Reldata challenges NetApp on virtualisation

Storage vendor Reldata has launched version 2.0 of its virtualisation platform, Relvos, which provides a way to link NAS and CIFS file systems and iSCSI block systems in one unified storage environment.

Relvos provides concurrent IP SAN and NAS storage services packaged with WAN data replication. The company has completely revised the system. When the computer talks to a SAN through the internet, it goes through five levels, from the IP SAN or NAS gateway, down through the file system (CIFS, NAS or iSCSI), and then directly to the block volume. To route calls from one system to another, the transfer has to be done at the file system normally but, with Relvos, this can now be done a step below, at the clock level. "This makes the system much more reliable," said Reldata's chief executive Boris Anderer.

According to Anderer, this innovation makes the company's latest storage array, the 6240 Unified Storage Gateway, much more competitive with systems like rival NetApp's V6070 and V3020.

Anderer claims that the appliance will work out much cheaper than NetApp's, or EMC's. "Around 45 percent of the infrastructure spend in the data centre is storage," he said. "This means that a cut of five or 10 percent in the data centre is much more significant than a 20 percent cut in the server spend."

Performance has also been improved, with the software working in full 64-bit mode. The appliance will cost from £18,100.