Data deduplication technology eliminates redundant data from a disk storage device to lower storage space requirements. The technology enables customers to reduce floor space and lower energy consumption by decreasing storage capacity requirements. It also helps them minimize administrative overhead by retaining data on disk for longer periods of time.

HP provides two distinct methods of data deduplication to address the demands of customers of different sizes. For small and midsize (SMB) customers, HP has integrated this functionality into the HP StorageWorks D2D Backup Systems (D2D). For enterprise customers, HP offers deduplication with the HP StorageWorks Virtual Library Systems (VLS).

Forty-five percent more affordable than similar systems, "dynamic" deduplication in the HP D2D 2500 and 4000 systems change the economics of data protection for SMBs. Easy to deploy and simple to manage, these solutions provide SMBs and businesses with branch sites the assurance that their data is protected and can be quickly recovered.

"Accelerated" deduplication in the HP VLS offers fast data back-ups. Enterprise customers can improve business productivity with market-leading scalability and performance by easily adding disks and nodes as needed. These capabilities, coupled with reliable data recovery features, allow customers to create a data center environment that delivers 24/7 availability.

"Disk-based back-up systems can enhance data protection for a business of any size. Integrating deduplication technologies allows customers to leverage up to 50 times more capacity to ensure their business has faster and reliable access to stored data", stated Dave Russell, vice president, Gartner. "Deduplication technology is poised to transform the backup and recovery marketplace."

HP data deduplication technology for the VLS and D2D enables customers to automate and remotely manage the systems with low-bandwidth replication. This provides data center managers the ability to back up data remotely without manual intervention, thereby reducing staffing costs. Utilizing disk-based back-up for remote locations reduces overhead by consolidating tape hardware into a single site.

"The ability to scale capacity and performance, coupled with affordability, provides customers of all sizes a capacity-efficient, disk-based back-up system to meet their needs", stated Bob Wilson, vice president and general manager, Storage Platforms Division, HP StorageWorks. "HP continues to set new industry standards by investing in technology that delivers an ideal balance of price and performance for each customer segment."

To provide data protection for micro and small businesses, HP also introduced the new HP StorageWorks RDX Removable Disk Backup Systems (RDX160 and RDX320). These disk backup solutions are easy to use and affordable, and they allow small businesses to store data off-site as part of their disaster recovery plan.

HP D2D Backup Systems emulate up to 16 LTO tape autoloaders or libraries and consolidate back-up of up to 16 servers onto a single network-connected device.

Key benefits of D2D dynamic deduplication:

• Maximizes disk space via synchronous backup operations that deduplicate data as it is stored to the disk.
• Reduces the amount of disk and memory required to deduplicate data by leveraging proprietary technology created by HP Labs, the company's central research and development arm.
• Improves productivity and eliminates the need for training with a fully functional graphical user interface that does not require complex command lines for configuration.
• Optimizes investment of primary backup system through compatibility with new versions of software and applications.

HP VLS emulates multiple tape libraries or drives for data centres to reliably back up large amounts of data with quick data restores in the event of a disaster.

Key benefits of VLS accelerated deduplication:

• Improves performance by deduplicating data after the backup has completed writing to the disk.
• Ensures scalability of performance and capacity by easily adding nodes, while providing a single back-up location for data contained on multiple servers.
• Accelerates data restores by maintaining only the most recent copy of backup data while eliminating duplicate data from previous back-ups.
• Simplifies management with a user interface that automatically monitors itself, configures storage, load balances performance and conducts diagnostics.

The HP StorageWorks D2D 2500 and 4000 systems are available now starting at a U.S. list price of $6,499.

Accelerated deduplication is available for license with the HP StorageWorks VLS6600 and VLS9000 series and will be available in July. Licensing for the VLS6200 and VLS12000 models will be available in September. Pricing is based on physical capacity.