HyperScale Software and reference architectures are available for seven different OEMs, while the appliance, on a Commvault-branded server, is aimed at downmarket customers as well as the enterprise.
Ralph Nimergood, Commvault’s VP of Worldwide Channels and Alliances
Commvault has announced the launch of a new HyperScale data infrastructure offerings that they believe will shake up the backup and recovery market. It takes two forms. One is a reference architecture model, most suitable for larger customers, as well as for those who prefer vendor-specific servers. The other is an all-in-one appliance, using a Commvault-branded box, which is aimed at those who want a simpler model as well as the broader set of midmarket and SMB customers.
“This is really a big deal, a very big announcement for Commvault,” said Ralph Nimergood, Commvault’s VP of Worldwide Channels and Alliances. “We see it as disrupting the marketplace and the way companies look at secondary storage pools.”
Commvault’s new HyperScale Software responds to the increased preference of enterprise for scale-out. cloud-like architectures to handle their increased volume of secondary storage data.
“Enterprises want this scale-out capability because they know they can no longer afford to have monolithic siloes of data that are at 20 per cent of capacity,” Nimergood said. “IDC says that over 60 per cent of all data is now consumed in secondary workloads. With these HyperScale solutions, we have provided another way for customers to really get a handle on their data management and data protection as it relates to secondary storage use cases.”
Commvault HyperScale technology uses a built-in operating environment, virtualization, and storage technologies from Red Hat.
“This foundation provides an easy-to-use scale-out implementation, with a broader level of application, file and hardware support,” Nimergood said. “Commvault is an innovation engine, and this is just another aspect of that. We continue to find ways to stay ahead of the curve and maintain our long-standing leadership position in that upper right part of the Gartner Magic Quadrant.
“The beauty of a scale-out approach is that you can pay as you grow,” Nimergood added. “You can start in a very small three node implementation, and scale out into the tens of petabytes, just by adding 1U and 2U servers horizontally. It is very cloud-like in its consumption model, and the economics associated with it. You can use low cost commodity infrastructure. You get a modern interface, and move from bare metal to an operational state in under 30 minutes. You also get a resilient technology, with erasure-coding, and an always-on infrastructure.”
Commvault Hyperscale is available in two formats. Software combined with validated reference architectures is available at present for seven OEMs: Cisco; Dell EMC; Fujitsu; HPE; Huawei, and Super Micro.
“These reference architectures are for partners and customers who have a preference for a specific hardware,” Nimergood said. “They know that we have been validated on these seven leading infrastructure providers. The reference architectures will likely also appeal to those who want high scalability, into the tens of petabytes of storage.”
The appliances are for those who want what Nimergood called a ‘push the button and go’ approach. He said that while many enterprises fit this profile, they expect a fair amount of demand from the midmarket and SMB.
“We do an awful lot of our business in the SMB and midmarket, our Solution Set products,” Nimergood said. “We sell those in the tens of millions on an annual business into those markets, and we expect some of those customers may choose an appliance form factor.”
The box itself is a Commvault-branded white box, that sits on Commvault’s price list. The Commvault technology provides integrated compute, storage, networking, virtualization, backup and recovery, full lifecycle data management and analytics, with Commvault supporting the solution as well as selling it. The appliances are available in capacities from 32TB to 80TB of usable storage, with the ability to scale out in multiple configurations well into the multi-petabyte range.
Nimergood emphasized that Commvault HyperScale has a market now, and which will only grow stronger over time.
“This is not a niche product,” he said. “People are designing next-generation data centres now on more of a scale-out model. We are seeing increased desire for deploying on a cloud-like, scale-out subscription model. This model will have pervasive applicability over time. How much time? That’s the issue, how long it will take. However, we expect more and more customers will be asking for this capability and we want to make sure we are at the forefront of the market. We won’t be abandoning our traditional solutions. But we think this new one lends itself well to next-generation computing, and that even lower in the market, will let them deploy a much more resilient solution in a good TCO model.”
Nimergood said this announcement will have further ramifications.
“It will have definitely have implications for Commvault’s partnerships,” he said.
