Why Matze says 'software-based data compression' instead of de-duplication is unclear. It could be that thecard doesn't exactly duplicate software de-duplication technology. But anyway, if he is right and it truly is inconceivable that customers would deploy SW-only de-duplication then we can expect more such announcements as this.

Hifn states that the the DR cards have 'multiple processors to deliver unprecedented compression hardware-offload performance with high reliability and intelligent data reduction features'. They are designed for storage server environments ranging from continuous data protection (CDP) to network-attached storage and storage area networks (NAS and SAN) and virtual tape library applications (VTL).

The cards 'accelerate hashing, compression and encryption algorithms in hardware to off-load these heavy lifting functions from host CPUs and speed up performance to provide multi-gigabit acceleration functions for data de-duplication and data reduction applications'.

Overland Storage has given a strong hint that it is developing a HW-accelerated de-duping storage array with Hifn technology.

Cofio's president, Tony Cerqueira, said: "Hifn's Express DR cards deliver an immediate customer benefit by taking the performance of our ViStor VTL -- already the fastest VTL solution on the market - to the next level."

Real world performance figures will, no doubt, be eagerly awaited.