The block storage-focused A-series announcement is complemented by others updating their StorageGrid software and adding a new StorageGrid appliance, the extension of their ONTAP One software, a new version of their ONTAP software, and a Ransomware Recovery Guarantee.
The NetApp ASA Series
Today, NetApp is making several new product announcements, as well as a Ransomware Recovery Guarantee. The products include a new modern block storage offering, the ASA [All-Flash SAN Array] A-Series. They also include the extension of their ONTAP One software to additional storage lines, the May 2023 release of their ONTAP software, and a Ransomware Recovery Guarantee.
“We are unveiling several new and innovative products and programs, which reflect our innovation priorities,” said Sandeep Singh, NetApp’s SVP and GM of Enterprise Storage. “They respond to the pressing macro trends for customers, especially those with data siloes at scale.”
The new NetApp ASA Series is really the feature announcement here. It is a new line of SAN-specific flash storage systems that delivers superior performance, scalability, data availability, efficiency, and hybrid cloud connectivity.
“The A series is a modern dedicated block storage environment, which is all NVMe, and brings AI operations for infrastructure,” Singh said. “It comes with best in class and future proofed ownership experience, and can deliver up to 50% lower power consumption.”
Singh noted that NetApp is already strong in this area, with 20,000 customers trusting NetApp with SAN workloads, of which 5,000 are SAN-only workloads.
“This is a specific addition to our existing portfolio,” Singh said. “For customers with a large file environment, our AFF is still best for them. The ASA is for those with block-only environments. or large block and large file environments combined.
“We are there for customers no matter where they are on their journey,” he continued. “Many are still modernizing premises to all-flash. We give them the broadest portfolio no matter what their needs are.”
The NetApp ONTAP One data management suite, which was initially made available in February, now covers more of the NetApp portfolio.
“It has now expanded across systems to cover AFF, ASA and FAS systems,” Singh said. “That comes at no additional cost for existing systems under support, and greatly simplifies storage software capabilities and licensing. We are really giving customers freedom and flexibility to manage across legacy and virtualized apps, or on prem, or cloud.”
Also announced was the ONTAP software May 2023 Release, which improves ransomware protection and management of consolidated workloads.
StorageGRID, NetApp’s software-defined object storage suite has had its software enhanced. The new StorageGRID 11.7 software has advanced capabilities for disaster recovery, updates for security and compliance, and a simplified user experience.
NetApp also announced what Singth termed a next-generation appliance – SGF6112. It is an all-flash appliance with improved performance and density to support workloads with large amounts of data, including AI, analytics, and data lakes.
The NetApp Ransomware Recovery Guarantee leverages ONTAP’s ability to automatically block known malicious file types, block rogue admins and malicious users with multi-admin verification, and provide tamper-proof snapshots that can’t be deleted – even by the storage administrator. NetApp is now warranting snapshot data recovery in the event that data copies can’t be recovered after a ransomware attack, and if this happens, NetApp will offer compensation.
“The compensation is based around the size of the NetApp unit deployed,” said Jeff Baxter, Vice President, Product Marketing at NetApp. “The guarantee is to help us put our money where our mouth is.”
“It is exciting helping customers get secure storage that helps them protect, detect and recover from ransomware attacks,” Singh stated.
The additional flexibility in these announcements is good news for NetApp’s channel partners, Singh stated.
“It allows the channel to be an effective strategic partner to their customers no matter what their customers’ leads are,” he said. This includes addressing ransomware priorities. It will also enable them to grow their share of wallet. In particular, they can take advantage of NetApp ASA in growing a customer environment.”
