•        Improve efficiency with simplified fabric management tools

•        Configure your Virtual Connect as “direct attach” and/or “fabric attach,” depending on your solution design

Simplify management

•        Manage through a single pane of glass with Virtual Connect Manager Web-based and Command Line Interfaces

•        Use Virtual Connect technology to further improve management efficiency

•        Reduce disparity with separate fabric and interconnect management

This is an exciting new feature that will advance Virtual Connect as the World’s first and best wire-once interconnect solution for virtualized, cloud-ready environments.  Feel free to get more information at HP Virtual Connect Technology. The feature will be available in an upcoming firmware release during the second half of CY2012. All you will have to do is download it to your Virtual Connect FlexFabric modules. No additional licenses or fees apply.

[#2]

geat addition to the value of VC FlexFabric. That being said, I'm curious how you would connect, say, 5 x c7000 into a v400? The port count on the multiple c7000's would likely outstrip the v400's controller baed port count, especially if you wanted MPIO or redundancy... ??

[#3]

Does this direct attach work for EVA and the VC-FC as well?

[#4]

Adam, you can have up to 24 host ports per controller in a 3PAR v400,and up to 4 controllers, for a maximum of 96 ports.  I typically see 4 ports of Fibre Channel per c7000 enclosure, so that's 24 enclosures

Chris, the high port density on 3PAR makes the direct attach atractive from a cost perspective.  Other array like the EVA line don't have the port density, so the economics won't be as atractive.  That being said, it is possible the additional arrays might be qualified in the future, but there are no firm commitments yet.

[#5]

I'm seeing a lot of references to directly attaching T-Class and V-Class hardware to VirtualConnect - is this functionality also available for the F-Class systems?