What would happen if the HPE storage team puts together both of best worlds of their Nimble and 3PAR storage portfolio?
Well, this is what actually was announced at HPE Discover in Las Vegas in June 2019.
Welcome HPE PRIMERA
HPE Primera is the new next-gen storage platform that combines the simplicity from HPE Nimble with the all-active architecture from 3PAR topped with a global intelligence AI sauce from HPE InfoSight.
All features to expect from a storage platform are there:
- Built for NVMe
- No forklift upgrades
- Free controller upgrade options
- All-inclusive licensing
- Ease of deployment and management
- All active architecture for optimized performance
- StoreMore guarantee program
- Decoupled data services
3PAR DNA
As you can see there is a lot of DNA from the HPE 3PAR system, but there are also some major differences.
One of them is that there is no Service Processor required anymore running outside the 3PAR system (as a VM or physical), the intelligence and the connection with HPE InfoSight is all integrated in the hardware box.
Also, on the software side a lot of 3PAR code was in kernel mode, which makes it harder to update and maintain. That’s why the Primera developers decide to run more software in user mode, which gives more flexibility and less reboots required, delivering more uptime.
I can confirm there are ASIC’s in there (multiple of them) so yes there a touch of 3PAR anyway inside Primera.
CPG’s, PD’s and LD’s are also still there however not visible anymore. No CPG’s to create! Everything is handled automatically by the system.
All other features like sync & async replication & Peer Persistence are also there of course.
100% availability guarantee
Talking about uptime, HPE claims that any HPE Primera customer is guaranteed of 100% data availability on the system.
This places the HPE Primera system as a true Tier0 system for mission critical applications in always-on environments.
FYI, HPE Nimble is positioned for general purpose workloads (like virtualization) with 6 nines of availability.
Models
At launch these 3 models will be available:
| Primera 630 | Primera 650 | Primera 670 |
| 2 controllers | 2 or 4 controllers | 2 or 4 controllers |
| 2 or 4U | 4U | 4U |
| Double CPU core & memory of 650 | ||
| 24 drives | 48 drives | 48 drives |
| Max 240 drives | Max 576 drives | Max 960 drives |
Minimum configuration will be 8 drives, maximums are mentioned above.
The 630 model is upgrade-able to a 4controller model when the 4U chassis was selected at purchase.
Know that these numbers are the numbers announced at launch, these might change after time.
There will be AFA all-flash and hybrid models with SAS and SATA drives for archiving purposes if desired.
Speed starts with the deployment of the system
As soon as I have an HPE Primera available in my home lab I will post a How-To article to show the actual deployment procedure, and how easy it is.
I had the possibility already to deploy an HPE Primera a few weeks before launch, but unfortunately I was not allowed to capture any information or pictures since I was under NDA.
However I can confirm that it took 15 minutes for a complete deployment, starting from an empty system up to a storage volume created and attached to the server. Impressive.
App-aware data protection
Just like with HPE Nimble and HPE 3PAR is there the integration with HPE StoreOnce for optimal data protection inside the system, on a D2D system or in the public cloud.
Self-service, zero RPO & RTO, no appliances required. All is integrated in the code.
As soon as more information comes available on HPE Primera, this is the place where you will find it first!
You can always check the great ChalkTalk video on the Primera announcement from my HPE fellow Calvin Zito.
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