Pillar Data Systems unveiled the Pillar Axiom 300. Ideally suited for small-to-medium size enterprises (SMEs), the Axiom 300 drives down infrastructure and operational costs while reducing business risk and complexity of data storage. The Axiom 300 is easy and quick to configure and deploy into existing storage environments. Ongoing management and maintenance are streamlined with Pillar’s clean, intuitive user interface and Guided Maintenance functionality.

The Axiom 300 enables Pillar channel and reseller partners the opportunity to offer a storage system with enterprise capabilities priced for midsized organizations. Some of the features include:

• Eighty percent disk utilization: the highest in the industry
• Costs are reduced and utilization rates increase when multiple applications and tiers of storage are consolidated into one single platform, while maintaining effective Quality of Service (QoS) for each
• Pre-configured and user-customizable profiles: allowing administrators to optimize the arrays for specific applications
• Thin Provisioning: increasing utilization of storage hardware and easier provisioning with less disruption to users/applications, and when combined with QoS provides the highest utilization rates in the industry

“For small to mid-sized customers looking to drive down infrastructure and operational costs while reducing their business risk, the Pillar Axiom 300 offers a very interesting and viable solution as it reduces storage management complexity and Application-Aware visibility within their storage systems,” said Janet Waxman, vice president, hardware channels research, IDC.

Pillar channel partners in the Emerald Partner program that are selling the Axiom 300 will benefit from investment components that allow greater partner profitability, professional services enablement and joint strategic sales of the Axiom. Additionally, accredited Pillar partners that are Registered Service Providers can now provide professional services for the Axiom 300, increasing service margins and overall profitability.

“Pillar’s approach to the channel has fostered strong relationships with resellers who continue to embrace the company’s innovative products and channel selling strategies,” said Paul Myerson, senior channel analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. “These new partner program enhancements, coupled with a product introduction geared primarily towards the channel, reinforce Pillar’s commitment to the solution provider community.”

Pillar Axiom 300 continues the company’s standing in Application-Aware storage by bringing additional application profiles into the Axiom management framework. The Pillar Axiom 300 also comes with additional Application-Aware Storage profiles to meet the changing demands of the data center today and of the future, including:

• Oracle Optimization
• Exchange Optimization
• Virtualization Optimization

The Pillar Axiom 300 builds upon the launch of the Pillar Axiom 600/600MC, continuing the company’s legacy of innovation, including storage QoS, native NAS and SAN, distributed RAID, Guided Maintenance, and leading storage efficiency.

“The Axiom 300 delivers enterprise class performance, availability and functionality at an entry level price. We’re confident no other storage system on the market today rivals the Axiom 300 in terms of value, performance, functionality and efficiency,” said Curt Wittich, vice president of worldwide sales, Pillar Data System. “We listened to what our VAR partners were asking of us, and the Axiom 300 is an answer to their requests. This is an ideal platform for the SME customer, and we look forward to working with our VARs and channel partners to offer this robust, Application-Aware enterprise array for smaller companies with enterprise needs.”