Study: Ocarina Networks Bests NetApp in Online Dedupe

SAN JOSE, CA, May 18 (MARKET WIRE) --
In a recent head-to-head evaluation, Storage Switzerland, a leader in
tracking the storage and virtualization marketplace, confirmed that
Ocarina Networks delivers superior results in primary storage
deduplication when compared to NetApp.

The evaluation, sponsored by Ocarina, is validated by Storage
Switzerland's long-standing reputation for conducting evaluations,
reports and briefings that are factual, candid and neutral, based solely
on thorough examination and testing of a technology or product as well as
discussions with customers, partners, and prospects with hands-on
experience with the products being tested.

According to the Storage Switzerland survey on deduplication for primary
storage, Ocarina had better data reduction results than NetApp
Deduplication across the board. When testing the Ocarina object
deduplication solution alone, Ocarina was somewhat ahead of NetApp, with
anywhere from 0-450% better data reduction. When comparing NetApp with the
complete Ocarina solution, which combines object deduplication and
content-aware compression, Ocarina was ahead, with 181-2573% better
results.

"This is because deduplication by itself has limited value on primary
storage, and really must be combined with compression for maximum primary
storage efficiency," said George Crump, president and founder of Storage
Switzerland. "It is our view, based on these results, that Ocarina should
be a top consideration for enterprises that are managing large amounts of
primary storage with near-active data, such as email, documents, graphics,
and other files."

In addition, the Ocarina solution was found to be a more flexible option,
allowing customers to choose which files get deduped or compressed by
policy, and also allowing files to be migrated to other volumes as part of
the dedupe process. This flexibility translates to lower costs in storage
as well as administrator time. By contrast, NetApp was more rigid in its
deployment, allowing customers to turn dedupe on or off for a whole
volume.

While Ocarina and NetApp participate in the same market, this study
emphasizes that they approach the problem differently, resulting in
differing strengths and the associated compression results. Additional
highlights include:

-- Whereas NetApp does not incorporate compression, Ocarina can
selectively use deduplication, up to 9 levels of compression or a
combination of both. A storage administrator can choose whether to tune
for maximum space savings, or good space savings with best possible
performance.
-- Ocarina's dedupe and compression can be applied by rules and policies,
allowing users to both choose to only process files that meet certain
criteria, as well as create rules that ensure that the hottest files do not
get deduped or compressed.
-- The Ocarina solution was tested on a NetApp 3050 filer in this
evaluation, but the Ocarina technology is storage independent, and has been
certified with EMC, HP, BlueArc, HDS, and Isilon. This means that a
customer may choose to deploy Ocarina as a single "dedupe for primary"
solution across multiple tiers of storage from multiple vendors.

"Managing the move to secondary storage while at the same time
optimizing that data makes Ocarina one of the few storage optimization
tools that also increases staff efficiency," added Crump. "Ocarina
Networks could become the great leveler."

"The goal here for everyone is storage efficiency -- using the latest
technology to reduce the amount of space it takes to safely store customer
data, while keeping performance fast enough for primary storage
applications," said Carter George of Ocarina Networks. "While there are
lots of dedupe solutions out there for backups, only NetApp and Ocarina
have designed solutions that are suitable for active online storage
serving thousands of concurrent users and applications."

For more information and to download the complete study, please visit:
http://www.storage-switzerland.com/Articles/Entries/2009/5/11_Lab_Report_Overvie
_-
_The_Deduplication_of_Primary_Storage.html

To avoid inconsistencies in execution, this study was specifically
designed to ensure that the systems were tested in alignment with how
they were designed to work, that the data set is representative of what
the IT decision maker is likely to have in his or her environment, and to
make sure the data sets are valid.

Editor's Note: The primary focus of this report is the deduplication of
primary storage's near-active data, as distinguished from primary
storage's very active data. To that end, very active data was not
included in the report, nor was Data Domain because we do not position it
as a primary storage deduplication solution.

About Storage Switzerland

Storage Switzerland is an analyst firm focused on the storage, server
virtualization and cloud computing marketplaces. They provide practical
advice based on proven field tested experience to IT Professionals. This
cuts through the hype and allows for selection of the right technology to
make data center projects successful. In addition they provide guidance to
IT suppliers on how to successfully address the demands of the dynamic
data center and how to communicate how their products will solve those
challenges.

About Ocarina Networks

Ocarina is a leader in online storage optimization solutions.
Organizations of all sizes use Ocarina's content-aware optimization
technology to reduce their storage footprint and achieve a ten-fold
capacity increase on their current storage systems. Based in San Jose,
Calif., Ocarina is privately-held and financed by leading investors JAFCO
Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Highland Capital Partners.
For more information, visit www.ocarinanetworks.com.

Media Contacts:
Jason Throckmorton or Melissa Biles
LaunchSquad
415-625-8555
ocarina(at)launchsquad(dot)com

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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