Quantum has released a new version of its highly scalable StorNext data management software. Exponential growth in unstructured data, rich file formats resulting from advancements in digital technologies and extended life expectancy of digital assets can strain existing storage infrastructures. StorNext v4.0 provides enhanced high-speed data-sharing and management capabilities to combat these challenges. Ideal for media and entertainment, life sciences and other high-performance computing environments, StorNext v4.0 builds on Quantum’s expertise in delivering workflow and tiered storage solutions for greater efficiency and reduced management overhead. Robust new features include integrated file system deduplication, a flexible replication engine and distributed data tiering as well as time code-based partial file retrieval and a Web services-based management console.
StorNext now provides advanced data deduplication natively in the file system for nearline data and multisite environments. This new capability is ideally suited for high-data-growth enterprises where a massive amount of data is continually processed, stored and accessed. Quantum’s variable-length deduplication technology finds redundant data blocks across files and stores only unique data. Previously applied only to Quantum’s backup solutions, this technology is leveraged in StorNext v4.0 to enable even greater cost savings and better storage management.
StorNext’s robust replication feature provides many options for protecting and managing data across distributed environments. StorNext customers can now protect against unforeseen disasters by replicating critical data to another remote location. Data from a single site or multiple branch offices can be consolidated or protected, enabling continued operations if the source location becomes unavailable. Customers can also adopt a data distribution strategy to achieve 24/7 global workflow, reducing project timelines and cost. In addition, with its deduplication functionality, StorNext v4.0 can intelligently replicate only unique data, thereby significantly reducing network bandwidth requirements.
Customers with very high throughput requirements for tiering can also take advantage of the new distributed data tiering support in StorNext v4.0 through the addition of distributed data mover (DDM) functionality. DDM acts as the conduit for passing data to and from the storage tiers. By adding more DDMs to a StorNext solution, system performance dramatically scales for archives that become more active. DDMs enable reads and writes of file copies for data preservation and retrieval while still providing fast access to data via the copy on primary disk.
StorNext is comprised of two core software components: StorNext File System and StorNext Storage Manager. The StorNext File System enables companies to share files easily and preserve investments by giving applications running on UNIX, Linux, Windows and/or Macintosh operating systems concurrent access to a common file store. Its open architecture makes StorNext highly scalable and allows data-sharing by both SAN- and LAN-based clients. StorNext is also vendor-agnostic, enabling users to leverage any mix of disk and tape. StorNext Storage Manager provides automated movement of data between different storage tiers based on user-defined policies and file access requirements. Combined with DDM, StorNext Manager is ideal for large-scale storage environments. In addition, because it integrates with the virtualization capabilities of the StorNext File System, Storage Manager makes files accessible to client applications regardless of whether they are stored on-site or off-site.
