the storage anarchist

5.005: who said it couldn't be done?

They said "it" couldn't be done. They said nobody else's array could do "it" – that only their array architecture could handle "it." They said all kinds of things about how "it" was going to bring the demise of Symmetrix, because Symmetrix would never do "it." Even if we could do “it,” they said we wouldn’t – but they said we can’t. 

But they were wrong. VERY wrong.

Today EMC announced "it" is now available on VMAX. And then EMC went one better than they ever imagined – EMC took "it" further than they have been able to, even after all the (8+) years they have been shipping "it."

And of course, they will try to undermine the fact that they now have DIRECT competition from another array vendor who has implemented "it" - highlighting the history of EMC bashing "it", as if that matters any more. As I have noted before, being "first" is only important until there is a second - then all that matters is which implementation is better. And so they will childishly act like first means best perpetually.

Have you guess what "it" is yet?

More importantly, do you know who “they” are?

Read on to see what they never expected…and should have feared...

5.004: the cloud gets big. rreeaallyy big!

Brian Gallagher, President of EMC’s Enterprise Storage Division, gave his keynote address today at EMC World 2012. (If you were unable to make it to Las Vegas, you can watch the video here.)

In his keynote, Brian spoke about how enterprises of all sizes are increasingly seeking to leverage cloud technology to meet their constantly expanding IT demands. But, he noted, the cloud demands of enterprise computing aren’t adequately addressed by most of the current public cloud service providers.

No, enterprise IT requires that their clouds to deliver the same continuous availability, predictable performance, assured data integrity, and security that they currently enjoy from their own internal data centers. And in fact, the lack of such “High QoS clouds” has slowed cloud adoption by enterprises globally.

That’s all changing – transforming, if you will – thanks in no small part to EMC’s relentless focus on cloud computing. In his keynote, Brian talked about how customers are building out their next-generation data centers around hybrid clouds, and (more importantly) how the new products announcements made by ESD on Monday are laser-focused on delivering enterprise-class service levels to the hybrid cloud.

From the incredible scalability of the new (Powerful. Trusted. Smart. and Efficient.) VMAX Family and radically improved simplicity and automation of VMAX administration, to the revolutionary high-availability active/active distributed data infrastructure uniquely delivered by VPLEX, to the glimpse into technologies that will help to dissolve distance to reduce the effect of latency on remote data centers, the biggest takeaway from Gallagher’s talk is that big enterprises no longer have any excuses. It is time to transform to the hybrid cloud.

And we just might have a few things to help accelerate your transformation…
 

5.003: what a day 1 at emc world 2012

Just a quick post to update readers with some behind-the-scenes perspectives on today’s events here at EMC World 2012.

The day here started with the release of 9 press releases covering the announcement of 42 new products. These were followed with a series of press briefings, lead off by Pat Gelsinger and followed by the division presidents each covering their announcements.

Then there was the mad dash as more than 15,000 people proceeded to the main ballroom to hear Joe Tucci and Pat Gelsinger’s keynote presentations. While these were also simulcast and available for later viewing, I can assure you that nothing can hold a candle to actually being there– imagine a screen that is actually wider than an American football field, driven by ELEVEN widescreen projectors, providing a wrap-around view. Now, project onto this ultimate widescreen a star field from the perspective of a spaceship travelling through space and time (complete with a Store Trek theme), and you get perhaps a tiny fraction of the live experience. I was sitting in the back, and I watched people actually lean in their chairs as the starship banked into turns.

Maximum wow factor, to be sure.

The keynote presentations weren’t bad, either!!!

For me, the rest of the day was filled with 1-1 briefings with analysts, customers and press…and there will be more tomorrow.

I am purposefully NOT discussing the VMAX, VPLEX and RecoverPoint announcements just yet. Brian Gallagher will be covering these tomorrow in his SuperSession keynote. If you are here at EMC World, you won’t want to miss that, as Brian has really amped it up another notch this year with customer testimonials, videos and yet another episode of “Brian. Brian Gallagher.” Once his session is done, I’ll start rolling out some posts providing some of my perspectives of the launches.

Until then…TTFN!

5.002: emc world 2012 preview

Wow - EMC World 2012 is only a few days away! Are you ready? (I’m not.) 

The slogan for this year’s EMC World- Transform: IT+Business+Yourself could not be more accurate for what can be expected at the show. Just about everything at EMC World this year is about how Cloud and Big Data are driving revolutionary change in information technology, business and the people behind the scenes who drive value out of information assets.

As you might imagine, things have been hectic around the Enterprise Storage Division (ESD) offices during the run-up to World. For the past 4 months our global team have been designing, scripting and rehearsing the more than 40-odd presentations and a dozen or so hands-on lab sessions that ESD engineering will be presenting at World.

On top of all that, the cross-functional teams of development, manufacturing, training, services and go-to market have been working feverishly to put the finishing touches on the more than 14 new VMAX, VPLEX and RecoverPoint products plus literally hundreds of enhancements that are being announced and discussed at EMC World next week. The scope of these announcements is even larger than our “megalaunch” back at the beginning of 2011, and that was the largest announcement in EMC’s history.

Among all the announcement are a few gems that are sure to cause some heartburn for the competition.

But then, that’s always a fun part of such announcements!
 

5.001: vspex, vblock and enterprise clouds

Last week’s VSPEX announcement let the world know how serious EMC is about being a channel friendly partner.  Compared to competitive announcements made by various companies last week, EMC demonstrated far more commitment to the channel community.  In essence, the VSPEX announcement was about EMC’s partners, whereas the Netapp, IBM and HP announcements were about… well, Netapp, IBM and HP.

Last week's announcements are being vigorously debated in the blogosphere, so for my part I'll try to explore some ground that may not be covered elsewhere.

First, my observations on the VSPEX announcement and why EMC's event was different than what was announced by the other folks last week.

EMC announced:

• Proven reference architectures built on a collective 9000+ staff years of experience and upon technology widely deployed throughout the world;
• Market expansion through enabling partners to capture more revenue at better margins, aided by EMC GTM incentives and programs;
• An actual VSPEX lab, leveraging EMC's $3 Billion in eLab investments and 100+ interoperability qualification engineers;
• The ability for partners to leverage EMC branding for the first time, enabling them to piggyback their own brand in the solutions they deliver to customers;
• And last (but not least),flexible customer procurement options thought EMC financing

In all, far more comprehensive than simply another reference architecture.

