The Digital Property Group streets ahead with first live European implementation of FalconStor HyperFS™

Published 19th May 2010

The Digital Property Group streets ahead with first live European implementation of FalconStor HyperFS™

TDPG brands, Primelocation.com, FindaProperty.com, Globrix.com and FindaNewHome.com profit from high performance, massively scalable file system


04 May 2010, London – The Digital Property Group (TDPG) saw FalconStor’s industry-leading file system solution, the HyperFS™ go live on Saturday. The implementation is in response to commercial demands and TDPG’s old servers rapidly approaching point of failure, due to the large quantity of image files used by the company’s online property marketing brands.

TDPG was struggling with requests for property images from estate agents, as certain files were up to 3 years old, and difficult to retrieve and organise within short time frames. The HyperFS™ provides the solution by simplifying the management of large files and providing low-latency access, while also offering TDPG a scalable storage environment with a 144 petabyte capacity. The new system is designed for data-intensive applications that generate enormous numbers of large files.

Shaun Boland, IT Manager at TDPG comments: “We are a forward-thinking group with future development in mind, which is why we needed an industry-leading scalable solution. This is the first live implementation in Europe of a technology that has already seen massive success elsewhere. We have every confidence in our decision and expect to see it propel us even further ahead in the sector – none of our main competitors can boast the same advanced IT infrastructure and file management system.”

TDPG has combined the HyperFS™ system with the FalconStor Network Storage Server (NSS). The NSS virtually manages storage with minimal supervision. Data is replicated and protected for disaster recovery purposes, and TDPG can now set different application prioritisation depending on operational importance.

The project is a multi-vendor effort including a storage area network (SAN) from Hitachi Data Systems; Force10 connection ports from the remote servers to the iSCSI SAN and all cabling and optical transceivers supplied by ProLabs. FalconStor installed the HyperFS™ in conjunction with specialist IT optimisation practice EssentialNET, which was also responsible for the FalconStor NSS installation and the onsite project management. Zycko and EssentialNET will jointly undertake future support and benchmarking.

Kevin Penn, Managing Director at EssentialNET notes: “FalconStor software is renowned as a leading virtualisation solution, and the FalconStor NSS is the best in the business at automatically managing data and prioritising applications. ProLabs was a natural fit for the cabling and optical transceivers as it is price effective, 100% compatible and offers a lifetime guarantee. This roll out sees TDPG set the precedent with the most advanced and responsive file management and storage system in its sector. We’ll continue to maintain and benchmark the technology with the support of Zycko.”

David Galton-Fenzi, Group Sales and Marketing Director at Zycko comments: “This project really emphasises the advantages of the distributor reseller business model. Our partnership with EssentialNET allows the company to combine industry-leading technologies into the best solution for their client. Our value added role permits more than just the sale, and because of this we’ll be charting project progress and providing support along with Kevin Penn and his team.

“The FalconStor HyperFS takes centre stage in this project, built on the reliability, scalability and best-in-class performance offered by the industry leading Hitachi Data System storage area network. The SAN provides the backbone for the whole solution.”

-ENDS-

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About The Digital Property Group

The Digital Property Group is a division of AND including all of the company’s property websites. The Digital Property Group websites are currently the second most visited of the UK property portals.

Primelocation.com (www.Primelocation.com) is the property portal of choice of the leading estate agency firms across the UK, including the major national agencies Countrywide, Savills, Knight Frank, Hamptons International, Chesterton, Strutt & Parker Lane Fox, Cluttons, Carter Jonas, Humberts as well as many other leading London and regional firms.

FindaProperty.com (www.FindaProperty.com) is a leading property website with a comprehensive search facility for house-hunters looking to buy or rent a home. The site includes independent editorial on the housing market, as well as guides on different aspects of the buying, selling and renting processes, and area profiles including information on council tax rates, school tables and crime rates. Launched in 1997, FindaProperty.com now publishes the details of over 650,000 properties to buy or rent from over 10,000 different agent offices.

Globrix.com (www.Globrix.com) launched in 2008 as a free-to-list property site in the UK. The site was built using the Management team’s significant experience in search technology. Since then, Globrix.com has quickly grown to become an award winning property search engine listing more UK properties to buy or rent than any other property site. In September 2009, Globrix launched Globrix.ie as a supplier to Independent News & Media Ireland.

FindaNewHome.com (www.FindaNewHome.com) specifically targets the 5% of house-hunters who want to buy a new build property. The website includes a comprehensive search facility for new homes across the UK as well as articles and advice on buying a new build property.

