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Alternative Technology and LeftHand Networks Promote Cost Savings in the Data Center and Remote Office with SAN Virtualization
Alternative Technology announces immediate availability of LeftHand Networks’ Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) for VMware® ESX Server, along with education and enablement
Englewood, CO – November 7, 2007 – Alternative Technology, a leading specialty distributor of thin-client/server-based computing, edge infrastructure, virtualization, and government-approved security solutions, today announced the general availability of LeftHand Networks Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) for VMware® ESX Server, along with a host of information that will enable solution providers to reduce the cost of deploying and operating storage within their client’s virtualized server environments.
Customers are realizing tremendous benefits from server virtualization. However, with multiple applications running on physical servers, customers are at increased risk of data loss or downtime unless they deploy a highly available virtual infrastructure, which traditionally required significant investment for physical shared storage. LeftHand Networks’ VSA provides a cost-effective shared storage solution via a redundant SAN with automated failover. The combination of the VSA and VMware Infrastructure provides an automated, high-availability solution for both application servers and storage with failover and failback between physical servers.
“LeftHand Networks’ VSA enables our solution providers to save their customers money by recapturing local storage within the ESX virtualized servers,” said Tom Zorn, executive vice president, Alternative Technology. “Without this type of solution, the server virtualization environment effectively prevents the local storage from being utilized. The virtual SAN allows you to recapture that storage and address that spinning media. This solution is also a cost effective way to virtualize downstream server environments,” said Zorn.
“Alternative Technology brings significant reach and a strong reputation for providing leading solutions to the server virtualization market," said David Bangs, vice president of sales at LeftHand Networks. “With LeftHand Networks’ highly available physical and virtual SAN solutions, Alternative Technology offers leading-edge technologies that help customers overcome the challenges and reap the full benefits associated with server virtualization environments. We look forward to working with Alternative Technology to drive new opportunities and to bring these solutions to market.”
The VSA clusters the internal storage within multiple x86 server hosts running VMware® ESX Server to create a full-featured SAN, enabling advanced high-availability of data and applications in VMware Infrastructure environments. The powerful, yet cost-effective solution provides a completely fault-tolerant SAN without requiring the purchase of additional hardware, additional costs for power and cooling or additional footprint within the data center.
The VSA empowers businesses to realize the cost saving benefits of server and desktop consolidation, centralized management and backup, and disaster recovery solutions across the data center, as well as remote and branch offices. By implementing the VSA, businesses can reduce data storage and maintenance costs, while increasing storage utilization and improving data availability within a VMware Infrastructure environment. With the VSA, customers can also deploy a highly available virtualized environment in a remote/branch office for less than 50 percent of the cost for a physical SAN.
The LeftHand Networks Virtual Storage Appliance for VMware ESX Server is an exciting new offering in LeftHand’s portfolio of highly available SAN solutions and complements the company's physical SAN offerings. LeftHand's patented software platform, SAN/iQ, will run within a VMware virtual machine and carry the same capabilities and features made available in the physical storage systems built on the LeftHand Networks NSM 4150, NSM 2060 and NSM 160, HP ProLiant DL320s and IBM x3650 servers.
The relationship with Alternative Technology extends LeftHand Networks’ distribution in North America, and brings additional value to LeftHand Networks’ resellers through Alternative Technology’s focused product offering, advanced technical services and top-notch sales support. As a subsidiary of Arrow Electronics [NYSE: ARW], Alternative Technology connects LeftHand Networks’ resellers with complementary enterprise-class storage products through Arrow’s Enterprise Computing Solutions (ECS) unit, including: HP, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Network Appliance, EMC and Hitachi Data Systems.
Alternative Technology is making a host of information available to solution providers on its web site, including case studies, sales aids and solution sheets as well as product datasheets on LeftHand Networks SAN/iQ and Virtual SAN Appliance. Alternative Technology will promote and distribute LeftHand Networks’ Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) for VMware ESX Server technology to its network of 3,000 resellers in the United States and Canada, but this information is available to both current and prospective solution providers at www.alttech.com/launch.
About LeftHand Networks
LeftHand Networks pioneered IP-based storage area networks (SAN) in 2001. SANs built using LeftHand’s SAN/iQ ® software are uniquely able to distribute and protect data across a cluster of industry-standard storage servers. The company’s patented architecture increases data availability, allows users to start small and grow the SAN seamlessly, and simplifies management. The LeftHand SAN is ideal for storage and server consolidation, campus SANs, and disaster recovery. For more information, contact LeftHand at info@lefthandnetworks.com.
About Alternative Technology
Alternative Technology is a leading specialty distributor for value-added resellers who need products and services targeted at thin-client/server-based computing, edge infrastructure, virtualization, security, and wireless markets. Driving the widespread adoption of leading-edge technologies by bridging the gaps between products and services to solve critical business problems, Alternative identifies business issues that are key to its markets and offers multivendor solutions that drive demand back through its reseller partners. Alternative Technology, headquartered in Englewood, Co., has offices in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Carlsbad, Calif., and Mississauga, Canada. Alternative Technology is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions, which is a business unit of Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE: ARW). For more information, go to: www.AltTech.com, e-mail: sales@AltTech.com or call toll-free: 800.544.7674 (USA), or 866.240.9991 (Canada).
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Media Contact:
Mark Rieger
Stanton & Associates for Alternative Technology
mrieger@stantonpr.com
303-520-4524