F5 Networks ARX4000 File Virtualization Systems

F5 Networks, Inc. has expanded its Data Solutions portfolio with the new F5 ARX4000 and Data Manager solutions. ARX4000 is the latest addition to F5’s award-winning intelligent file virtualization platforms, and the industry’s first solution to support 10 gigabit Ethernet. F5 Data Manager gives customers granular visibility into their file storage environments, including usage patterns and trends, which can be used to identify areas of potential optimization and cost savings through the use of intelligent file virtualization technology as well as storage planning.

F5’s intelligent file virtualization systems simplify the management of large unstructured storage environments—enabling automated tiering or information lifecycle management, reducing backup complexity, and significantly reducing both operating and capital expenses. Customers who have implemented intelligent file virtualization report reductions in cost of 80 percent in many cases. With F5, organizations can apply powerful automated policies that simplify data access and movement, optimize the use of existing storage resources, and share files across heterogeneous storage devices.

“The  creation and archiving of unstructured information is having a dramatic impact on organizations’ storage environments, with many IT executives coming to the realization that managing such file-based, unstructured data will become the primary task for many storage administrators in their data centers,” said Richard Villars, Vice President of Storage Systems Research at IDC. “File virtualization solutions like F5’s ARX4000 provide an effective way to tackle the issues of managing large heterogeneous file storage environments while minimizing disruptions in existing environments.”

The ARX4000 enhances the existing ARX portfolio of file virtualization products, which includes the entry level ARX500, the mid-range ARX1000, and the high-end ARX6000. The ARX4000 provides global namespace and data management policies through an operating system common across all ARX models.

Data Manager is a software product that interfaces directly with all file storage devices, including ARX file virtualization platforms. Data Manager gathers valuable file storage statistics and provides graphical reporting and trending functions to give users clear visibility into their constantly changing data storage environments, helping them respond to business needs and better plan for future growth.

Deployment benefits of the new ARX4000 and Data Manager solutions include:

• Scalability and flexibility – ARX solutions give customers the ability to implement data management policies, enabling them to tailor and scale storage virtualization environments to meet business needs. The ARX4000 supports 10 gigabit Ethernet and offers best-in-class scale and performance, supporting up to two billion files per device, and enabling enterprise data centers to roll out next-generation infrastructures.
• File infrastructure visibility – Data Manager provides a holistic view of virtualized file storage environments to help organizations more efficiently and transparently manage virtualized and non-virtualized file storage environments.
• Enhanced reporting and trending capabilities – With the Data Manager product, organizations gain granular insight into how their data storage requirements are changing over time—including what types of files are being created, who’s creating them, and what storage resources they’re consuming—enabling organizations to proactively address new challenges and plan for future needs rather than slowing down the business to gather trending information.

“This launch underscores F5’s commitment to provide customers with the market’s most advanced network and data management capabilities that give enterprises the necessary tools to maintain a flexible, adaptable, yet highly cost-efficient IT infrastructure,” said Nigel Burmeister, Director of Product Marketing at F5. “With the addition of the ARX4000, F5 offers the broadest portfolio of file virtualization solutions on the market to address the data management needs of a wide range of IT organizations, including the largest global enterprises. The insight provided by the new Data Manager product enables customers to quickly recognize infrastructure or operational problem areas and take a forward-looking approach to managing their evolving data storage environments.”

Both the ARX4000 and Data Manager are available today.