A bunch of us journos had a "lekker" dinner last night with the guys from the HP Enterprise Storage and Server Group and got a sneak preview of a product that seems as if it will make the lives of mid-sized businesses, in terms of implementing a storage-area network (SAN), easier and more affordable.

New to the HP StorageWorks product line is the Enterprise Virtual Array 4400 (EVA4400), which according to Yesh Surjoodeen, Business Development Manager, StorageWorks Division, HP, is a virtual storage disk array specifically designed for mid-size businesses that is easy to manage. The product is based on the company’s previous EVA 4100/6100/8100 technology, but completely built from the ground up with solution blocks that provide integration with key applications and is much easier and quicker to install and configure.

The EVA4400 features a dual-redundant hardware architecture that supports local and remote replication software, which Surjoodeen notes, eliminates single points of failure and helps ensure maximum uptime.

So, how much doe it cost and when is it available? Well, it is immediately available with a starting price of R150,000, but for more information about the HP EVA4400 go to www.hp.com/go/EVA4400.