The HP StorageWorks 4400 Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA4400) offers a combination of high-performance and availability features, virtualization capabilities and advanced provisioning software that makes it ideal for midsize businesses that want to cost-effectively manage large amounts of data in a SAN environment without investing in deep storage experience.

Third-party testing has shown that IT managers spend up to 75 percent less time managing the EVA due to its superior ease of use when compared to competing arrays from EMC and NetApp.(1) Midsize customers who adopt server virtualization can further reduce their storage costs and simplify consolidation by using the EVA4400.

To validate how much better the user experience is for customers and partners using the EVA4400, HP held a challenge of array products comparing the EVA4400 and EMC’s competing storage array.

In a recent survey of current and planned virtualization users by analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group, 28 percent said they plan to implement server virtualization in the next six months and 42 percent plan to deploy within the next year.

The EVA4400 has key virtualization features previously available only on high-end arrays, but now at a price designed for midsize businesses. Specifically, the EVA4400 features a dual-redundant hardware architecture that supports local and remote replication software. This eliminates single points of failure and helps ensure maximum uptime.

Storage provisioning also is available with EVA Dynamic Capacity Management to help efficiently manage resources and improve overall productivity.

"HP continues investing in and expanding its range of entry-level storage solutions to meet the specific business requirements of customers from all market segments," said Supratik Bhowmik, Director of Marketing, HP Enterprise Storage and Servers, Hewlett-Packard Philippines. "While other SAN environments usually produce significant management overhead, the powerfully simple EVA4400 offers better results for mid-size businesses, because it automates storage provisioning to advance capacity utilization, and it is easier to configure. Additionally, it is more affordable than higher end systems by roughly 20 percent."

The benefits of a complete virtualized storage and server environment can add to a company’s bottom line by using technology more efficiently. Ideal for use with HP BladeSystem, HP ProLiant and HP Integrity servers, the EVA4400 provides customers a complete solution in which storage and servers are managed together.