Now, what I'd really like to talk about was what was not discussed as much over the past week…

 

4.009: leading from the front

Earlier this week, IDC published the results of its  Storage User Demand Study, 2011 — Spring Edition: Unlocking the Minds of Storage Users. Among their findings this year was a notable use of outsourced storage, emerging demand for FCoE (but with limited commitment to the technology), and a predominant preference for midrange and modular storage.

Surveyed users also forecasted that little would change in the way they utilize storage subsystems over the coming year. If true, I would think this bodes well for EMC, especially in light of the results of two key findings presented the SUDS, 2011 report.

4.006: missing the point (yet again)

I guess I struck a nerve.

Although Hu Yoshida chose to show the top 10 largest Hitachi arrays as evidence of the benefits of virtualized external storage, his rebuttal to my response post claims that Hitachi isn't in competition with EMC to see who can ship the largest box.

Not surprising, I guess. Especially when the evidence reveals that there are no customers daring enough to push a Hitachi array beyond 1.4PB usable.

You can't compete if you can't demonstrate that you can deliver what customers want.

And that's exactly the point that Hu misses:

4.005: you call that big storage?

Earlier this month, Hu Yoshida posted yet another missive in his never-ending series of hype about the virtues of array-based virtualization. In it, he cited records from Hitachi's tracking systems showing the top VSPs and USP-Vs ranked by total capacity. Oddly, the older USP-V racked up the largest capacity deployed on a Hitachi array, even though its maximum internal capacity is less than the newer VSP (a feat that Hu asserts is because the USP-V has been in the market longer (4 years vs. the VSP's 10 months).

I had to laugh, especially given Hitachi's long-standing (and ridiculous) claims of supporting more than 240-something PB of external capacity.

For the record, being launched in April 2009, VMAX has indeed been shipping longer than VSP, but not as long as the USP-V. VMAX also does not (at the time of this writing) support virtualization of external storage.

With those caveats, herewith the top 10 VMAX arrays, sorted by usable internal capacity:

That's right, folks. The smallest of the top-10 VMAX arrays is larger than all reported VSPs and all but 2 of the largest USP-Vs.

Note also that several of these VMAX arrays are over-provisioned. Leveraging Symmetrix Virtual Provisioning, these arrays are exporting more capacity than they physically support contain. This affords customers improved capacity utilization, driving up efficiencies and driving down acquisition and operational expenses. In addition, most of these arrays are already positioned to leverage the benefits of Symmetrix FAST VP (if they aren't already – you can't tell from this report).

I have to say, though, that I almost spewed coffee on my keyboard when I read Hu's claim that the largest USP-V was actually virtualizing TWENTY FOUR frames from different vendors.

In an age when floor space, power, cooling, maintenance charges and operational complexity are seen as negatives to the bottom line, I'm actually quite surprised that there is even one USP-V customer operating in such an extremely inefficient manner.

It is quite probable that this poor customer would realize significant savings were he/she to replace that multi-headed behemoth of intertwined FC switches and multi-vendor arrays with the elegant simplicity of a single VMAX.

At the very least, he or she wouldn't be such a lonely pioneer of mega-capacity consolidation.
 

technorati tags: VMAX,EMC,Symmetrix,Big Data,Hitachi,VSP,USP-V,capacity,virtualization,efficiency,utilization,virtual provisioning,FAST VP,Fully Automated Storage Tiering,Hitachi Math

4.003: a big thing in a small package

Imagine:

• Start with the world's most Powerful, Trusted and Smart enterprise storage array, hardened by almost 23 years of protecting the world's most critical information assets.
• Scale down its Intel-based infrastructure and dial-back its innovative scale-out architecture to optimize for less-demanding enterprise environments.
• Remove the layers of complexity associated with supporting legacy hosts such as mainframes and iSeries to simplify configuration and operations.
• Eliminate physical drive and RAID configuration altogether and pre-configure the array at the factory for pool-based Virtual Provisioning to radically simplify resource allocation and management while maximizing utilization efficiency.
• Allow customers to add factory-configured Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST VP) to further drive down the acquisition AND operational costs of both capacity AND performance.
• For local and remote data protection, include the world's most widely adopted heterogeneous Continuous Data Protection and Remote Replication capability, EMC RecoverPoint.
• Simplify the product installation to no more than a 4 hours to power-up, and 4 minutes to first I/O after the keys are handed over to the customer.
• Package that all in standard 19" racks configured to optimize floor tile utilization, requiring only single-phase power as evidence of reduced power requirements and deployment simplicity.
• Oh, and don't forget the trademark blue LED bar and one of those fancy little "e" thingies that the VNX guys introduced earlier this year.

What do you get?
 

4.001: when you say tiering, do you mean degradation?

(Wow, has it really been 4 years since I started blogging?)

Hu Yoshida posted yesterday a perspective on the evolving meaning of the word "Tiering," presumptively as a context for making a cost- and performance-benefit argument for Hitachi Dynamic Tiering (HDT), as implemented on the VSP.

After the usual Hitachi riff about external storage and thin provisioning pools, Hu turns to a discussion of "Page level Dynamic Tiering with HDT." Here he highlights that HDT moves data in 42MB pages, allowing for relocation at the sub-device level based on utilization of the page(s).

Hu then makes a not-so-subtle attempt at asserting superiority against competitive implementations (e.g. VMAX FAST VP, I suppose), with this claim:

The VSP was architected to address this additional load with a global pool of quad core Intel processors that is tightly coupled across an internal switch matrix to a global cache and front/back end processors. Storage systems that do not have this extra processing power will suffer some performance degradation when they do sub LUN level tiering. (emphasis mine)

Folks, permit me to inject a dose of reality…if anything suffers degradation when auto-tiering, it is the VSP…

 

3.019: fast vp - world's smartest storage tiering (part 2)

In Part 1 of this article, I discussed how the new VMAX FAST VP is highly differentiated when it comes to implementation, architecture, algorithms and simplicity. In Part 2 I focus on differentiation in the granularity of data management and in the advanced controls for FAST VP.

