A new series of data-backup and disaster-recovery appliances has been unveiled by a company this week, offering a turnkey solution that combines a server, hard-drive cache, tape library, and the Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM) software application.
According to Kevin Hoffman, vice president of sales at Hoffman Technologies, this product brings enterprise-level storage support with full TSM integration to smaller businesses. Hoffman noted that smaller customers are often deterred by the high costs associated with integrating necessary server, tape, and software components, but he expects perceptions to change with this fully integrated solution.
The latest family of appliances, which incorporate a Sony tape library using AIT drive technology, marks the company’s first aimed at small businesses, said Ellen Rome, vice president of channel sales and marketing at StorServer.
The Y-series solution includes a 4U rack-mount server with hard-disk-based storage and a 2U Sony AIT tape library, as explained by John Sorensen, vice president of manufacturing at StorServer. Customers can do a full backup upon installation, with TSM enabling incremental changes to be backed up to disk first and then to tape.
For small business clients interested in implementing a disaster recovery program, the Y-series is worth considering, according to Hoffman. The Y1, Y500, and Y1000 models offer different capacities and start at $12,900, $13,900, and $20,900 respectively.
StorServer currently sells its products exclusively through solution providers and offers margins of up to 35 percent on the integrated solution. Partners can access online quoting tools and receive training to become certified for installations.