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StoneFly Bundles IP SAN Appliance With CommVault Software

To cash in on the rising awareness of iSCSI as a low-cost way to optimize certain data-center storage functions, StoneFly Networks this week unveiled StoneFly Backup Advantage, an IP SAN-based disk-to-disk backup solution.

StoneFly Backup Advantage combines the San Diego-based company's Storage Concentrator i3000 appliance with Galaxy Express, a new entry-level version of CommVault Systems' QiNetix Galaxy backup and recovery software, said Bob Boggan, vice president of marketing and business development at StoneFly.

The i3000 is a Dell white-box server with preinstalled, StoneFly-developed software for routing SCSI traffic over IP networks. The appliance can be connected to Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet switches on the front for moving data to SCSI or Fibre Channel arrays over a metropolitan-area network (MAN) or a wide-area network (WAN).

Because the i3000 employs IP networks, it can be used to build low-cost SANs for small or midsize businesses or for departments of larger companies, Boggan said. The product can be used to migrate data from host direct-attached storage to a storage network based on Fibre Channel or IP connectivity. It also allows a Fibre Channel SAN to be extended over long distances via IP networks. Other applications include disk-to-disk backup and data replication over an IP network, he said.

A turnkey solution with an auto-discovery function, the i3000 can be up and running in less than 45 minutes, Boggan said. It works by virtualizing storage connected on the back end into logical volumes that the host server or servers treat as physical volumes, he said. The logical volumes can be configured and decommissioned as needed.

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