Before I dive in, I also wanted to re-iterate that FAST VP is not the end-game for EMC’s investments in automated tiering. As we’ve said since we introduced the concept back in April 2009, EMC’s FAST Vision (and roadmap) is laid out in 5 stages, of which FAST VP is only the 2nd. Over the coming months and years, you will see EMC extend FAST in a progression:

1. Thick: VMAX FAST V1 provided policy-based optimization at the Full LUN level
2. Thin: VMAX FAST VP provides sub-LUN automated optimization
3. Small: Next up will be the incorporation of data reduction technologies to reduce the footprint of both idle and active data
4. Green: This phase will take efficiency to another level, moving idle data to spindle groups that will be automatically spun down until the data is actually needed
5. Gone: Finally, aged data blocks will be archived out of the VMAX itself to external archive platforms (like the one announced during the Record Breakers launch today)

So, in addition to the unique value propositions offered by The World’s Smartest Storage Tiering product, EMC’s larger vision is also highly differentiated. Although I do expect others will try to copy our vision as well…

On to Part 2!

 

3.018: fast vp - world's smartest storage tiering (part 1)

With the availability of VMAX Fully Automated Storage Tiering for Virtual Pools (FAST VP), there will undoubtedly be a raft of "we were first" and "me too" claims from competitors.

I will preemptively respond to both in this post.

As I've said many times before, being "first" in the market only really matters for as long as you are also "the only." As soon as there are more than one supplier of a feature, the discussion moves on to "which implementation is better."

I hereby assert than VMAX FAST VP is the smartest, most efficient, fastest,
easiest and most affordable sub-LUN automated tiering available in the market today
(and for the foreseeable future)

Second, I contend that no other vendors' automated tiering offering even comes close to VMAX FAST VP – and thus nobody has a basis for claiming "me too."

As I hope to explain, effective automated storage tiering requires much, much more than the basic ability to relocate data across tiers at a sub-LUN granularity. To even be considered as a contender, competitors will have to address three areas of FAST VP differentiation:

1. Effective Implementation
2. Granular Data Management
3. Advanced Controls

For each of these I will propose some questions the customers may want to consider when comparing implementations, along with the specific unique advantages offered by VMAX FAST VP.

I have split this post into two parts (it got a little longer than I planned).

Part 1 follows…

3.017: vmax 2011 edition - powerful. trusted. smartest.

In the 20 months since its launch back in April of 2009, VMAX has literally redefined the storage landscape. Back then, EMC focused the messaging around how VMAX was purpose-built for the virtual data center, leveraging multi-core Intel technology to deliver a highly efficient and scalable modular and tiered enterprise storage platform. We introduced the new Virtual Matrix architecture, the first array built upon that architecture, and the first wave of automation that has simplified the whole deployment model of Symmetrix storage.

EMC also did a bit of a Babe Ruth at that launch – pointing to the bleachers where we intended to deliver, in two phases, the innovation of Fully Automated Storage Tiering. FAST v1 for VMAX began shipping just about a year ago.

On December 15th, 2010 the second phase of FAST began shipping, along with more than 50 other significant features and new products in what we now call Enginuity 5875. Included also were some new hardware updates to VMAX – a new native 10Gb Ethernet director for SRDF and iSCSI, plus a new VMAX engine that sports an encrypting back-end to support Data at Rest Encryption.

Today (January 18th, 2010), EMC publicly announces what is inarguably the largest set of new storage products ever to be simultaneously introduced on one day. With over 40 new products and scores of new features, today's launch truly lives up to its Record Breaker theme. (If by chance you've missed all the hype, there's still time to learn about it at the #EMCBreaksRecords web site.)

So, what's all the hype about? Well, for the full effect, you'll have to go see for yourself. But within the context of VMAX, there's lots of new things in this latest release of Enginuity 5875, and I thought I'd lead off my contribution to the launch day communications with a quick run through of the major ones…

 

3.016: commodity vs. custom, hu cares?

Nigel Poulton has written a fair and insightful post over on his blog comparing EMC’s VMAX to Hitachi’s VSP. In it, he notes Hitachi’s use of not one but FIVE custom ASICs, as compared to VMAX’s single custom chip. He also (rightfully, IMHO) points out that it is likely these custom ASICs that caused Hitachi Japan to deliver VSP to market nearly 18 months later than VMAX, even though both use the same generation of Intel processor (quad-core Harperton) and the same first generation PCIe.

Even for a vertically-integrated company like Hitachi, ASICs take time – a LOT of time – to get right. Mess up one little thing, and you face months to respin the design and recast the die. And if you are doing low-latency memory I/O management, you face another respin each time the architecture changes; chips built for the PCIe gen 1 interface won’t work for PCIe gen 2 or 3, for example.

Hitachi’s Japanese engineering teams have invested heavily in the “hybrid” ASIC/Intel design for this “first generation” VSP. Maybe they had no choice – the USPV architecture doesn’t adapt well into Intel’s chip designs, where memory and CPU are tightly coupled, and not separated by a crossbar switch as is the foundation of the USP/USPV/VSP. By the way, I don’t think Hitachi’s architecture can survive long-term – in fact, I suspect that Hitachi Japan is hard at work right now re-architecting future VSP follow-ons to eliminate all the ASICs from their design. Looking at the designs of Intel’s next generation processors (Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge), they really have no other option.

This leaves Hitachi Data Systems’ marketing with no choice but to try to position the (temporary) use of ASICs as an advantage – even though it has already proven a significant time-to-market disadvantage. Japan has sent lemons, HDS has to make lemonade while they wait for the elves to finish redesigning their flagship enterprise array.

But back to Nigel’s post…

3.012: vplex geo preview at vmworld

Last year at VMworld, Chad Sakac previewed active/active application teleportation over synchronous distances using an at-that-time preview version of what we now know as VPLEX.

This year, Chad’s done it again – he’s sneaked an early look at how VPLEX Geo will enable active/active data access over asynchronous distances. He’s snagged an early (very early) code drop from the VPLEX development team and staged a demo that should at least start to silence the doubting Thomases among us.

Sure, it’s not live (nor is it Memorex ;-). Indeed VPLEX Geo isn’t even scheduled to ship until 1H’2011, and as Chad notes there is lots of integration work yet to be completed between the VMware and VPLEX development teams. But it is still an important demonstration of the potential VPLEX has to change the way we deploy our IT applications and infrastructure in the future.

So, without further ado, I invite you over to Chad’s Virtual Geek blog to see and learn about this preview for yourself: At VMworld? Try VPLEX. Like it? Take one home :-)

Oh, yeah – I almost forgot. VMworld attendees are being offered a special 90-Day Trial of VPLEX – just stop by the EMC Booth for more information!

 

technorati tags: VMworld, VPLEX, VPLEX Geo, active/active, asynchronous, VMotion, EMC, VMware

3.009: whither the ds8700, or hath it withered already?

