The new version, Storage Essentials 5.0, has been integrated with Systems Insight Manager (SIM), HP's server management software. The software had been called Storage Authority by AppIQ , whose acquisition by HP officially closed late last month.
The Storage Authority-SIM integration will allow users to view both applications on a single screen. The Storage Essentials software can automatically discover and register all physical and logical storage assets as well as the applications associated with those assets, HP said.
Jeff Hill, a systems and storage administrator at Exempla Healthcare, which manages three hospitals in the Denver area, said that he started beta-testing the new version five weeks ago. He uses it to manage his HP ProLiant servers and storage infrastructure with a single monitor.
He said the reporting tools allow his managers to use Storage Essentials for chargeback purposes.
"The AppIQ tool is a little more intuitive" than the HP OpenView software it is replacing, he said.
"It gives you a little cleaner interface, and the reporting tools are more robust," Hill said. "That's something I'm pretty stoked about because that gives me a chance to pass information on to my management so they can make business decisions about our storage."
Frank Harbist, vice president and general manager of HP's information life-cycle management and StorageWorks software, said HP also plans to add more management tools to Storage Essen--tials through application programming interfaces in the AppIQ technology.
Such tools, as well as cluster virtualization, grid management and enhanced reporting tools, can be used in HP BladeSystem environments, he said.
"Fifty percent of all server shipments over the next couple of years will be in blades, so our focus in terms of moving this technology forward -- allowing for automation capabilities -- will really be around blade system environments," Harbist said.
On the traditional server side, Harbist said HP plans to use EMC Corp.'s VMware virtualization software to create virtual partitions. The company also plans to add storage virtualization, or the pooling of storage assets behind a layer of abstraction, he said.