Quest s/w enters storage resource management mkt

BANGALORE, INDIA: Storage demand is difficult to predict, and storage costs are rising so fast that strategic IT projects often go unfunded. Quest Software, Inc. today rolled out its storage capacity management solution, Storage Horizon, which measures actual storage usage, assists with provisioning and purchasing decisions, and automates storage analysis and reporting.

The release of Storage Horizon marks Quest’s first entry into the storage resource management (SRM) market.

According to Gartner,  "Anecdotal evidence indicates that storage capacity is being effectively used only in the 20per cent to 40per cent range.1 Storage Horizon, acquired through Quest’s purchase of MonoSphere’s technology assets earlier this year, enables storage administrators to pro-actively manage capacity in a timely, cost-effective way, and achieve much higher utilization levels than the industry average of 20 to 40 percent.

The result is a dramatic improvement in storage costs due to decreased storage capital expenditures, and reduced operational costs for items like power, cooling and data center floor space. Additionally, Storage Horizon requires no installation of software agents, so the system deploys in hours and immediately begins collecting storage usage data.

New to this release of Storage Horizon, the first under the Quest brand, are storage management reports and a customizable management dashboard.  These graphical reports and dashboard views provide IT management with a quick understanding of the storage environment, and clearly identify sources of inefficiencies to provide optimal use of expensive storage assets.

In addition, this release also offers support for 3PAR InServ arrays, providing detailed, automated analysis,  including developing optimized storage capacity plans, which allow users to grow into existing capacity without purchasing additional storage; identifying dark storage that can be re-directed to areas needing additional capacity; pinpointing over-provisioned areas so wasted storage can be reclaimed; providing early warning of potential over-utilization issues; and conducting analysis of the over-subscription impacts of thin provisioning.

“We believe Quest will become a significant player in the SRM market," said Tyler Jewell, senior director, Quest Software. “Storage Horizon will be a requirement for all medium- to large-sized storage environments to help them understand true array usage, offer predictive analysis, and provide agentless data collection. Storage Horizon also will reduce the increasing cost of storage infrastructure, which is especially important in these tough economic times.”

Availability and Pricing

Quest Storage Horizon 3.8 is available today with North American pricing at $900 (USD) per terabyte of storage.