| software focus
Rohan de Beer,
First Distribution’s
EMC Brand Manager
“One of the things ViPR
does is provide better
control for existing storage
arrays, both for EMC and
others”
First Distribution’s EMC Brand Manager Rohan de Beer highlights ViPR
and Syncplicity, mentioning that ViPR
has moved the game on in terms of
the storage environment. “One of the
things ViPR does is provide better
control for existing storage arrays,
both for EMC and others” he says.
“ViPR also changes how data is presented depending on a given application’s access needs. This is a powerful
concept, as it provides the opportunity
to change the access method for the
underlying data, as opposed to just
adding more storage stacks. In a way,
ViPR is software-defined storage
made real, here and now.”
ViPR
ViPR bills itself as a lightweight,
software-only product that transforms
existing storage into a simple, extensible, and open platform. It can deliver
fully automated storage services to
help realise the full potential of the
software-defined data centre.
Its main value proposition revolves
around its abilities to:
• Transform EMC and third-party
storage into dynamic, virtual storage
pools.
• Simplify storage provisioning,
delivery, and management processes
across EMC and third-party arrays by
automating repetitive storage management, end-user, and IT processes and
interactions.
• Extend storage architecture by making it easy to adapt and evolve existing
storage to meet new cloud-scale and
traditional workloads, while retaining the capabilities of the underlying
arrays.
• Leverage an open community where
developers and ISVs have a choice
of cloud stacks such as VMware and
OpenStack, and REST APIs, including
Amazon S3, OpenStack Swift, and
EMC Atmos.
\
Syncplicity
“Backed by EMC, Syncplicity claims to
be the world’s most secure file sharing
and collaboration solution” comments
Rohan. “Here are some of the focus
areas where I believe people can see
real benefit:”
- Syncplicity and Isilon Online
File Sharing Solution for the
Enterprise
Targeted for the enterprise, EMC
Syncplicity and Isilon is the industry’s
first single vendor online file sharing
solution, combining the unmatched
flexibility and ease of use of Syncplicity file sync and sharing technology
with a secure on-premises storage
infrastructure utilising industry-leading
Isilon scale-out NAS.
Enterprise IT is faced with either
embracing consumer grade sync and
share services or implementing a
complex, multi-vendor hardware and
25 | www.firstdistribution.co.za