Start-Up StarWind Releases iSCSI SAN 4.0 Software

StarWind Software, provider of storage virtualization software, today released the fourth generation of its signature StarWind Server iSCSI SAN to the mainstream market. The new version includes advanced features such as CDP & Snapshots, Mirroring & Replication and Thin Provisioning, and is optimized for Windows Server clusters and for virtualized environments including VMware ESX, VMware ESXi and Microsoft Hyper-V.

"We are really excited to release the new version of our flagship StarWind Server product. It is the most cost-effective iSCSI storage solution for small and midsize companies that offers high performance and enterprise-class features at an affordable price," said Zorian Rotenberg, president and CEO, StarWind Software. "In today’s environment, our customers are looking for products that do more with less and StarWind is the ideal IP SAN solution that delivers for this need."

StarWind Server 4.0 is an iSCSI Target that installs on any Windows server and converts it into a high-performance SAN. It can be installed with VMware ESX and VMware ESXi or Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtualized environments and can be used for consolidation and data migration. The product allows customers the ability to run inside a VM itself. StarWind also supports Microsoft Windows Server Cluster environments with applications such as Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Microsoft SharePoint or Microsoft Exchange. Additionally, it supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10 GigE) networks for environments where speed is critical.

New features in StarWind Server 4.0 include:

• CDP & Snapshots – Customers can simplify Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery operations with point-in-time live snapshots. A storage administrator can access snapshot copies to recover individual files or folders from the volume, or rollback an entire volume to a point prior to failure.
• Mirroring & Replication – System administrators can protect critical data using remote asynchronous replication and synchronous mirroring between SAN servers. Software mirror (RAID1) and iSCSI replication enable volume/site recovery for uninterrupted operations and business continuity in case of disk failure or a disruptive event.
• Thin Provisioning – Now customers can increase storage utilization by using storage only when they need it instead of buying extra disks ahead of time. Thin Provisioning allocates only as much space as is necessary for data being written on that volume, reducing costs and storage requirements while raising efficiency.
• Virtual Tape Library (VTL) – VTL allows customers to substitute or complement tape backup with significantly faster and simpler disk-based backup and recovery without disruption to existing infrastructure. Designed to replace traditional disk-to-tape backup with more robust disk-to-disk solution which can also facilitate disk-to-disk-to-tape process by storing large volume of data on a single, manageable system.

"We invested a lot of time and effort in evaluating which IP SAN had the necessary features to work with virtualized environments and which we could really rely on," said Bernard Bene, a Systems Engineer at L-3 Communications. "We identified that StarWind gave us a lot for a very affordable price and we’re very happy with it. There was nothing else out there with comparable functionality and reliability at this price."

Pricing and Availability
StarWind Server 4.0 is available immediately, with North American prices starting at $995 USD for the base IP SAN, and $2,995 USD for the Enterprise Edition which includes CDP & Snapshots, Mirroring & Replication, Thin Provisioning and VTL features.