The InformationWeek -- Blogs

Backup and Business Continuity Blog

Topics:   Backup and Business Continuity

  • Email this page E-mail this page
  • Print this page Print this page
  • Bookmark and Share
  • icon

It's Hard To Beat Free - Open-E Gives Away NAS/iSCSI


Posted by Howard Marks, Jan 20, 2008 11:54 PM

From now till Jan. 31, Germany's Open-E is giving away its Data Storage Solution Lite as a free download. After you've downloaded it and installed it on a USB memory key you have a bootable drive that turns any PC or server you run from it into a NAS appliance with iSCSI and Fibre Channel target functionality. Not just any iSCSI target -- DSS-Lite even supports copy on write snapshots and replication.


Distance is the key to any disaster recovery plan and replication is the key to restoring your distant systems to operation quickly. Without replication, bringing applications online means restoring from backup. Even if you have a CDP (Continuous Data Protection) backup it can take several hours to restore from backup and your users will be twiddling their thumbs the whole time.

Until Open-E started giving it away, replication was expensive. Disk arrays that support replication start at well over $20,000, and the most popular host replication software costs $2,500 to $5,000 for each server you want to protect. With DSS-Lite, a pair of $5,000 servers can provide 2 TB of file and block storage and replicate it to a remote site.

As Robert Heinlein said, "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch," and Open-E isn't giving away its software without expecting something in return. The Lite version of DSS can only support 2 TB of data and support is limited to Open-E's online forums. The company is hoping some downloaders decide to upgrade to the still-affordable full version once they get a taste with DSS-Lite.

Get yours before February raises it's chilly head at www.open-e.com/free.

« 5 MacBook (Hot) Air Alternatives | Main | Big Surprise: Mobile TV Ain't Burning Up The Airwaves »



Sign Up Now
For InformationWeek News Alerts




This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.




 
 

  1. Detecting Scalability Problems With Intel Parallel Universe Portal
  2. Just Say No To SFAQL Parallelism
  3. QuickThread: A New C++ Multicore Library


Join The InformationWeek Group On LinkedIn


                           


  1. AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon All Offering Black Friday Sales
  2. Best Buy Rolls Out $99 Android Sale
  3. Apple Says Users To Blame For iPhone Virus
  4. iPhone And Android Dominate Mobile Web Browsing


  1. Practical Analysis: Smartphones -- Passion To Profit And Productivity
  2. Stay On Top of Source Code Security Flaws
  3. Down To Business: How Indian CIOs Stack Up
  4. CIO Profiles: John P. Burke, CIO Of Ambit Energy
  5. How Cloud Computing Changes IT Organizations
  6. Understanding Private Cloud Storage

 

  Ars Technica
Boing Boing
Channel 9 Forums
CRN Blogs
Dr.Dobb's Portal: Blogs
Engadget
Gizmodo
GrokLaw
  Lifehacker
Schneier on Security
Slashdot
TechCrunch
Techdirt
Techmeme
Valleywag

  DECEMBER 2008
NOVEMBER 2008
OCTOBER 2008
SEPTEMBER 2008
AUGUST 2008
JULY 2008
JUNE 2008
MAY 2008
  APRIL 2008
MARCH 2008
FEBRUARY 2008
JANUARY 2008
DECEMBER 2007
NOVEMBER 2007
OCTOBER 2007
SEPTEMBER 2007