HP Offers Migration From EMC VNX and CLARiiON CX4 to 3par

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. introduced HP 3PAR Online Import support for migrating data from EMC VNX(1) and CLARiiON CX4 arrays to HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage, enabling customers to modernize legacy storage infrastructure.

With support for HP EVA Storage and now EMC VNX(1) and CLARiiON CX4 storage systems, customers can save time and money by performing self-directed platform migrations without professional services engagements or external hardware appliances.

The introduction of virtualization, cloud and IT-as-a-Service workloads into the data center adds demands on legacy storage, compromising an organization’s ability to be agile and efficient. Additionally, moving to a new storage system often requires resource-intensive planning, change management and data migration.

To overcome the roadblocks that enterprises face when modernizing storage, 3PAR Online Import software now allows customers to migrate data easily from VNX(1) and CLARiiON CX4 systems to any 3PAR StoreServ 7000-Series, 10000-Series or all-flash 7450 array. This user-directed migration utility allows upgrades from legacy EMC arrays to 3PAR StoreServ Storage without requiring the use of host resources, specialized host software or additional hardware appliances. By using federated storage innovations and eliminating reliance on host resources, data migration with 3PAR Online Import is less disruptive to applications and can performed faster than other methods.

For existing VNX customers, the latest generation of VNX arrays – or VNX2 – use an OS that is not supported on earlier VNX models, so the upgrade path from a first-generation VNX array to VNX2 requires a full data migration. Replacing VNX(1) and CLARiiON CX4 arrays with VNX2 requires 40% to 80% more commands than upgrading to HP 3PAR StoreServ,(2) and involves either data migration tools that consume host resources and impact application performance(3) or necessitates the use of costly additional hardware appliances.(4)

“IT managers are challenged to increase business agility and efficiency but are constantly held back by gaps in fragmented and complex legacy storage systems,” said David Scott, SVP and GM, HP storage. “HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage delivers features not available on EMC VNX and now we’re removing the data migration roadblock to enable affordable tier-1 storage for trapped EMC customers.“

Reduce the cost of storage modernization and data migration
According to industry analysts and the professional IT community at Wikibon, data migration has traditionally been a source of pain for customers. A Wikibon study states that the time to provision new arrays averages five months and migration costs exceed one-half of the initial array cost itself.(5)

To help customers reduce storage costs, 3PAR Online Import software leverages the 3PAR Gen4 ASIC to drive efficient, inline, fat-to-thin conversion that takes fully provisioned (or fat) volumes from a legacy storage system and uses zero-block deduplication technology to convert them into thin-provisioned volumes on HP 3PAR StoreServ. It is this built-in fat-to-thin conversion capability that enables HP to offer a 50% capacity savings guarantee to EMC customers as part of the Get Thin Guarantee programhttp://www.hp.com/go/getthin.(6)

3PAR Online Import software is provided to new HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage customers at no charge for 180 days as part of the HP 3PAR OS Suite and does not require professional services. This means that migrating from older VNX(1) and CLARiiON CX4 storage systems to 3PAR StoreServ Storage is now cost-efficient and, in many cases, less costly than migrating to VNX2 since no additional hardware is ever required.

Increase agility with storage born for virtualization and IT as a Service 3PAR StoreServ Storage is a multitenant storage platform with tier-1 resiliency features and a single OS that spans high-end, midrange, all-flash and hybrid arrays. This allows customers to reduce administrative complexity via common management across multiple classes of storage. In addition, customers can increase resource utilization by consolidating diverse and unpredictable workloads onto a single system and by nondisruptively load balancing between 3PAR StoreServ Storage systems. A common architecture also allows customers to upgrade to the latest version of the 3PAR OS on any model 3PAR StoreServ System.(7)

Pricing and availability

• 3PAR Online Import software is included at no charge for 180 days with the HP 3PAR OS Suite, version 3.1.2 MU2 and later.
• 3PAR Online Import support for VNX(1) and CLARiiON CX4 arrays will be available in June at no additional cost, and will be included as part of the 3PAR OS Suite version 3.1.3 MU1 and later.

(1) Applies to first-generation VNX arrays, not to the latest generation, frequently referred to as VNX2.
(2) Based on HP analysis and testing of EMC published steps for migrating 10 hosts using PowerPath Migration Enabler Host Copy Software compared to 3PAR Online Import Software.
(3) Requires EMC PowerPath Migration Enabler Host Copy software.
(4) Requires an EMC VPLEX appliance.
(5) The Cost of Storage Array Migration in 2014, Wikibon.org.
(6) HP Get Thin Guarantee claims subject to terms and conditions.
(7) Includes 3PAR F-Class and T-Class arrays.