My followers know that I've been predicting the demise IBM's enterprise storage platforms (both DS6000 and DS8000 series) for several years now. And though I've been chastised for competitor bashing, I remain convinced that IBM will soon withdraw the DS8000 from marketing once and for all, just as they have the DS6000.

The product just isn't competitive in today's world, even with the unfair advantage IBM enjoys with its tight linkage to it mainframes and servers.

Supporting evidence for the impending demise comes from many directions and sources. Just this week I heard about a competitive deal Down Under where IBM withdrew the DS8700 from a competitive bid in the middle of the selection process. Pressed for an explanation, the new VMAX customer was told that the DS8700 would be EOL by year-end 2010, and IBM didn't want to propose a dead-end product.

How considerate of them!

Now, indeed, this is hearsay, and I can't promote any evidence as to the accuracy of this report. But it is another piece that seems to fit the emerging picture that IBM is winding down the DS8700 as we speak. IDC StorageTracker data shows a rather protracted decline in market share for the DS8000, one that began with the introduction of the Symmetrix VMAX back in April 2009.

In fact, if you compare the IDC StorageTracker data for EMC Symmetrix, IBM DS8K and Hitachi USP-V/VM for the 4 quarters beginning Q2'09, you'll see that VMAX share of the "high end array" pie has grown significantly, while both IBM and Hitachi have lost share dramatically.

Yes, to the attentive observer, it is pretty clear that the DS8K is on its deathbed – at least as we know it today.

3.008: shame on all of us

Sometimes we in the storage industry misbehave.

Sometimes Badly.

The most recent example surrounds the reports early this week about how a bank was unable to service its ATM customers as a result of a vendors' process mistake. Apparently an operator used an out-of-date procedure to execute a routine service operation during a planned outage and the result was an protracted unplanned outage. To their credit, the vendor publicly owned up to the mistake and is certainly taking steps to avoid similar occurrences in the future.

All fine and good, if we could have just left it there.

But no, it seems this is not to be the case. Sales reps from the vendor-at-fault's competitors are gleefully emailing these reports to every customer and prospect, in hopes of creating sufficient Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) about the competitor in the minds of these potential sources of revenue. I personally have had over a dozen emails in my inbox linking to the reports.

I find this deplorable, childish behavior.

And yes, that is directed at folks from my own company as well as those from competitors.

3.007: corporate espionage and other covert affairs

Call it Karma, Destiny, or Fate, but two topics crossed my desk today with  almost uncanny congruence. And when I noticed my next post number for this year was 007, I knew I had to post this.

The first unexpected topic was a link from EMC's Daily News, a daily email distributed by our PR department highlighting news articles relevant to EMC's global businesses. The first entry of today's list was this FOX Business News television interview with Beau Dietl, the world-renowned expert on corporate espionage. In it Beau discusses the "threat from within" and how EMC's RSA Security division is helping corporations protect their most important information assets.

If you have 7 minutes of your life to spare, you might find this interesting…

The second unexpected component of this information eclipse follows the break…

3.005: transparency as a competitive advantage

Several years ago, Symmetrix customers let us Symmetrix developers know that they wanted more transparency from us about code bugs issues. They wanted to know if anyone else had seen problems like they were seeing, and (more importantly) what the solution was. They wanted to know the extent of our testing, and (more importantly) they wanted to know whether their environments fit inside the standard test/regression scope that a release went through before GA. They wanted a way to identify things in their environments that weren't in step with the EMC Support Matrix. They wanted to know the bugs issues we fixed in each release, even if it had nothing to do with their environment. And they wanted us to protect them from issues that we knew about, even if THEY weren't aware of the issue.

And they made it quite clear they weren't going to take "no, sorry" for an answer.

And so began the virtuous cycle of transparency. For most of the last decade we have had teams focus on providing the tools and information that customers were demanding. Driven by customer feedback, we have expanded this transparency far beyond the original "baby-steps" into what today is at least a differentiator, if not a huge competitive advantage.

Just some of the things we've done:

• We changed the EMC eLab Support Matrix from a printout of hundreds of pages into an on-line database that supports ad-hoc and template inquiries;
• We provided customers the means to create templates of their environments that could automatically be used to validate against the on-line support matrix;
• We tied our test matrix into these systems so customers could see the scope of configuration testing that was applied to each release prior to GA;
• We provided customers with on-line access to all customer-reported issues, and empowered them to track progress, work-arounds and solutions to the problems as they were identified and implemented;
• We provided them with an automated interface into the issues database that can block scripts and management interfaces (GUI, SMI-S, etc.) from performing operations that are known to invoke potential issues – in real time, as they are discovered;
• And we document every potential DU/DL issue we fix in New Releases, Service Releases and Maintenance Releases – even if the issue has never been seen by a customer.

This last one is perhaps to most transparent thing we've ever done; more importantly, customers tell us that they really like what we've done. And all of this transparency is a foundational component of our overall commitment to TCE – maximizing the Total Customer Experience of our installed base.

3.003: to boldly go

Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life forms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

And so begins our journey

Today, EMC announces the introduction of another category-creating product: EMC VPLEX. Built upon unique market-proven technology and hardened for the rigors of enterprise IT, VPLEX brings forth a revolutionary new platform for building and deploying distributed virtual data centers. And whether we call it Distributed Federation, a component of Virtual Storage, the On Ramp to the Private Cloud, an application Teleporter, a Time Machine for Data, the foundational component that extends the Virtual Mainframe beyond the walls of a single data center, or even simply distributed storage virtualization, VPLEX clearly will change the way we build and deploy applications.

By tearing down the barriers of space and time, VPLEX will allow us to rethink when and where we run applications. Couple with virtual server technology, VPLEX can allow applications to be relocated not only to another server cluster, but one in a totally different location. And with its unique approach to distributed cache management, VPLEX can enable applications to begin running at their new destination before all of the application’s data has been relocated. In fact, the Access Anywhere caching technology can even present data at a remote site without any data storage at the site! This capability of VPLEX Metro portends the future where VPLEX will both extend the distance between VPLEX clusters and expand the number of clusters VPLEX supports. As the VPLEX partner and development communities expand the use cases and integration beyond the hypervisors into database and application integration with the VPLEX distributed cache capabilities, we will see the emergence of new computing models.

We are at the beginning of a new journey.

