FalconStor launches FreeStor Software-Defined Storage and Data Services Platform

FalconStor Software has launched FreeStor, said to be the first truly horizontal, software-defined storage platform for unified data services. To ensure a smooth global product roll-out, effective today, the FreeStor platform is available for limited distribution through certain geographies direct from FalconStor and local FalconStor partners. On June 3, 2015, FreeStor will be globally available for full distribution direct from FalconStor, local partners, OEM partners and Alliance partners. To celebrate this milestone, 15 years of innovation, and continued company growth, FalconStor president and CEO Gary Quinn will ring the NASDAQ closing bell today.
In making the announcement today, FalconStor is also pleased to announce that Catherine Parry has been promoted to Country Manager for the UK and Ireland, and will lead an expanded team of seasoned sales and technical support experts. According to FalconStor’s GM EMEA Guy Berlo, “We are pleased to promote “Cath” to this leadership position as she will be instrumental in leading our growth in the UK and Ireland and will enable tour team to better serve our customers and partners and to meet anticipated demand for our FreeStor product in the region.”

FreeStor adds a core Intelligent Abstraction™ layer that utilizes virtualization, data services and policy-based automation to de-couple applications, data, and workloads from physical hardware, networks and protocols. FreeStor virtualizes almost any storage environment – modern or legacy, virtual or physical – to deliver data services like data mobility, always-on business continuity, high availability, data protection, recovery, optimization, and provisioning across the unified storage pool to help enable the path to the software-defined data center.

Designed to free businesses from complexities and unnecessary expense, FreeStor harnesses all storage resources (arrays, servers, hypervisors, data centers, and the cloud) regardless of type, connectivity, brand or speed, and provides a single management view that eliminates the complexity and incompatibilities of managing storage as point solutions – all for a single price based on capacity. With FreeStor, users can convert legacy storage to converged infrastructures while preserving existing investments, introduce new technologies such as flash, and gain an on-ramp to private and hybrid clouds.

“FreeStor is a landmark achievement with the capability to change the economics of the industry, and the commodity hardware market, by enabling legacy environments to be modernized into 100 percent agnostic software-defined storage architectures,” said Quinn. “With FalconStor celebrating our 15th anniversary in business, FreeStor represents the culmination of the company’s original vision to simplify storage environments, while empowering customers to choose and integrate new technologies for maximum overall value. It is also our entryway into new global markets where storage infrastructures are looking for simplicity and better ROI.”

“As the industry moves to storage networks built on commodity hardware and differentiated by software and services, technologies like FreeStor are effective at not only simplifying data management and protection, but freeing the business from vendor-specific solutions and constraints,” said David Floyer, Co-Founder and CTO, Wikibon, a Marlborough, Mass.-based research and analysis firm. “Anything that contributes to software-defined storage is welcomed by the market, and in particular by channel and storage suppliers who need greater flexibility in designing solutions.”
The FreeStor platform includes