ncipient.com/resource/IncipientNSPDatasheet.pdf. It's a snapshot of the page taken as our search engine crawled the Web.
The web site itself may have changed. You can check the current page or check for previous versions at the Internet Archive. Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content.
Incipient Network Storage Platform software



















. . .
Migrate
Mirror
Copy
Vol. Mgmt
iNSP Network Volumes
Storage Virtualization Layer

Storage

Incipient
Storage
Administrator

Cisco
SSM

Cisco MDS
Incipient Network Storage Platform software
for Cisco
�
MDS 9000 SAN Switches
Storage Virtualization & Data Migration Software
for SANs

Incipient software is a platform that delivers a suite of scalable
storage services software for large enterprise SAN
environments. The software platform leverages Ciscos
industry leading MDS 9000 SAN switches and includes
services such as non-disruptive data migration, automated
storage provisioning, network volume management and point-
in-time copy.

Incipient Network Storage Platform (iNSP) software runs
natively on Cisco MDS 9000 Storage Services Modules
(SSMs) that are designed to work with intelligent fabric
applications. iNSP works with any Cisco MDS 9500 Director or
9200 fabric switch. This provides investment protection for
Cisco MDS customers as well as rapid access to storage
services based applications.

Incipient Storage Services Software
Centralize and consolidate storage management operations
with a common platform for online non-disruptive storage
services. A single instance of Incipient software can serve
multiple business units and departments. The result is a cost-
efficient infrastructure that can respond more rapidly to the
companys information growth and management.

Incipient Software Highlights
Online non-disruptive data migration; zero downtime for
hosts and applications during migration
Migration use cases: application storage growth, array
decommissioning, resource contention
Automated online non-disruptive storage provisioning
between multi-vendor storage arrays and dissimilar
configurations
Fabric-based volume manager, host independent
Heterogeneous point-in-time copy services

Incipient Storage Services for SANs

Non Disruptive, On-Line Data Migration
Online non-disruptive data migration services without any
scheduled host or application downtime. Supports multi-
vendor heterogeneous storage arrays.
Automated Storage Provisioning
On-Line, end-to-end automated storage array provisioning
and fabric zoning which lessens the administrative steps to
provision new storage.
Network Volume Management
Consolidate volume management to a single location in the
network, independent of any host and across disparate
storage arrays.
Point-in-Time Copy Services
Point-in-time copy services with automated provisioning for
heterogeneous, tiered storage environments. Consolidates
cross-array copy services to a single platform

Hosts

Incipient software resides on Cisco MDS Storage Services
Modules (SSMs) housed within a Cisco MDS Chassis





Solution Highlights
Network Volume Management / Storage
Provisioning

Incipient software provides network-based volume
management services independent of host software or
storage array controllers. It is the foundation on which all
Incipient network storage services are built. Network
volume management allows the configuration of the
physical storage to be changed without impacting any host
or application. Users can provision an Incipient network
volume to a host once, then grow, transform, migrate and
copy volumes without any host reconfiguration. Storage
resources (array volumes) used in automated provisioning
operations are allocated based on policies and industry
best practice guidelines created by the storage
administrator and embedded in the Incipient provisioning
engine. SAN changes become simple and straightforward.

Centralized Volume Management and Automated
Provisioning
Provision-once volume allocation:
o
Grow, transform, migrate and copy
non-disruptively
Common pool of heterogeneous storage resources:
o
Organize by customer, application, or QoS
o
Reduce stranded capacity and increase storage
utilization rates
Automated, policy-based storage provisioning:
o
Increase management efficiencies

Non-Disruptive, On-Line Data Migration
With Incipient software, data located on any Incipient
network volume can be moved transparently from its
current physical storage without disruption to applications
and without system downtime. Data can be moved
between different storage configurations and multiple
vendor arrays.
Incipient software can be used to facilitate array/server
decommissioning, to resolve resource contention, or to
transform volume layout. This non-disruptive data migration
capability allows you to dynamically change your storages
physical allocations without impacting the application using
the data. Multi-vendor migration also allows effective and
efficient implementation of Information Lifecycle
Management (ILM) strategies and tiered storage.
Data Mobility for Heterogeneous Storage Environments
Migrate volumes while data is live; non-disruptive to
hosts and applications
Simplify and automate the volume migration process:
o
Decrease time required for planning
o
Reduce application downtime (planned and
unplanned)
o
Reduce staff hours spent on routine operations
Data Migration (cont.)

Facilitate the following data migration scenarios:
o
Storage array commissioning, decommissioning
o
Application load balancing to improve performance
o
Permits incremental or gradual migrations, allowing
appraisals of the performance impact of the migration, with
the ability to restore to the original location
No reconfiguration of hosts required, no load placed on
servers

Point-in-Time Copy Services
Incipient software creates local point-in-time copies or clones of
an Incipient network volume. Copies can be split off and
accessed independently for use in business continuance
operations, data distribution for application development, or for
data analysis. Incipient software consistency groups assure data
integrity for databases or applications that span multiple volumes.

Incipient software allows data to be copied between storage
arrays from different storage vendors. Incipients multi-vendor
copy capabilities provide the user with the flexibility to use lower
cost storage as copies for their high-end production data.

Point-in-Time Copies of Data (Snapshots) for Backup
Staging, Rapid Recovery, Testing and Batch Processing
Heterogeneous, cross array copy services:
o
Leverage low-cost storage for snapshots of
Tier-1 production data
o
Consolidation of array based services with common
management
o
Wizards to automatically configure, provision, and copy
data
o
Automated resource selection based on deep discovery
and user defined policies


Hosts
Switch
Platforms
Storage Platforms

Windows
(Microsoft)
UNIX (IBM
AIX, Sun
Solaris)
Linux (Red
Hat, SUSE)

Cisco MDS 9000
SAN switches

Mixed Cisco,
Brocade,
McData SAN
fabrics

- 3PAR InServ
- EMC Clariion, Symmetrix
- Engenio 2800/4800/5800
- HDS 9900
- HP EVA 3/5/8000
- IBM DS4000, DS6000, DS8000
- IBM ESS
- STK Flexline 200/300
Component
Description
Incipient software
Network Volume Management
Non-Disruptive Data Migration
Automated Provisioning
Incipient NSP Administrator
o Deep Discovery
o Workflow, policy
Incipient NSP NCS
(Add-On)
Network Copy Services, Full-volume, point-
in-time copies
� Incipient, Inc. 2008 All rights reserved. Incipient, the Incipient logo, Incipient Network Storage Platform, Incipient NSP, iNSP, Storage as a Service, STaaS, Incipient Network
Data Mobility, Incipient Network Volume Management, Incipient Network Copy Services, and Enterprise Intelligent SAN are trademarks of Incipient, Inc. All other marks are the
property of their respective owners. Incipient, Inc., reserves the right, without notice, to make changes in product design or specifications.
Doc Number: INSP-DS-032608

For an updated list, please contact Incipient, Inc.
Contact Information

Incipient, Inc.
230 Third Avenue
Waltham, MA 02451

Ph. 781.906.3501
Fx. 781.906.2503

www.incipient.com