2.044: ibm dumbs down storage marketing (again)

OK, this isn't going to be another one of my competitor-bashing diatribes. I've learned my lesson, based on reader feedback on my comments about IBM's past transgressions (who can forget IBM's initial "Let them use Tape" response to flash drives?)

Nope, this time, I don't have to be the one to do the tear-down: independent storage consultant self-proclaimed IBM proponent "PRJ" has exposed the (dare I say it) stoopidity in his post IBM Storage UK Has Codified Stupidity. In the middle of his post he highlights the following.

Yet again, this does not mean XIV does not meet some needs. What it does mean is that XIV is still not equal to nor does it offer performance comparable to the DS8000, and that IBM has said you - the customer - are too stupid to understand this blatantly obvious fact.

If I wrote that, you'd have blasted it as blatant FUD. But this guy says that he LIKES IBM…go figure.

And it appears that IBM Storage US is no better.

Case in point: in his latest post covering this week's IBM Storage product announcements, arch-nemesis Tony Pearson couldn't resist taking an entirely unrelated swipe at me and V-Max at the end of his post. (Tony clearly didn't appreciate my publicizing the impending death of the DS68000, nor my chastising of the way he (apparently intentionally) twisted a recent Chuck Hollis post into the offensive and insensitive accusation that EMC markets storage to terrorists).

In his attempt to take the high ground, TonyP steps into the land of Codifying Stupid when he includes a link to an (IBM-funded) "ITG white paper" titled Cost/Benefit Case for IBM XIV Storage System - Comparing Costs for IBM XIV and EMC V-Max Systems, and he then uses that paper to support an assertion that the XIV is up to 63% less expensive than "a comparable" V-Max.

With an assertion like that, you know I had to respond.

 

2.042: bring out your dead!

My, what a week already.

IBM finally got around to putting the still-borne DS6800 out of its misery – something I had thought they were smart enough to do over two years ago (I was apparently wrong). Not to worry, I guess – if you really want to have one of these useless beasts, I understand they are still available over on e-bay.

Once touted as the entry level Shark, the DS6800 was purported to share the vast majority of its code with the higher-end DS8000 series. Over time, it became clear that no such miracle had been performed – the DS6800 was even less feature rich than the DS8K. And with the brandy-spanking-new DS8700 lacking several features that were touted as foundational for the DS8000 platform family (e.g. thin provisioning, LPARs and the like), it has got to make you wonder how serious IBM is about this space.

But undoubtedly attracting the most attention has been the comments from NetApp's CEO Tom Georgens late last week that the notion of storage tiering is dead.

There has been a lot of Twitter chatter about Tom's assertion, and at least a few blog posts - e.g., Mark Twomey's (@StorageZilla) Virtual Vs. Static Provisioning. Martin Glassborow's (@storagebod) The Crying Game, and Chris Evans' (@chrismevens) Enterprise Computing – Death of Tiering?. And even today the debate rambles on in Twitterville, with Alex McDonald (@alextangent) in the middle of the debate over whether PAM II + SATA is "tiering" or simply "caching."

All good fun, but I'd like to bring forth a slightly different perspective for why there is more to tiering than simply Flash and SATA.
 

2.035: fast, nice and easy

With the introduction of FAST, Storage Tiering can now be automated to optimize performance and reduce both CAPEX (acquisition costs) and OPEX (people, operational and maintenance costs).

In support of the introduction of FAST for the Symmetrix V-Max platform, EMC has made several key enhancements to Symmetrix Management Console (SMC) and Symmetrix Performance Analyzer (SPA). The goal behind these changes is to radically simplify storage allocation and management in a FAST environment, largely by building upon the constructs of Auto-Provisioning and non-disruptive V-LUN migration that were introduced on the initial software release for V-Max back in April 2009.

That's right, boys and girls. Despite all the misinformed FUD you've been hearing from wanna-bee competitors, Symmetrix V-Max is indeed both FAST and easy!
 

2.033: v-max is much more than fast

Hot on the heels of last week's FAST introduction comes today's formal announcement of additional features and hardware for Symmetrix V-Max. Collectively, these enhancements are designed to improve the efficiency, flexibility and cost-effectiveness of V-Max in its rapidly expanding community of customers.

Even as some competitor bloggers struggle to comprehend the architecture of V-Max and/or the differentiated value of Fully Automated Storage Tiering (as opposed to Professional services-Based Management), today I will offer some insights into the other updates for V-Max that started shipping to customers at the end of November '09.

If you're a V-Max customer or prospect, there's a lot more than just FAST in this year's Symmetrix Christmas/Holiday package:

• New Hardware support
• Virtual Provisioning enhancements
• Performance enhancements
• Replication Enhancements
• Security enhancements

Let's take a peek at each of these areas, shall we?
 

2.030: emc fast and the big 5

Proving the critics wrong once again, today EMC has announced the General Availability of FAST (Fully Automated Storage Tiering).

Perhaps unexpected is the fact that FAST is not only a Symmetrix V-Max feature, it is now available for all of EMC's block, file, and unified storage platforms. We actually told everyone that FAST would be cross-platform back in April 2009 when we announced it, but many seem to have forgotten until today.

Chuck Hollis, Mark Twomey and Gina Minks have collectively provided some pretty comprehensive insights on FAST – and more importantly, the new era of storage that it represents.

• Chuck Hollis: FAST and the Continuing Virtualization of Storage (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
• Storagezilla: FAST to the FULLEST
• Gina: EMC FAST – how do IT folks keep up to speed?

Also contributing to the social media buzz about FAST are numerous blogs and press articles covering today's announcement, plus a near-steady stream of Twitter chatter about "EMC FAST."

As for me, I've already discussed FAST in a couple of blog posts and comments since my first coverage on April 14th. Back in September I posted a FAST (Symmetrix v1 version) demo along with some Q&A from a "Tech Talk" I had done. Then in October I reprinted a fairly comprehensive review of why Hitachi's Tiered Storage Manager is anything but FAST, written by a well-respected TBC here at EMC.

So for now, I'll not do another dive into FAST, although I am actively answering questions today on Twitter @storageanarchy. There is plenty of accurate detail already available (just be on the lookout for the inevitable Competitor FUD).

Which reminds me: one thing I find amusing about today's launch is the supporting role that the competition and critics have played in the pre-publicity of today's FAST launch. Over the past several weeks, we've seen FAST critics, FAST wanna-bees and even wanna-be new product announcements, all in an obvious attempt to discredit, overshadow or perhaps even delay today's launch.

