Study: Ocarina Networks Bests NetApp in Online Dedupe

SAN JOSE, CA--(Marketwire - May 18, 2009) - In a recent head-to-head evaluation, Storage Switzerland, a leader in tracking the storage and virtualization marketplace, confirmed that Ocarina Networks delivers superior results in primary storage deduplication when compared to NetApp.

The evaluation, sponsored by Ocarina, is validated by Storage Switzerland's long-standing reputation for conducting evaluations, reports and briefings that are factual, candid and neutral, based solely on thorough examination and testing of a technology or product as well as discussions with customers, partners, and prospects with hands-on experience with the products being tested.

According to the Storage Switzerland survey on deduplication for primary storage, Ocarina had better data reduction results than NetApp Deduplication across the board. When testing the Ocarina object deduplication solution alone, Ocarina was somewhat ahead of NetApp, with anywhere from 0-450% better data reduction. When comparing NetApp with the complete Ocarina solution, which combines object deduplication and content-aware compression, Ocarina was ahead, with 181-2573% better results.

"This is because deduplication by itself has limited value on primary storage, and really must be combined with compression for maximum primary storage efficiency," said George Crump, president and founder of Storage Switzerland. "It is our view, based on these results, that Ocarina should be a top consideration for enterprises that are managing large amounts of primary storage with near-active data, such as email, documents, graphics, and other files."

In addition, the Ocarina solution was found to be a more flexible option, allowing customers to choose which files get deduped or compressed by policy, and also allowing files to be migrated to other volumes as part of the dedupe process. This flexibility translates to lower costs in storage as well as administrator time. By contrast, NetApp was more rigid in its deployment, allowing customers to turn dedupe on or off for a whole volume.

While Ocarina and NetApp participate in the same market, this study emphasizes that they approach the problem differently, resulting in differing strengths and the associated compression results. Additional highlights include:

--  Whereas NetApp does not incorporate compression, Ocarina can
    selectively use deduplication, up to 9 levels of compression or a
    combination of both.  A storage administrator can choose whether to tune
    for maximum space savings, or good space savings with best possible
    performance.
--  Ocarina's dedupe and compression can be applied by rules and policies,
    allowing users to both choose to only process files that meet certain
    criteria, as well as create rules that ensure that the hottest files do not
    get deduped or compressed.
--  The Ocarina solution was tested on a NetApp 3050 filer in this
    evaluation, but the Ocarina technology is storage independent, and has been
    certified with EMC, HP, BlueArc, HDS, and Isilon.  This means that a
    customer may choose to deploy Ocarina as a single "dedupe for primary"
    solution across  multiple tiers of storage from multiple vendors.
    

"Managing the move to secondary storage while at the same time optimizing that data makes Ocarina one of the few storage optimization tools that also increases staff efficiency," added Crump. "Ocarina Networks could become the great leveler."

"The goal here for everyone is storage efficiency -- using the latest technology to reduce the amount of space it takes to safely store customer data, while keeping performance fast enough for primary storage applications," said Carter George of Ocarina Networks. "While there are lots of dedupe solutions out there for backups, only NetApp and Ocarina have designed solutions that are suitable for active online storage serving thousands of concurrent users and applications."

For more information and to download the complete study, please visit: http://www.storage-switzerland.com/Articles/Entries/2009/5/11_Lab_Report_Overview_- _The_Deduplication_of_Primary_Storage.html

To avoid inconsistencies in execution, this study was specifically designed to ensure that the systems were tested in alignment with how they were designed to work, that the data set is representative of what the IT decision maker is likely to have in his or her environment, and to make sure the data sets are valid.

Editor's Note: The primary focus of this report is the deduplication of primary storage's near-active data, as distinguished from primary storage's very active data. To that end, very active data was not included in the report, nor was Data Domain because we do not position it as a primary storage deduplication solution.

About Storage Switzerland

Storage Switzerland is an analyst firm focused on the storage, server virtualization and cloud computing marketplaces. They provide practical advice based on proven field tested experience to IT Professionals. This cuts through the hype and allows for selection of the right technology to make data center projects successful. In addition they provide guidance to IT suppliers on how to successfully address the demands of the dynamic data center and how to communicate how their products will solve those challenges.

About Ocarina Networks

Ocarina is a leader in online storage optimization solutions. Organizations of all sizes use Ocarina's content-aware optimization technology to reduce their storage footprint and achieve a ten-fold capacity increase on their current storage systems. Based in San Jose, Calif., Ocarina is privately-held and financed by leading investors JAFCO Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Highland Capital Partners. For more information, visit www.ocarinanetworks.com.

Contact Information: Media Contacts: Jason Throckmorton or Melissa Biles LaunchSquad 415-625-8555 ocarina(at)launchsquad(dot)com