Storage and data management solutions vendor NetApp has upped the utilisation ante, extending its guarantee programme to encompass installed third-party storage.
The Virtualisation Guarantee Programme, launched in September 2008, offered a legal guarantee to end-users, which applies across Africa. It guaranteed they would need 50% less storage if they used NetApp storage versus other vendors` kit, for example that from its competitors EMC, HP, IBM and HDS.
If this standard was not met, NetApp promised to ship the storage needed to meet that for free. This, says John Rollason, NetApp product and solutions marketing EMEA, only applied to greenfield sites.
The company announced at VMworld Europe* yesterday that it is guaranteeing customers that they will decrease their non-NetApp primary storage by 35% by using NetApp software in front of "other" storage hardware. This allows NetApp customers to achieve efficiencies on storage they have already invested in, NetApp notes.
Says Rollason: "CIOs want efficiency on storage infrastructures. If they acquire new storage hardware they have to manage it, power it, cool it. There`s nothing as efficient as infrastructure you don`t have to buy, and it`s that rationale that is driving this initiative."
According to the official announcement made by the company, the original programme applies to VMware, Citrix and Microsoft virtual environments. With the latest move, customers that already own kit from the abovementioned vendors are guaranteed that NetApp will reduce redundant copies of their primary data by 35% using its V-Series and de-duplication technology.
The programme applies to customers worldwide who buy a new V-Series system for their virtual desktop and server environment, including Microsoft Windows Server Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer and VMware ESX, the company says.
* Samantha Perry was hosted at VMworld by VMware.
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