Though surely unintentional, all this buzz has pretty much had the opposite effect – if anything, all this activity has created even MORE interest in EMC's FAST offerings, not less. The customer value of centrally automated tiering inarguably will is changing the storage market, and EMC is clearly leading the way…as evidenced by IDC and Gartner's reports on the significant share gains that EMC has earned this year.

So, in the spirit of a recent competitor's Thanksgiving blog, let me say that I'm thankful for the predictable and expected spotlight on FAST that competitors have created for us. You have truly helped to broaden the audience for today's launch, and I sincerely I don't know how to thank you enough.

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures!

technorati tags: FAST,Fully Automated Storage Tieringi,EMC,Symmetrix,V-Max,CLARiiON,Celerra,ILM,Flash Drives,EFD,SSD,SATA,Flash,Fibre Channel,Simplified,Storage Management,Automation,Ease of use,competitive advantage

2.029: don't look back!

I’m just back from 2 weeks of holiday in South Africa, passing through home long enough to switch suitcases for my trip back across the Atlantic to Prague for Customer Council (I promise to post more pictures soon).

Up early to try and stay in the Czech Republic’s time zone during my brief stop-over, I noticed that self-proclaimed storage historian Claus Mikkelsen has leveraged a new report by his long-time compatriot and fellow Symmetrix-hater Josh Krischer to take yet another pass at bashing the Symmetrix architecture in his latest blog entitled Oh, the Commodity of it All!!

Of course I couldn’t just let that post go un-answered.

Follows an open letter response to Claus (and Josh). Normally, I would have posted this as a comment on Claus’ blog, but it appears I continue to be persona-non-grata on HDS blogs (excepting Michael Hay’s, who continues to respectfully engage…thanks Michael).
 

2.023: the future of flash is fast

I had the honor yesterday of hosting an EMC Investor Relations "Tech Talk" webcast on the subject of Flash Drives and EMC FAST (Fully Automated Storage Tiering).

Although Chris Mellor scooped me with his second-hand coverage of the event (Chris leveraged a report put out by Aaron Rakers to customers of Stifel Nicolaus Equity Research for his story), I thought I'd share the session with my readers first-hand.

So, if you have an hour or so, pop over to the IR landing page on EMC.com and click the banner link to the recorded webcast (or go directly to the webcast hosting site). But take notice – this webcast will be available on-line only through October 21, 2009.

I also included the net result of the FAST demo that Chad Sakac presented at VMworld 2009 in yesterday's presentation. If you'd like to see the complete demonstration, it's available on YouTube here:

I have also received a few follow-up questions from the event; I'll answer several of them after the break…
 

2.022: free migrations

As the beginning of Fall approaches in North America, much of our wildlife prepares for their annual migratory trip south to warmer climes.

What better time to announce the No-Charge Symmetrix Migrator Package?

Effective this month, this new package provides both current and new V-Max and DMX customers with free licenses to three powerful storage migration utilities:

1. Open Migrator, for host-based migrations. Runs on most popular operating systems and server cluster software. OM can mount the new target LUN(s), copy data (on another array or from within the platform itself) in the background, and it will mirror writes to both old and new storage during the migration;
2. SRDF/DM (Data Mobility), Symmetrix-based replication frequently used to make a mirror of current Symmetrix volumes onto a new array before swapping the hosts over to the new storage. Used by customers for more than a decade to effect both Open Systems and Mainframe data migrations;
3. Open Replicator/LM (Live Migration), array-based "hot pull" migration for Open Systems hosts. Simply insert the new Symmetrix into the SAN in between the hosts and their current storage array(s). LUNs are copied off of the old storage in the background, while any host reads or writes are moved to the head of the queue for maximum efficiency. Works to migrate data into a Symmetrix from virtually any SAN-based storage platform, and it can even move a small existing LUN into a larger one in the process.

As with the recently announced FREE status for Symmetrix Virtual Provisioning, this new package comes with only one string: you have to own or purchase a Symmetrix DMX or V-Max. Other than that it is truly no-additional-charge. Customers can take advantage of these new tools immediately upon arrival of their system (or license keys), without concern for the amount of capacity they want to move (or Virtually Provision).

Yet another way that EMC is helping to reduce the TCO and expand the use cases of Symmetrix, the enterprise storage market share leader for nearly 20 years.

Enjoy!

 

technorati tags: EMC,Symmetrix,V-Max,DMX,Virtual Provisioning,Symmetrix Migrator Package,FREE,No-Charge,Open Replicator/LM,Open Migrator,SRDF/DM,data migration,tech refresh

2.020: perspectives on emc's it virtualization journey

Today's perspective announces the first episode in a documentary series that will follow EMC's IT organization on their journey to implementing the Virtual Data Center of the Future.

Drinking our own champagne.

This introductory episode outlines the quest for the VDCotF, and it stars none other than Symmetrix V-Max (and some guy from IT who seems intent in blocking our view).

Join me on this journey, if you will:

And yes, that's the same V-Max that starred in my "bootleg" video a few months ago.

 

Another inspiring perspective from the storage anarchist.

 

technorati tags: EMC,Symmetrix,V-Max,Virtualization,IT Infrastructure,VMware,VDI,Virtual Desktop Infrastructure,View,vSphere,cloud,private cloud,Virtual Storage

2.015: challenge accepted -- free vp

No, Joe Biden isn't being set free – he's not even in jail as far as I know. Nor is this about VP wanna-bee Sarah Palin, who indeed will be free from her gubernatorial responsibilities at the end of July.

No, this post is about a different kind of VP altogether.

In his latest blog post (Set the Wide Stripes Free) Martin Glassborow (aka StorageBod) makes yet another passionate plea for enterprise storage vendors to make thin provisioning a standard feature of their products rather than a separately licensed, chargeable option. His request is in response to HDS's recent deluge of blog posts touting the benefits of their thin provisioning offering (Dynamic Provisioning), including the inherent performance benefits of wide-striping LUNs across a large number of spindles.

In his post, Martin insists that the current pricing strategies for thin provisioning from both HDS and EMC are a disincentive to the adoption of the otherwise compelling feature that makes enterprise arrays easier and more cost-effective to manage and deploy.

These very conversations have been going on within the walls of EMC, and it has been decided that Virtual Provisioning will in fact be included at no charge and with no capacity limitations for all Symmetrix V-Max and DMX 4 orders beginning this quarter.  As a result, all Symmetrix V-Max and DMX 4 customers will be able to leverage the speed and ease of storage provisioning, improved capacity utilization and the inherent benefits of wide striping afforded by Virtual Provisioning, all at no extra charge.

