Special Section: SNW, Fall 2004 - More News From SNW:

HP Unveils New SAN, NAS Solutions For SMBs

HP unveiled new storage area network (SAN) and network-attached storage (NAS) solutions featuring breakthroughs in ease of use and affordability.

The offerings are specifically designed to address the IT budget and resource constraints of customers in the fast-growing small and mid-size business (SMB) segment in order to broaden the reach of storage networking beyond its traditional enterprise customer base.

"The market opportunity for network storage solutions with small businesses will continue to grow as lower prices and easier-to-implement solutions attract new customers," said John McArthur, group vice president and general manager at IDC. "Products such as HP's new entry-level network storage solutions should be compelling offerings for SMB customers and channel partners serving the lower end of the market."

Available through HP and its resellers, the HP StorageWorks Modular Smart Array (MSA) 1000 Small Business SAN Kit is an entry-level yet complete solution ideal for first-time SAN customers. The kit helps to reduce the cost, complexity and risk of SAN deployments -- and enables customers with minimal technical expertise to deploy an entire SAN in just minutes.

HP also unveiled a new family of NAS offerings under the umbrella brand of HP ProLiant Storage Servers. The family expands HP's existing NAS portfolio for file and print services with new solutions based on industry-standard HP ProLiant servers and Microsoft Windows Storage Server software.

Both storage offerings build on the HP Smart Office framework for small and mid-size businesses by providing customers with reliable, high-quality products and a simplified experience with technology.