Dell EMC aims the DP4400 integrated data protection appliance at the mid-range market-- an enterprise-class means for backup, replication and recovery providing 24-96TB of in-place memory and up to 192TB in the cloud.

The DP4400 is a 2U platform powered by by PowerEdge 14th generation servers optimised for VMware environments. It allows admins to perform backup and recovery tasks directly from the native vSphere UI, and is integrated with VMware native tools, SQL Server Management Studio and Oracle RMAN.

HPE offers Cisco-based networking hardware with the StoreFabric C-series SN6610C 32Gb FC switch and SN8500C 48-port 32Gb FC director module, both promising the performance and flexibility required for next-generation storage fabric.

As the company puts it, "no one solution, vendor or partner is the right option for every environment." As such, the two platforms promise to provide customers with an expansion of choice, while being able to handle the performance requirements of NVMe and all-flash storage through high bandwidth, low latency, easy management and rapid scalability.

The SN6610C allows customers to transition to next-gen storage networks through reduced power consumption and line-rate monitoring for traffic analytics. Expandable from 8 to 32 ports, it is aimed at small departmental SANs (with VSANs for separate), use as a TOR switch or as a native FC SAN extension.

Covid announces an addition to the AOC cable product line-- the Shielded Active Optical HDMI cable, with many of the same benefits as other AOC cable products, such as use in longer distance applications and a plenum rating.

What makes AOC cables different is HDMI 2.0 support, in addition to overall shielding and a durable metal connector shell. The overall shell helps make the cable suitable for sensitive installations, including some medical applications.

While AOC cables offer many benefits compared to full copper cables, one potential downfall is most cannot be used outside of point-to-point applications. The shielded AOC cable is not bound by the point-to-point restriction, and can be used in a range of applications, depending on resolution and source/display devices in use.

According to IDC, global converged systems revenues are up by 19.6% Y-o-Y in Q1 2018 to $3.2 billion, as organisations set to reduce the complexity of datacentre infrastructure, allowing IT to focus on "high-value business projects."

The analyst splits the converged systems market in 3 segments-- certified reference systems & integrated infrastructure, integrated platforms, and hyperconverged systems. The certified reference systems & integrated infrastructure segment is worth $1.3bn in Q1 2018, a -0.9% Y-o-Y decline and 41.7% of total converged systems revenue. Dell is the biggest supplier in the segment, with $641.3 million in sales and 48% share, followed by Cisco/NetApp ($462m sales, 34.6% share) and HPE ($105.3m sales, 7.9% share).