NetApp, the data management solutions company, announced that it has integrated its unified storage systems with Symantec's Thin Reclamation API. The move, which is meant to help SAN customers reclaim storage space automatically and improve overall storage efficiency, gives customers the ability to manage, reduce, and reclaim storage space throughout the entire data lifecycle.

The company's unified storage feature helps customers store the maximum amount of data for the lowest possible cost by using several storage efficiency technologies inherent to the NetApp Data ONTAP operating system. The solutions are meant to improve manageability and performance. Added with the simplicity and flexibility of Symantec's Veritas Storage Foundation, the solution allows users ro easily manage SAN environments and reduce data centre power, cooling, and space costs.

"NetApp storage, with its built-in thin provisioning and deduplication, has given us the speed and flexibility we need to provide better service to our members," said Jason Bane, vice president of Infrastructure Operations of Virginia Credit Union. "From test and development, disaster recovery, and member service, our SAN data requirements have dropped 80%. Most importantly, though, bank credit union tellers can now access member information immediately, which gives our members a much better experience."

"Symantec offers the industry's leading cross-platform thin optimisation solution, enabling organisations to benefit from the true cost and efficiency advantages of thin provisioning... The integration of Veritas Storage Foundation with NetApp's market-leading storage solutions enables IT organisations to proactively plan their storage environment, improve storage utilisation rates, and get the most value from their data centre investments," said Don Angspatt, vice president of Product Management, Storage and Availability Management Group of Symantec.