We'll see if others follow suit.

 

UPDATE 13 Jul 2009: Corporate has clarified that Virtual Provisioning will be free for ALL supported Symmetrix platforms, new and existing, beginning this quarter. That’s ALL V-Max arrays plus DMX3 & DMX4 arrays running Enginuity 5773.

Another exciting post from http://thestorageanarchist.com
[UPDATED to add DMX 4 at about 3:30pm on 10 July 09]

technorati tags: EMC,Symmetrix,V-Max,Virtual Provisioning,thin provisioning,Dynamic Provisioning,HDS,Hitachi,USP-V,wide striping,chunk,extent,free,no charge

2.014: vendor/client relationships in everyday life

Another hilarious YouTube video found its way to my desk. This one presents three real-world vendor/client scenarios and how they might look if they were handled the way that some many all a lot of purchasers try to negotiate big-ticket deals.
 

Go ahead – laugh. It's ok…no matter which side of the deal you are on.

Of course, these gambits are anything but new. Heck, they've been around since even before J. Wellington Wimpy!

I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today!

technorati tags: sales,negotiations,purchasing,enterprise IT,government contracts,construction

2.012: how to mind the future of a mission-critical world

A couple of weeks ago, in the midst of Hitachi's recent green eggs and HHAM announcement, HDS bloggers Claus Mikkelsen and Michael Hay teamed up to assert that I have nothing better to do with my time than to comment on their blogs. Michael even went so far as to comment:

Claus I agree with your approach here, and I do wonder if our Boy Wonder, Barry, is a full time blogger for EMC without anything else to do.

After that slap-in-the-face, both Claus and Michael have has chosen to censor my comments on their respective blogs his blog, and it appears that Christophe Bertrand will no longer publish my comments either. [UPDATE 21 June 2009: Although he obviously agreed with Claus’ decision to censor me, Michael now says he hasn’t received any of my comments on his blog- I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt – for now.]

Was it something I said? 

Fortunately, the storage anarchist does have a day job.

In fact, the latest issue of the EMC.now magazine includes an article about how the Symmetrix Product Group stays closely connected with the requirements and future vision of its customers and prospects, and provides some insight about what I really do here at EMC. If you're interested, the article is How to mind the future of a mission-critical world and it can be found on page 18 of the on-line version or on page 10 of the PDF version of the EMC.now magazine.

In fact, this close customer interaction that the Symmetrix management team maintains is the real reason why the words "from a unique perspective" is included in my blog's masthead. I get to see the future of storage technology through the eyes of customers dealing with the here and now.

Customer insight is also why I can ask EMC's competitors the tough questions so quickly and precisely whenever they make an announcement – I actually DO live and breathe customer requirements for storage, and it really IS part of my job to understand if, when and how competitors are addressing the customer requirements I learn about daily. So as irritating as my questions are, I know that the competitors are getting these same questions from their prospects. And their bloggers have come to know that  that I won't hesitate to call them out on a BS answer – especially when they make stuff up or misrepresent the facts.

And if that makes me persona non grata, so be it. Anarchy cannot be censored!

By the way, there are lots of other interesting articles in this issue of EMC.now. Whether you are an EMC customer, partner, prospect or competitor, I encourage you to give it a thorough read. And if you'd like to discuss any of the content, feel free to post your thoughts and questions here.

I promise you won't be censored, even if I might not be able to answer all of your questions.

 

This is another post from the storage anarchist.

technorati tags: EMC,strategic planning,Symmetrix,V-Max,EMC.now,voice of the customer,TCE,mission-critical,storage strategy,HDS censorship

2.003: sgt. friday and the ibm flash competency debate

It appears that both Tony Pearson and Barry Whyte are wont to try to diffuse the debate I started in my ibm really really doesn't get flash post with yet more innuendo, misinformation and unsubstantiated fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD).

Which is all they can do, I guess, unless they are going to publicly explain in concrete terms why IBM is unable (or unwilling) to support the larger-capacity STEC ZeusIOPS drives in the DS8K that EMC has been shipping for Symmetrix since February 2009.

In the interest of those who really don't want to sift through the cruft to get to the reality behind the discussion, I outline for you here the simple facts of the debate:

1. EMC is shipping today the two largest-capacity enterprise-class flash drives available in the market – the STEC ZeusIOPS 4Gb/s Fibre Channel SLC-based drives in 200GB and 400GB capacities.
2. EMC refers to these drives as "Enterprise Flash Drives" (EFD) in recognition of their specific designs to support the availability and data integrity requirements of enterprise storage, and as opposed to the more common drives targeted at the server or laptop markets.
3. IBM reports to be shipping today the STEC ZeusIOPS 4Gb/s Fibre Channel SLC-based drives in 73GB and 146GB capacities only.
4. IBM calls its flash drives simply Solid State Drives (SSDs).
5. EMC's 200GB EFD and IBM's 146GB SSD are the same physical STEC ZeusIOPS drive, with 256GB of internal SLC NAND flash – the only difference between the two is that the EMC version provides more usable capacity from the same amount of flash.
6. EMC alone ships STEC's newest and largest ZeusIOPS 4GB/s FC drive with 512GB of SLC NAND, formatted for 400GB usable capacity.
7. EMC's 400GB EFD further reduces customer cost per usable GB, enabling customers to get more than twice the usable capacity from the same number of drives as IBM's largest SSD, or to use fewer 400GB EFDs to meet their capacity targets and thereby enjoy not only lower acquisition costs vs. the IBM DS8K, but reduced power, cooling and space requirements as well.
8. EMC asserts that the 200GB and 400GB formatting does not significantly reduce the practical life of either drive in any workload when used in EMC arrays, including pathological/artificial write-intensive workloads.
9. EMC stands behind this assertion with the same replacement and service warranty as is offered for both Fibre Channel and SATA-based hard disk drives in EMC storage arrays.
10. IBM has not yet explained publicly why it can not (or will not) offer similar capacities and the corollary cost savings on the DS8K.

Just the facts , ma'am.

This post is from the storage anarchist.

technorati tags: EMC,enterprise flash drive,EFD,SSD,solid state storage,STEC,ZeusIOPS,Symmetrix,DMX-4,V-Max,Tony Pearson,Barry Whyte,IBM,DS8000

2.002: meh – ibm really, really doesn't get flash

Someone sent me this today:

And I have been trying so hard not to be The Storage Antagonist ;-}

Word to the wise, though – if you don't understand something, don't blog about it as if you do.

