StarWind Software Expands Their iSCSI SAN Storage Solutions with OEM Hardware Appliances, Inviting New Partners to Join the StarWind Integration Program

StarWind Software announces new server hardware with integrated High Availability iSCSI SAN software to meet customers growing needs for a complete bundled SAN, built with a rich feature set and competitive pricing.

Burlington, Mass. – February 09, 2011 - StarWind Software Inc., a global leader in storage virtualization and a pioneer in iSCSI storage, announces the availability of a SAN appliance built on high performance servers with integrated High Availability SAN software. StarWind SAN’s provide a rich feature set to better serve end-user customers needs, from entry level storage to midrange and high-end hardware SAN appliances. StarWind Software also announced OEM and Channel Partners worldwide can increase business opportunities by offering StarWind Software solutions with hardware appliances by joining the StarWind Integration Partner Program.

Named “SWH”, the SAN was launched on the back of an OEM deal with Ace Computers under the StarWind Partner Network. The entry level SWH-3100 storage appliance is an iSCSI SAN with 16 hot-swap drive bays capable of SATA or SAS drives, which can be expanded with an additional shelf, ideal for small business or remote offices. The SWH-3100 appliance is supplied with StarWind iSCSI SAN software.

Unlike traditional SAN’s, every StarWind SAN appliance can be fully upgraded by adding a second CPU, more RAM, extra Ethernet ports or storage controllers to provide increased scalability and flexibility protecting SAN investments for the future. The hardware architecture is open, allowing customers to use off the shelf expansion cards, RAM and disks, eliminating vendor lock in, and reducing costs. All StarWind SAN’s run a Microsoft Windows Server Operating System allowing seamless integration with Microsoft application servers and Active Directory and support both SAS and SATA drives.

The midrange SWH-4xxx series appliance is a powerful StarWind iSCSI SAN providing advanced Highly Available, ideal for mission critical servers and virtualization, ensuring exceptional performance under heavy loads. The SWH-4xxx series is architected for any workload, from a server room to an enterprise internal cloud. SWH-4xxx StarWind HA is available with up to 24 hot-swap 3.5” drive bays in the main chassis, engineered to maximize energy savings and performance, reducing total cost of ownership over legacy SAN’s.

The SWH-5100 is a high level StarWind iSCSI SAN server delivering top value and performance, based on the winning combination of the latest Intel or AMD processor architectures and StarWind Software’s expertise in designing one of the most advanced iSCSI SAN appliances available. SWH-5100 storage servers support up to 255GB of fast DDR3 memory per node in an ultra-dense architecture with up to 12 CPUs per storage server and 36 hot swap drive bays. SWH-5100 includes support for up to 4 x 10Gig Ethernet NICs providing one of the most powerful SAN storage hardware solutions available.

“When comparing StarWind to the main iSCSI SAN competitors on the market our advantages include an open hardware architecture built on commodity servers which eliminates vendor lockin, or more specifically the excessive price of SAN disks. Our SAN is extremely easy to use with a rich feature set and extremely competitive pricing,” said Artem Berman, CEO of StarWind Software. “Historically StarWind was only sold as a software iSCSI SAN, limiting market adoption for customers that wanted to purchase both hardware and SAN software from one vendor. We anticipate OEM and Channel partners will see significant value in offering a complete SAN appliance from StarWind.“

“StarWind works hard to ensure our OEM Partners are provided with qualified prospects to sell a complete iSCSI SAN storage appliance using our software and the OEM partners choice of hardware. The iSCSI software can be upgraded from an entry level SAN configurations to gain additional enterprise class features, without purchasing entirely new SAN hardware.” said Roman Shovkun, Chief Sales Officer at StarWind Software Inc. “Our iSCSI SAN is far more advanced than many new comers in the storage industry that simply lack the ability to provide enterprise class performance, scalability and features at affordable prices for SMB customers.”

The SWH Series is available now from StarWind and its authorized partners.

About StarWind Software Inc.
StarWind Software is a global leader in storage management and SAN software for small and midsize companies. StarWind's flagship product is SAN software that turns any industry-standard Windows Server into a fault-tolerant, fail-safe iSCSI SAN. StarWind iSCSI SAN is qualified for use with VMware, Hyper-V, XenServer and Linux and Unix environments. StarWind Software is focused on providing small and midsize companies with affordable, highly availability storage technology which previously was only available in high-end storage hardware. Advanced enterprise-class features in StarWind include Automated Storage Node Failover and Failback, Replication across a WAN, CDP and Snapshots, Thin Provisioning and Virtual Tape management.

Since 2003 StarWind has pioneered the iSCSI SAN software industry and is the solution of choice for over 30,000 customers worldwide in over 100 countries, from small and midsize companies to governments and Fortune 1000 companies.

For more information on StarWind Hardware visit: http://www.starwindsoftware.com/hardware

Press Contacts:
StarWind Software Inc.
+1 (617) 449-7717
info@starwindsoftware.com

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