HP releases latest D2D firmware with CIFS support

HP has finally released the latest firmware for its D2D devices that includes CIFS support. So far NFS support is not included but it should be available within the next couple of firmware releases.

This presents a real opportunity to implement the HP D2D devices along with Veeam or some other vStorage API capable product. Essentially when backing up a VM using Veeam it always writes to disk first and then you have the option of writing that backup to tape. The CIFS option allows for Veeam to write directly to the D2D device essentially cutting the potential backup time in half.

An HP D2D2504i lists at approximately $9900, can present itself to the next as 8 backup devices, either a Virtual tape library or CIFS share or any combination of VTL and CIFS as long as it doesn't exceed 8 backup targets. The D2D has 4TB of raw disk and has a capacity for 384 virtual tapes. Replication licenses are also available if a customer chooses to by more than one device. A key point to make about replication is that you only license the destination device not the source therefore you could in theory have 8 2504i devices replicate to one 2504i or larger D2D device.