NetApp Unveils Kilo Client, a Massive Grid Computing Environment to Help Customers Transform Their Data Centers
Sunnyvale, Calif. - February 12, 2008
-- NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) today announced the development of the
NetApp® Kilo Client, a massive testing environment capable of
exceeding the most scalable and extreme performance conditions that
most enterprises deploy with NetApp solutions in their data
centers. The NetApp Kilo Client provides an environment in which
utility computing approaches can be tested in real-world
environments and on a scale unavailable from other storage vendors
today.
Thousands of customers are deploying NetApp storage with larger and
larger computing grid environments. In order to meet the
increasingly demanding requirements of these data centers, NetApp
built the Kilo Client to explore the limits of its storage
solutions in a controlled environment and developed best practices
in rapid provisioning methodologies. Specifically, NetApp
demonstrated how a SAN boot architecture coupled with thin
provisioning provides rapid client provisioning and storage
consolidation, simplifies the management of large data center
architectures, and reduces the level of power consumption, all for
huge overall cost savings.
"The NetApp Kilo Client is a breakthrough architecture that pushes
the limits in the testing and development of enterprise grid
compute environments," said Patrick Rogers, vice president of
Solutions Marketing at NetApp. "This environment was made possible
for our customers due to close collaboration with key partners like
AMD, Blade Network Technologies, Brocade, Chelsio Communications,
Cisco, IBM, Intel, QLogic, Qlusters, and VMware. The Kilo Client is
a technology that delivers the day-to-day business efficiencies
promised by utility computing and makes those efficiencies not just
a theoretical possibility, but a practical consideration for
commercial usage today."
The Kilo Client, a 1,500-node diskless enterprise server farm
located at the NetApp RTP facilities, runs multiple operating
systems including Windows®, UNIX®, and Linux®.
Additionally, the Kilo Client supports NAS, FC SAN, and IP SAN
protocols. The system leverages NetApp FlexClone® technology
to rapidly create system images without making full physical copies
of those images. This approach affords near-instantaneous image
provisioning, maximum performance, and unprecedented flexibility in
a footprint of just over 300 square feet.
Rogers continued, "NetApp is taking a holistic approach to helping
users test and build the most energy-efficient data centers without
sacrificing performance and scalability. The NetApp Kilo Client
affords end users the right insight into pulling the maximum
utilization from their storage and server virtualization resources.
This isn't a technology of the future-everything in the Kilo Client
test lab can be leveraged by NetApp customers today."
The NetApp Kilo Client is an example of how NetApp is helping
customers with their data center transformation. To read more about
the innovative solutions and services NetApp introduced today that
is ushering in the next wave of data center transformation, read
the separate press release at www.netapp.com/us/company/news/news_rel_20080212.html.
For more information on the NetApp Kilo Client, please visit
http://www.netapp.com/library/tr/3566.pdf.
Additional Resources
Visit NetApp TechTalk Online Events at http://www.netapp.com/news/techtalk/podcasts-on-demand.html
for a podcast with Jay Kidd, NetApp's chief marketing officer, who
shares his perspective on customers' data center transformation and
recommendations to get started; and a podcast with Gregg Ferguson,
solutions development manager at NetApp's Virtualization and Grid
Infrastructure Business Unit, discussing NetApp's innovative Kilo
Client lab.
NetApp TechTalk Webcast
NetApp will host a Webcast, Transform Your Data Center, on
Tuesday, February 26, from 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Pacific Time. To
register, go to
http://communicate.netapp.com/forms/verify?seminarID=20080226WOD.
About Network Appliance
NetApp is a leading provider of innovative data management
solutions that simplify the complexity of storing, managing,
protecting, and retaining enterprise data. Market leaders around
the world choose NetApp to help them reduce cost, minimize risk,
and adapt to change. For solutions that deliver unmatched
simplicity and value, visit us on the Web at www.netapp.com.
Press Contact:
Roger Villareal
Network Appliance, Inc.
408-822-1959
rogerv@netapp.com