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CalvinZito

Re: Announcing HPE XP8: deliver even more availability and performance

 

Listen up HPE XP storage customers! Today we announced the HPE XP8 Storage system, ushering in the 8th generation of HPE XP storage technology.  I was in the middle of the first generation XP that we announced in May, 1999 so I'm very happy to bring you this news. Ideal for Mission Critical, NonStop, and Mainframe environments, XP8 is engineered to satisfy availability and performance requirements at scale, allowing our XP customers to rest easy, HPE XP8 Storage -sleep peacefully.jpgconfident their data is always available and protected.

Whatโ€™s new with HPE XP8?

HPE XP8 is a revolutionary new design that has all the advantages of a scale out architecture, at the same time elevating the already stellar performance and reliability characteristics of the HPE XP7.

Resilient

Just like the HPE XP7, 100% Data Availability is guaranteed in writing. The predecessor to HPE XP8 set a very high bar with over 5ยฝ years and counting of 100% data availability throughout the global HPE XP7 install base (see the blog post on this topic from a year ago this week!) This is a simply stunning record - yet the new HPE XP8 is designed for even better fault tolerance.

Fast

As for as performance, a fully configured HPE XP8 system can deliver 21M IOPS.1 21 Million (say that in your best Dr. Evil from Austin Powers voice). This is much more than the stated performance of competitors in our target market. A flash-optimized OS and up to 12 controllers provide the processing power required to deliver critical data services including data compression, deduplication, and replication at scaleโ€”while still satisfying sub-millisecond I/O latency requirements. The unique and patented Flash Module Device (FMD) technology uses on-board hardware acceleration to perform data compression with no performance impact. See this blog post that describes the FMDs but note we support 7 and 14TB. 

Intelligent

Many intelligence features are built-in to XP8, including HPE Performance Advisor virtual machine analytics, Continuous-track remote data analytics, and predictive drive sparing, to name a few. All together there are millions of data points analyzed each hour to ensure peak results.

The HPE XP8 inclusive software packaging includes the new Intelligent Storage Manager and Data Protection Manager applications which provides everything you need for comprehensive storage management, data protection, and data reduction capabilities. New XP software with simplified UI and REST APIs offer both a modern human interface and easier application integration. Storage plug-ins for Microsoft, VMware, and Oracle and application-aware snapshots are available for simplified integration into existing application ecosystems and improved RTO/RPO. Zero RTO/RPO High Availability and robust 2 and 3 Data Center DR replication options are also offered to ensure that critical applications are always on for users.

Agile

XP8 has the flexibility to optimize configurations for any workload. Available in both all-flash and hybrid configurations, HPE XP8 provides the flexibility to support the most appropriate media type for extreme workload requirements with up to 69PB of internal capacity. HDD, FMD, SSD, NVMe, and SCM3 drives in the latest capacities are all supported.

The groundbreaking external storage virtualization capabilities first introduced in 2004 have been enhanced to provide massive storage consolidation, non-disruptive migration, data protection, and data reduction techniques for up to 256PB of external storage.  Imagine being able to deploy tiering across NVMe, SSD, and HDD in the same array. Or better yet, add on the external storage for another tier.

And of course, resilience and quality are built in

Reliability and quality are among the HPE core values that will always influence our new products and processes. The HPE XP8 will continue the established legacy of HPE XP storage as the prime example of quality and reliability for our customers. The new HPE XP8 provides unmatched value at very competitive price points.

Experience the same as-a-service benefits of fast deployment, scalability, and pay-per-use economicsโ€”all within the control of your own on-premises environmentโ€”with HPE GreenLake consumption-based IT.

To sum things up, demonstrated availability that XP customers know and love just became easier to manage and immensely faster.

HPE XP8 is available in November 2019. So you can rest easy.

Learn more ... for now

There will be more information available on hpe.com once we are shipping. For now, here are a few things you can read:

1 100% Read/8K block/100% cache hits

2 Roadmap item-subject to change

3 Available in future release

About HPE Storage Guy (aka The Storage Godfather)

CJZ Headshot fixed 150 x 150.jpg

I'm Calvin Zito and November 16, 2018 marked 35 years with HP/HPE.I had worked in HP Storage for 9 years BEFORE we announced the first generation of the XP Storage! I was recognized as a 9 time VMware vExpert. As an early adopter of social media and active in communities, I've blogged for over 10 years. I'm also an avid Boise State fan. You can find me on Twitter as @CalvinZito. If you don't follow me on Twitter, please do it now! You can also contact me via email

Calvin Zito
Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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About the Author

CalvinZito

I have worked at HPE since 1983, all of it around storage but 100% focused on storage since 1990. I'm expanding into other areas of focus at HPE like HPE GreenLake, compute, containers, AI, and more. I blog, create videos, and podcasts to help you better understand HPE Storage. Find my podcast at https://www.hpe.com/dmn/ATITB

Comments
JimmyStarkson

Just found this site - so in fact when it comes to high-end HPE would still re-sell Hitachi array as Primera  is aiming at mid-range ? I was under impression with new 3PAR (Primera) one could think it's as good as HDS was (ok, lack of some of the features however that's likley not the point of reseling competitor)?

Can you elaborate as to when you'd recommend XP8 over 3PAR ?

 

Thx

Jim

@jimmy - Not exactly. HPE Primera is our mission-critical all-flash array. XP8 still has a place in the portfolio but it's more for customers that are already familiar and happy with the XP, or need mainframe or NonStop connect.

HPE Primera also includes a 100% availability guarantee - we're so confident of the improvements that we've made that we're making it a guarantee. You can see all of the HPE Primera related blog posts here: https://community.hpe.com/t5/Around-the-Storage-Block/bg-p/AroundtheStorageBlock/label-name/primera but would recommend my Chalk Talk to get a quick overview. 

prince jon

Is HPE XP8 essentially a Hitachi VSP 5000 underneath with HPE management software on top of it and HPE rebranding/rebadging (VID).?

@prince Jon 
I was personally involved with the first generation of the XP Disk Array when we launched it back in 1999. The relationship that we've had with Hitachi Japan (not HDS) started as OEM and engineering relationship. I don't know the name of their products but we do continue our relationship with Hitachi Japan.