VMware Joins With Compellent On Cloud Disaster Recovery

Automated storage provider Compellent Technologies and virtualisation kingpin VMware on 30 November announced an extension of their partnership that creates a new disaster recovery option for cloud systems using Compellent’s storage capabilities with vCenter Site Recovery Manager.

The new package automates the process of moving, protecting and recovering data involved in virtually any type of disaster, Compellent Vice President Bruce Kornfeld said.

Reducing complexity

Conventional disaster recovery software allows companies to protect their critical data, but this often can be difficult to achieve due to manual processes and complexity. Testing these systems is also a tedious and time-consuming task.

Using the combination of Compellent’s Fluid Data storage with VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager, enterprises and service providers can centrally manage, update, change and test their recovery plans whenever needed from a single interface – even during normal operating hours, Kornfeld said.

In the new package, Compellent provides pre-loaded VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager together with Compellent remote replication, automated tiered storage and thin provisioning in a single, scalable platform.

As for installation and deployment, Kornfeld said that the accompanying management software to configure and start up replication services can be up and running in only a few mouse clicks in drop-down menus.

Advanced configurations

All the automation is handled through advanced configurations. The single-pane-of-glass controls provided in the virtualisation layer enable enterprises and service providers to increase hardware efficiency and automate data movement, Kornfeld said.

The new package, as described by Compellent, includes:

• Clustered Series 40 controllers
• Fluid Data software licences, including Enterprise Manager multi-site management software, Data Progression automated tiering, Data Capacity thin provisioning, Data Instant Replay snapshots, and Remote Instant Replay replication
• VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager 25 VM pack
• Approximately 6TB of tiered 2.5-inch 6Gb/s SAS storage

The package is available now through Compellent’s global network of resellers. Pricing for a typical Storage Center 5.4 configuration with VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager starts at about $83,000 (£53,000), excluding maintenance and support.