In an effort to stem a decline in server sales, Lenovo Group Ltd. is taking another crack at software-defined storage with a new appliance that leverages its server platform, storage virtualization software and storage area networking software from partner company DataCore Software Corp.

Lenovo said Tuesday that its new DX8200D appliance is based on its old x3650 M5 server, and uses storage virtualization as a means of extracting optimum capacity from its existing SAN arrays. Meanwhile, storage requirements such as data security, replication, de-duplication and compression are provided via a central interface. The company said it wants to reduce the management costs and simplify deployment of software-defined storage.

Lenovo is just the latest in a long line of data center and cloud companies to offer a storage appliance that seeks to help companies manage their growth without massively expanding their storage infrastructure. Microsoft Corp., for example, offers an Azure cloud storage appliance that expands capacity while protecting data and meeting enterprises’ demands for automation and scaling.

EMC Corp., before it merged with Dell Inc. to become Dell-EMC, entered the game early with the launch of an elastic cloud storage appliance in 2014 targeted at the hyperscale cloud storage market.

Meanwhile, niche players have also had an impact on the market. OpenIO offers an ARM-powered object storage appliance that’s based on open-source software, for example.

Lenovo’s server-based storage approach differs somewhat. The company said it aggregates isolated storage devices that are often spread over different locations, before combining them into a “common set of enterprise-wide storage services.” DX8200D works by pooling storage resources and overcoming any incompatibilities between various manufacturer’s models and generations of equipment.

Like so many companies before it, Lenovo makes some big claims about the savings its appliance can afford customers. The company said it can reduce storage costs by up to 75 percent while cutting back on storage-related downtime.

“Traditional storage offerings [from legacy vendors] often-times require compromises in performance, availability, reliability and functionality,” said Radhika Krishnan, general manager for software-defined datacenters and networking in Lenovo’s Data Center Group.

Photo: Lenovo