About FalconStor Software

FalconStor Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: FALC) is the market leader in disk-based data protection. FalconStor delivers proven, comprehensive data protection solutions that facilitate the continuous availability of business-critical data with speed, integrity, and simplicity. The Company's TOTALLY OpenT technology solutions, built upon the award-winning IPStor® platform, include the industry leading Virtual Tape Library (VTL) with deduplication, Continuous Data Protector (CDP), File-interface Deduplication System (FDS) and Network Storage Server (NSS), each enabled with WAN-optimi zed replication for disaster recovery and remote office protection, and the HyperFS file system.

FalconStor products are available from major OEMs and solution providers including 3Com, Acer, Data Direct Networks, Dynamic Solutions International, EMC, IBM, Oracle, Pillar Data Systems, SGI, SeaChange and Spectra Logic and are deployed by thousands of customers worldwide, from small businesses to Fortune 1000 enterprises.

FalconStor is headquartered in Melville, N.Y., with offices throughout Europe and the Asia Pacific region. FalconStor is an active member of the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA). For more information, visit http://www.falconstor.com/ or call 1-866-NOW-FALC (1-866-669-3252).

About Hitachi Data Systems

Hitachi Data Systems Corporation provides Services Oriented Storage Solutions that enable heterogeneous storage to be dynamically provisioned according to business needs and centrally managed via industry leading Hitachi storage virtualization software. With more than 4,100 employees, and as an integral part of the Hitachi Storage Solutions Group, Hitachi Data Systems delivers storage infrastructure platforms, storage management software, and storage consulting services through direct and indirect channels in more than 170 countries and regions. Its customers include nearly 60 percent of the top 100 companies on the Fortune 500®. For more information, visit the company's website at http://www.hds.com

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT/TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 400,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2008 (ended March 31, 2009) consolidated revenues totaled 10,000 billion yen ($102.0 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials, logistics and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com

About ProLabs

ProLabs supplies a range of components including transceivers, memory units, fibre, copper and custom cables, power cords, patch panels, Cisco components and adaptors, connectors and data points, that all sport original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and compatible business approval with lifetime advanced replacement warranties.

With impressive research and development facilities, the ProLabs product range offers first class design, technology and reliability, ensuring the highest level of product quality. Use of the best components available, together with continual testing throughout the manufacturing process further contributes to the overall high standard and reliability of ProLabs' products.

Many manufacturers of compatible components and accessories supply a generic product for a range of systems - one identical unit for many end systems. ProLabs’ products are designed specifically to work in the individual systems they are intended for, ensuring full compatibility with a large range of end systems.

The ProLabs promise is based on five principles:

• Lifetime advanced replacement warranty
• 100% compatibly guaranteed
• Manufactured to exact OEM specifications
• Price effective WITH high quality components
• Large stocks for guaranteed next day delivery

For more information visit: www.prolabs.eu

About EssentialNET

EssentialNET is a privately owned and funded, value added reseller, with a strong customer relationship ethic. The organisation is technically driven from the top down to make sure that every member of the EssentialNET team is fully briefed in all solutions available to the end user. This company unity enables EssentialNET to offer associated, high end professional service and regularly exceed the expectations of its end users. EssentialNET specialises in ‘optimising centralisation’ and uses this policy as a cornerstone for a multitude of networking solutions.

Find EssentialNET at www.essential-net.co.uk

About Zycko

Zycko is a value-add distributor of best-in-class convergent IT infrastructure solutions through a channel of resellers, systems integrators and service providers.

Zycko is privately held and has been profitable since inception in 2000, when the company’s original charter was to market data networking accessories to resellers as a wholesale distributor. Zycko now employs over 250 staff, serving over 3000 resellers around the world from twelve offices on four continents. The company enjoys an annual turnover of more than $180m.

Zycko’s provision of best-in-class IT products and logistics management is supported by true value-add professional services - such as pre-sales expertise, technical support, custom configuration, an industry leading accredited training program, and in house marketing support. These vital services and support enable our customers to quickly deliver profits and invest in new market opportunities, allowing them to differentiate in a crowded market. Zycko is the channel partner of choice.

Zycko’s strategic partner base includes world-class companies such as, Aastra, Asigra, Eaton, Exagrid, FalconStor, Force10, Hitachi Data Systems, Huawei Symantec, Intransa, Isilon, Lifesize, Powerdsine, ProLabs, Riverbed, SmartOptics, Spectra Logic, USystems and Xsigo. For more information visit: www.zycko.com