Two New Isilon’s Software

Isilon Systems, Inc. announced the sixth generation of its OneFS scale-out storage operating system and two new data management software applications, SmartPools and InsightIQ. With OneFS 6.0, SmartPools and InsightIQ, Isilon delivers an approach to solving complex data management challenges, enabling enterprise IT departments to manage data, consolidate applications and scale out a single storage resource in lockstep with evolving business needs.

Leveraging the innovations of Isilon’s industry-leading scale-out storage platform, SmartPools enables users to unify multiple Isilon storage performance tiers into a single file system, providing simplified data management and automated data movement to drive increased efficiency, cost-savings and application performance. Using SmartPools in combination with InsightIQ, Isilon’s new storage analytics application, administrators can optimize workflow performance by closely aligning application demands with storage resources, improving resource utilization and reducing both capital and operating expenses.

"Traditional data storage continues to be increasingly more complex, and so instead of breaking down barriers to information, it creates them, placing significant stress on IT budgets, staff and infrastructure," said Sam Grocott, vice president of marketing, Isilon. "At Isilon, we’ve engineered the complexity out of the system to deliver a powerful storage platform that’s simple to install, manage and scale, at any size. With these new software applications, we continue to deliver on this mission, providing easy-to-mange solutions that eliminate barriers to information and enable sustained productivity improvements throughout the enterprise data center."

"Scale-out storage is changing the face of enterprise IT by displacing large, costly enterprise storage equipment with flexible, simple solutions that will be the cornerstone of cost-effective, demand-driven data management going forward," said Terri McClure, senior analyst, ESG. "With its sixth generation operating system and new data management applications, Isilon continues to be a leader in the enterprise shift to scale-out, delivering mainstream functionality with next-generation performance, efficiency and cost-reduction benefits."

Isilon’s SmartPools data management application creates a single file system and single point of management for all storage tiers, automatically aligning application needs with performance, capacity and cost to drive increased simplicity and efficiency across enterprise IT operations. With SmartPools, users can consolidate a wide range of applications onto a single storage resource, eliminating the need for manual data migration between multiple systems and accelerating data access for mission-critical business processes, while reducing storage costs and management.

"We’ve tried traditional HSM applications and SmartPools is significantly easier to use – it makes data management simple," said David Hasson, director of IT, UCLA Laboratory of Neuro Imaging. "Storage is a tricky thing, but with Isilon, we’ve unified three tiers into a single system, reducing management to less than an hour a week and improving operating efficiency."

"With Isilon’s SmartPools, we’ll be able to eliminate tedious, manual data migration tasks and better utilize our existing storage, while also freeing valuable human resources for higher-order priorities. The cost-savings potential is significant," said Nick Bali, senior engineer, Sony Pictures Imageworks.

Isilon’s InsightIQ provides an innovative analytics platform that enables administrators to easily identify and eliminate performance bottlenecks, maximizing system efficiency, while minimizing high-performance storage requirements. InsightIQ delivers actionable insight into data usage trends, enabling immediate and effective response to changes in workflow requirements and user demand, improving resource utilization and business agility.

"We’re using InsightIQ on a daily basis and the granularity of detail it provides makes a big difference in how we can track usage trends and adjust our workflows accordingly," said Josh Wisely, WebTrends. "It’s simple to use but provides a great level of detail. Plus, when I use it with SmartPools, I can determine exactly where data needs to be to optimize my system for performance and cost."

"Isilon’s ease of use is a key selling point, as its ability to create a single file system for a variety of workflows and applications has the potential to dramatically simplify customers’ IT environments," said Vince Conroy, CTO, FusionStorm. "Isilon’s new data management applications further extend this potential, providing additional flexibility and cost control, while still being very easy to use."

Pricing and Availability
Isilon’s OneFS 6.0 operating system, SmartPools data management application and InsightIQ system analytics application are all available beginning July 30th. OneFS 6.0 will be available as an upgrade for existing customers and will be standard with all new Isilon system purchases. SmartPools is listed at $3,950-$9,950 per node, depending on node model. InsightIQ is listed at $1,950-$3,850 per node, depending on node model.