Open-E, Inc. announced the general availability of its sixth generation Data Storage Software (DSS) V6 IP-Storage operating system.



The new DSS V6 storage management software, with a new architecture, user interface and with more advanced functionality than previous versions, can be easily downloaded from Open-E's website and installed to any media including internal HDD, RAID Array, USB, SATA and IDE DOM (Disk-On-Module), or any other bootable media.

The Open-E Data Storage Software V6 (DSS V6) is a unified file and block storage management operating system (OS) that offers Network Attached Storage (NAS), iSCSI, InfiniBand and Fibre Channel Storage Area Network (SAN) functionality, while providing superior performance, security, and scalability at a fraction of the cost of alternative storage offerings. Advanced features of Open-E DSS V6 include Data and Volume Replication, Volume Snapshot, Automatic Failover for iSCSI Volumes, WORM and NDMP and built-in virus protection.

Designed to be versatile and flexible to support a wide variety of hardware RAID platforms from the industry's leading vendors, Open-E DSS V6 allow users to combine NAS systems with iSCSI SAN systems, while enabling the connection of multiple Network Interface Controllers, including Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel and InfiniBand. The Open-E DSS V6 supports logical volumes greater than 16TB. The software is available with standard license capacity of 4, 8, and 16TB. Extension keys can be purchased to add additional storage capacities from 2TB to 64TB.

In comparison to its legacy versions which already provides a rich feature set, Open-E DSS V6 adds advanced functionality including:

• Powerful and Intuitive, new Web-based User Interface: The high performance web-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) of the Open-E DSS V6 software makes remote management of the storage device a simple task. By using a web-browser, the DSS V6 can be easily managed from anywhere within the network.
• Automatic Failover for iSCSI Volumes: Open-E DSS V6 provides fault tolerance via iSCSI Volume Replication. The real time data of the primary server is immediately mirrored to a secondary server. In the event of a failure of the primary server, Open-E DSS V6 automatically and transparently for user switches operations to the secondary server.
• Volume Replication: Open-E DSS V6 provides both Synchronous and Asynchronous Volume Replication. Asynchronous Volume Replication is also supported over a WAN.
• SCSI-3 Persistent Reservation: Open-E DSS V6 now supports persistent reservation commands. This enables support for Windows Server 2008 Cluster.
• New SNMP based system monitoring: Open-E DSS V6 enables the user to check the performance of their system quickly and easily.
• NDMP 4.0: Open-E DSS V6 integrates the latest Network Data Management Protocol 4.0, which defines a network-based mechanism and protocol for controlling backup, recovery, and other data transfers between primary and secondary storage devices.

"We're very pleased to offer our new Open-E DSS V6, which is the culmination of eight years of development and feedback from thousands of our worldwide customers ranging from micro businesses to the SMB and SME markets," said Krzysztof Franek, president and CEO of Open-E. "In keeping with our customer centric focus on providing a complete storage management application range that can easily install to solve their simplest to the most complex storage needs, all previous versions of our software can be easily upgraded to the full version of Open-E DSS V6 for a nominal charge. Further, to introduce the power of our software to a wider audience base, we're also offering a fully functional Open-E Data Storage Software V6 Lite (DSS V6 Lite) trial version for free that integrates a unified file and block storage management operating system with NAS and SAN functionality."

The free version Open-E DSS V6 Lite, licensed for 2TB of storage and up to 10 downloads per user, can be easily downloaded by simply registering and downloaded at Open-E's portal. To accommodate growth, Open-E DSS V6 Lite is extendable with Capacity License and Support Keys and can be upgraded to the full working version of Open-E DSS V6.

Older Open-E DSS versions can be upgraded to Open-E DSS V6 for $420 USD (€300), end user price.