HPE Enhancing StoreEasy Storage, ProLiant Easy Connect and Flex Solutions

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (HPE) announced enhancements to StoreEasy Storage, ProLiant Easy Connect and Flex solutions that give SMBs the flexibility to develop and maintain the mix of hybrid IT elements.

Resource-constrained SMBs are increasingly embracing a hybrid mix of on-premise and cloud infrastructure to help provide agility and efficiency as they grow. To support the right mix, the company is announcing enhancements to its StoreEasy family including integrated cloud backup with Microsoft Azure as well as an expansion to the ProLiant Easy Connect hybrid cloud platform. Together, these innovations help SMBs strike the right balance of hybrid IT today and as they grow.

Entry NAS platform under $15k just got complete makeover
Unstructured data growth continues to be one of the biggest headaches for customers as they grow, and is a workload ideally suited to consolidation onto optimized infrastructure. To meet this need, the firm has enhanced the StoreEasy Storage portfolio through new configurations featuring the Windows Storage Server 2016 Standard Edition OS, the latest Xeon processors, and high-speed memory. These platforms provide deduplication and compression to maximize usable space, include built-in tools to simplify capacity expansion and deliver security and cloud-based protection features to reduce risk.

Already a dense 2U NAS appliance, 10TB drive bundles provide 25% greater density, allowing the StoreEasy 1650 Expanded to scale up to 280TB of internal capacity in 2U, so more data can be consolidated without additional hardware.^[1] System administrators and firm’s channel partners can configure automatic notifications and recommendations when it’s time to add capacity to the system. Once the new drives arrive, the system provides a best practices-based provisioning tool that optimizes for capacity and/or performance.

Security features within the StoreEasy Storage family harden protection from man-in-the-middle attacks while data is in flight while providing up to 2X better encryption performance ^[2] for large files. This augments the platform’s existing multi-dimensional security and data protection features, which provide customers that their file-based intellectual property is secure regardless of state: logical, physical, at rest and in flight.

Customers looking to transition to a hybrid IT approach can leverage the Azure cloud as a backup target for data stored on StoreEasy Storage systems. Using native Microsoft integration, it takes a few steps to configure an off-site Azure vault that can be used for data restoration in the case of an outage or catastrophic failure. StoreEasy can also be used as an on-premises backup target for customers using Microsoft Data Protection Manager to protect Microsoft applications, VMs and client PCs.

ProLiant Easy Connect supports growing SMBs and more complex workloads
Combining the flexibility and scalability of the cloud with the security and control of on-premises IT, HPE has expanded the ProLiant Easy Connect family with the ProLiant Easy Connect ML110 Managed Hybrid Server. With support for up to 150 SMB users per site at any number of sites, the solution allows customers to maintain the mix of cloud-based applications and on-premises control for business growth, more complex workloads and expansion to remote sites. Subscribers can purchase subscription services based on 8, 10 or 14 ProLiant ML 110 Gen9 Server cores – allowing businesses to grow without adding IT specialists, compromising security or giving up cloud flexibility.

ProLiant Easy Connect is for small businesses, education and enterprise multi-sites such as remote offices and branches. Customers with limited on-site IT resources benefit as the solution is managed remotely from the cloud by MSP partners. Pre-integrated with cloud services, WiFi connection and managed remotely from the cloud, it provides an agile, scalable and on-demand IT solution.

ProLiant Easy Connect:

• HA and 24×7 support options for customers who need protection against business disruption and data loss in the event of a system failure

• Aruba Central integration for centralized, proactive WiFi device monitoring with the potential to reduce the need for costly partner on-site visits

• Simplified management for MSPs thanks to integration with ConnectWise and Autotask, professional service automation tools.

MSA 2042 storage system

Just Right IT Flex Solutions Accelerate SQL Server With Flash
For customers looking for solutions to accelerate time to value for SQL Server, the company has refreshed its Flex solutions for SQL Server featuring hybrid flash MSA 2042 Storage systems and support for SQL Server 2016. These Flex solutions are lab tested and verified across servers, storage and networking using SQL Server software to ensure performance-tuned, reliable and cost-effective solutions to address SMB needs.

Pricing and availability:

• Existing StoreEasy customers running Windows Storage Server 2012 R2 or 2012 can take advantage of the upgrade kit for StoreEasy Storage for greater security and encryption plus optimized deduplication for larger volumes and files, available worldwide. The Windows Storage Server 2016 upgrade kit is priced at $700.

• ProLiant Easy Connect Servers will be available on December 12, 2016, only in the US and UK.

• Flex solutions for SQL Server 2016 are available worldwide.

^[1] Based on comparison StoreEasy 1650 Expanded which previously supported only 8TB HDDs at 224TB raw internal capacity vs. StoreEasy 1650 Expanded with new 10TB HDDs at 280TB raw internal capacity.
^[2] Microsoft blog (Section 2.2)