LeftHand Networks announced that its Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) for VMware ESX Server is available as part of new Virtualization Solution Kits, which are an industry first for providing highly available applications and storage without requiring an external SAN. The Virtualization Solution Kits, which consist of LeftHand Networks’ VSA software as well as VMware virtualization software, are now available from distributors Alternative Technology and Avnet Technology Solutions. Small and medium businesses (SMBs) and remote and branch offices (ROBOs) of the enterprise now have access to an affordable solution that delivers the high availability that they require. The LeftHand Networks VSA is also the first virtual storage appliance to be certified and listed in the SAN Compatibility Guide for VMware ESX Server.

Companies have rapidly adopted VMware virtualization to optimize existing IT investments and to ensure business continuity and data protection. The LeftHand VSA, based on LeftHand’s award-winning SAN/iQ software, is a VMware Certified Virtual Appliance and provides complete SAN management functionality through the VMware ESX Server. By virtualizing the internal disk capacity of VMware ESX Server and clustering the storage across multiple VMware ESX Server hosts, LeftHand’s VSA eliminates the need for external shared storage necessary to implement the advanced features of VMware Infrastructure, making it easier for SMB and ROBO customers to take advantage of the benefits of enterprise-class virtualization.

“The combination of LeftHand’s VSA and VMware ESX Server provide customers who have smaller deployments or remote and branch offices the ability to implement a complete and attractively priced VMware virtualization environment that provides high availability to both applications and storage,” said Parag Patel, vice president, alliances at VMware. “VMware virtualization software has quickly changed the IT landscape by helping customers lower the cost of their IT infrastructures while enabling higher levels of protection for business critical systems.”

Four Virtualization Solution Kits are now available from Avnet and Alternative Technology. The kits combine the LeftHand Virtual SAN Appliance for VMware ESX Server with VMware Infrastructure Acceleration Kits in combinations that provide customers with highly available storage and/or applications while providing a choice of configurations that yield significant price advantages. The Virtualization Solution Kits extend the value of the VMware Infrastructure Acceleration Kits by adding the VSA to provide the shared storage required to implement advanced VMware virtualization functionality such as VMware High Availability (HA), VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), and VMware VMotion.

“LeftHand Networks and VMware are driving new innovations into the SMB and ROBO markets while changing the economics of virtualization,” stated Larry Cormier, vice president of marketing, LeftHand Networks. “This announcement also highlights our commitment to the channel and the partnership we have with our mutual distributors who are responding directly to the requirements of these customer segments by offering the Virtualization Solution Kits. As these Kits exemplify, virtualization technologies are quickly changing the IT landscape – helping customers lower the cost of their IT infrastructure while enabling higher levels of protection for business critical systems.”

The VSA being certified and listed in VMware’s ESX Server SAN Compatibility Guide (HCL) ensures full compatibility and support with VMware ESX virtual infrastructure solutions. For certification, LeftHand’s VSA passed the same certification tests applied to external SAN systems.

Virtualization Solution Kits

Virtualization Solution Kits for Virtual SANs
These Virtualization Solution Kits are for customers who require complete high availability for both their applications and storage. Customers choose which Kit based on VMware features, number of VMware and VSA licenses, and the need for implementation assistance.

Virtualization Solution Kit consisting of VMware Infrastructure Standard HA Acceleration Kit and LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN - Ideal for environments where high availability of infrastructure and data is critical, this solution gives organizations the ability to help ensure business continuity, while providing all the additional benefits offered by server virtualization combined with a SAN. This Kit combines two LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN Appliances (VSAs) for VMware ESX Server, the VMware Infrastructure Standard HA Acceleration Kit, and support and maintenance services.

Virtualization Solution Kit consisting of VMware Infrastructure Midsize Acceleration Kit and LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN - This Kit serves the needs of small and mid-market organizations looking for enterprise-class solutions that bring all the benefits that virtualization and a full-featured SAN have to offer. Additionally, this kit offers training and consulting credits that can be applied to VMware training courses or services that help organizations optimize the use of their VMware virtualization solutions. This Kit combines three LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN Appliances (VSAs) for VMware ESX Server, the VMware Infrastructure Midsize Acceleration Kit and support and maintenance services.

Virtualization Solution Kits for Shared Storage
These Kits are for customers who need shared storage to support VMware features such as VMware HA, VMware DRS or VMware VMotion, but do not require complete SAN functionality. Customers choose which Kit based on desired VMware features, number of VMware software licenses needed, and the need for implementation assistance.

Virtualization Solution Kit consisting of VMware Infrastructure Standard HA Acceleration Kit and Shared Storage - Ideal for environments where high availability of infrastructure and data is critical, this solution gives small and mid-market organizations the ability to help ensure business continuity, while providing all the additional benefits of VMware virtualization and shared storage offers. This Kit combines a single LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) for VMware ESX Server, the VMware Infrastructure Standard HA Acceleration Kit and support and maintenance services

Virtualization Solution Kit consisting of VMware Infrastructure Midsize Acceleration Kit and Shared Storage - For IT organizations that need to ensure highly available applications to meet their business needs, this kit includes not only VMware’s advanced virtualization software, but shared storage capabilities without requiring additional external storage hardware. Training and consulting credits are also included that can be applied to VMware training courses or services to speed implementation. This Kit combines a single LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) for VMware ESX Server, the VMware Infrastructure Midsize Acceleration Kit and support and maintenance services.

“Alternative Technology continues to deliver innovative virtualization solutions that for the first time allow SMB and ROBO environments to easily embrace the benefits of virtualization,” said Tom Zorn, executive vice president, Alternative Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions, which is a business unit of Arrow Electronics, Inc. “These Virtualization Solution Kits also allow customers to buy what they need today and evolve their virtualization and SAN capabilities and configurations as their business needs evolve and grow, and that’s a huge benefit.”

With the various Virtualization Solution Kit options, customers can select the kit that best meets their high availability requirements. And, as their IT demands evolve and increase, both VMware Infrastructure and LeftHand Networks have upgrade paths into more robust virtualization and iSCSI SAN solutions.

“Virtualization is rapidly becoming one of the hottest technology solutions for SMB and remote office environments because it offers significant cost and resource savings,” said Tim FitzGerald, virtualization & consolidation solutions group leader, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas. “The Virtualization Solution Kits are tailored to the unique needs of SMB and remote office environments, combining high availability storage and applications on a single server platform and eliminating the need for additional SAN hardware. With Avnet’s dedicated Virtualization and Consolidation Solutions group and newly announced V Rewards Program, we’ll be able to help our partners capitalize on this growing market by providing them with comprehensive solutions designed to address their customers’ business challenges.”

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