Commvault GO 2018: Commvault adds new HyperScale hardware for startups, MSPs and enterprises

Concept of Commvault's higher-tier HyperScale appliance for enterprises

Data protection specialist Commvault has added two new hardware units to its family of HyperScale backup appliances aimed at remote offices as well as managed service providers (MSPs) and large enterprises.

Complementing the company's existing 48 to 144TB unit for mid-sized businesses, the HS3300 and the junior Remote Office Appliance will now provide firms of all sizes hardware integrated with Commvault's software portfolio.

Announcing the products at Commvault's third annual flagship GO conference, CEO Bob Hammer branded them key to the firm's broader simplification strategy.

The Commvault HyperScale Appliance (HS3300) offers enterprises between 174 and 262TB of capacity in a single fully-converged appliance that integrates server, and storage with the company's Complete Backup and Recovery product. Moreover, the scale-out infrastructure can deliver the same "cloud-like" scale and flexibility of the mid-sized model.

The Remote Office Appliance, meanwhile, is aimed for customers looking to implement a backup and recovery unit in remote and branch offices, with either 5TB or 15TB usable capacity. It allows data to be protected locally while being managed centrally, if used by larger enterprises, but can also be used by startups and mid-sized companies.

The smaller appliance, in particular, "really hits home" for the company's ambitions to grow in EMEA nations, according to VP for channel Bruce Park speaking at a press roundtable following the keynote address.

"This is where we have a lot of very small, disparate countries and environments, and this gives you that scale-out architecture in more environments," he said, which was echoed by the company's EMEA VP for technologies Mark Jow.

Jow explained the key reason for launching a smaller 5 to 15TB appliance centred on feedback from its partners and customers that the then-smallest device was yet far too big to support protection for remote branches in a cost-effective way.

"We recently secured a deal with a company in Spain," Jow outlined, "who uses appliances extensively, and the smaller appliances to support 3,000 branches, 7,000 stores, 7 million customers, so again that low-end appliance gives us the ability to scale."

The new hardware was announced in tandem with changes to Commvault's software portfolio, which is overseen by a centralised Command Centre integrated with machine learning and AI technologies to increase the scope for automation.

"Protecting and managing data while simplifying hybrid IT environments consisting of dozens of applications, multiple clouds and petabytes of data, is a significant business and data challenge enterprises are facing today," said senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Christophe Bertrand.

"With these two new appliances, Commvault is expanding their appliance portfolio choices and investing in solutions designed to meet these specific challenges, in order to extend its ability to provide enterprises with complete coverage for their data needs, and use data to improve business outcomes."

Keumars Afifi-Sabet
Features Editor

Keumars Afifi-Sabet is a writer and editor that specialises in public sector, cyber security, and cloud computing. He first joined ITPro as a staff writer in April 2018 and eventually became its Features Editor. Although a regular contributor to other tech sites in the past, these days you will find Keumars on LiveScience, where he runs its Technology section.