Replication Win with HP StorageWorks MSA
January 04, 2019

Replication Win with HP StorageWorks MSA

Josh Rice, MBA, ACSP | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with HP StorageWorks MSA

We are using the MSA for disaster recovery. It holds all of our replication VMs and gives us the ability, with the help of VM software, to roll over to the replication cluster in order to bring our systems back up in the event of a disaster at our primary data center.
  • Functions well as a disaster recovery cluster repository
  • Since the space is a spinning disk, it is inexpensive
  • All of our VMs are stored in a mass storage repository on the system, but we could carve out specific LUNs if needed.
  • Since it is a spinning disk, it isn't as fast as flash storage
  • We have only been using the MSA for a year so we haven't seen our ROI yet, but we were able to get the same amount of storage on the MSA as Nimble for half the cost.
  • The MSA is an upgrade to what we previously had.
  • It is easy to administrate and you can set it and forget it.
The MSA is much cheaper than a Nimble. Spinning disk storage is much cheaper than flash storage. Just know that you are going to get what you pay for. The MSA doesn't stand up to what the Nimble can do, but at the same time, it works really well in disaster recovery scenarios.
The MSA is perfect for Disaster Recovery, but I wouldn't advise using it for production. Production is best left to flash storage and not spinning disk. I think the MSA would be appropriate for a test or sandbox network for testing and training as well. The storage is cheap and it is functional.

Using HP StorageWorks MSA

6 - Information Technology
2 - Network Technician and the IT Project Manager take care of the MSA. If you are familiar with other HP storage products, this should be an easy transition for you. If you haven't used an HP storage product in the past, there will be a bit of a learning curve, but it isn't to hard to pick up on.
  • Replication
  • Backup
  • Disaster Recovery
  • Create a Mass repository for the storage instead of having to build out individual LUNs.
  • As a temporary production solution in the event of a disaster.
It is a functioning Replication system for us and checks all the boxes that the auditors are looking for. Further, it is inexpensive and the storage we purchased was cheap. HP has a good reputation in the industry that plays into the decision also.