I've tried to get IBM's Tony Pearson to understand this repeatedly over the years, and he just keeps making the same mistakes. Probably has him despising me as much as that other blogger with the same first name, because every time he slips up, I'm usually there to correct him before his misinformation gets any traction.

This week TonyP is trying to wax intelligent on Flash Drives for the DS8K, but in his attempts to discredit my previous post, he removes any lingering doubt that IBM doesn't "get" flash.

Be sure to take the time to read the comments, and you'll see that TonyP clearly didn't take the time to understand the STEC ZeusIOPS drive or its wear-leveling algorithms. As a result, he pretty much embarrasses himself and his employer (not to mention the IBM Distinguished Engineers he throws under the bus) in the process.

At least he didn't try to drag Master Scientist BarryW down with him!

So, knowing that TonyP wouldn't dare to actually do the math for his readers, I will…
 

2.001: ibm's amazing splash dance, part deux

A couple of month's ago, I posted a review of how the various storage vendors were embracing flash drives (or weren't, as the case may be). I then followed that up with a post lamenting the lame (and factually incorrect) white paper describing IBM's approach to enterprise flash drives.

I complained then that IBM was throwing cold water on a very key new technology; the fact that the errors in that white paper STILL haven't been corrected after nearly TWO MONTHS underscores my observation that IBM is totally out of touch with reality, and no longer the "trusted advisor" they once were.

(What happened, BarryW – I know you were working on getting those errors corrected!)

But today's news takes the cake: instead of doing it themselves (today IS IBM-Announcement-Tuesday, after all), IBM let STEC be the one to announce IBM's support for flash SSDs.

In my book, when you trivialize the importance of ANY technology to the point of having your supplier announce GA and availability rather than doing it yourself, it means something. And when IBM's sales force is to this day telling prospects that flash SSDs are "unproven technology" and "not ready for the enterprise," I can only conclude that IBM is embarrassed to admit some huge limitation or inadequacy of their products when used with Flash.

So, I asked myself…
 

1.064: hitachi exits storage market

CAUTION! Satirical parody ahead!

After a week that saw its flagship product superseded by EMC’s Symmetrix V-Max, its sole product differentiation obsoleted by VMware’s vSphere, and the remains of it’s second-largest reseller literally swept out from under their feet, Hitachi Data Systems has decided to call it quits in the information storage market.

In the midst of the global economy rattled by recession, parent company Hitachi Ltd. (Japan) was apparently no longer able (or willing) to support the foolish acquisitions and free-falling margins delivered by its Santa Clara-based Hitachi Data Systems subsidiary as they struggled to challenge 18-year market leader EMC and its VMware virtualization juggernaut division.

Not surprisingly, and even though the myriad of misguided marketing campaigns over the past several years have clearly been an embarrassment to the mother ship, the latest instantiation of the HDS marketing machine is going out with one last hurrah.

Launched yesterday with fanfare not seen since Circuit City’s going out of business close-out scam, the HDS “Switch IT Off!" Liquidation Sale leverages the Earth Day platform as it aims to unload the massive inventories of unsold USP-V enterprise-class-wanna-bee storage arrays on unsuspecting consumers world-wide.

Although companies in the IT space come and go all the time, the demise of HDS is unique, if only in its timeline. Riding high just a week ago when they announced version 2.0 of their VMware SRM adapter, HDS executives had no reason to suspect that things would get so bad so fast.

But on the very day of their SRM announcement, they found themselves caught in the beginnings of what can only be called a “perfect storm”: the undeniable superiority of Symmetrix V-Max, being locked out of the vSphere virtual data center of the future by VMware, and Oracle's unexpected total eclipse of the Sun. Despite the valiant efforts of the HDS bloggers (and bloggers-for-hire) to mislead and misdirect, the aftermath of these events has apparently left HDS leadership with no choice but to cut their losses and refocus on construction equipment consumer electronics set-top cable boxes whatever's next.

Neither HDS nor Hitachi Ltd. officials were available for comment on this story.

 

I know, it isn't April Fool's Day. But I missed it this year, and I just couldn't resist! 

 

technorati tags: EMC,Symmetrix,V-Max,VMware,vSphere,Hitachi Ltd.,HDS,Hitachi Data Systems,Liquidation Sale,Switch IT On!,Switch IT Off!,virtualization,virtual data center of the future,Inspire the Next

1.063: vmware vsphere 4 to the power of v-max

Last month, Cisco UCS. Last week, EMC Symmetrix V-Max. This week VMware vSphere 4.

The virtual data center becomes real.

And if I may be so humble, more important to customers than the announcements themselves is the Day 1 integration between and across the products and companies.

Case in point: EMC has so many integration points with vSphere 4 that it takes two press releases to include everything:

• EMC Integrates with VMware vSphere 4 for Next-Generation Virtualized Data Centers
  Aligns Products, Solutions and Services with VMware vSphere 4 for Next-Gen Levels of IT Choice, Control and Flexibility
• EMC Delivers High Availability Path Management for VMware Vsphere 4 Data Centers
  New EMC PowerPath/VE Enables Customers to Improve Performance, and Simplify, Standardize and Automate Path Management Across Physical and Virtual Environments

Many of the V-Max ease-of-use features announced last week are targeted specifically for massive-scale vSphere environments, while things like the EMC Storage Viewer vCenter Plugin,   EMC's adapters for Site Recovery Manager, and now the new EMC PowerPath/VE work equally well with all of EMC's arrays, including both DMX and V-Max.

Chad Sakac, EMC's resident VMware evangelist-extraordinaire provides his take on today's announcements over on his Virtual Geek blog – I imagine he'll have more to say (he's the only storage blogger that writes longer articles than me, BTW – you were warned!).
 

1.062: symmetrix v-max virtual launch videos

This is the eighth in a series of posts covering EMC's Overtake the future launch on 14 April 2009.

For those of you who weren't able to participate in this week's Symmetrix V-Max virtual launch, here are most of the video's used in the event:

emc's vision for the virtual data center

Joe Tucci, EMC Chairman and CEO

 

1.061: the voice of the customer

Listening to the voice of the customer is good advice for us all…(be sure to read the comments):

techmute.com: Response to Tony’s V-Max Questions

 

Thanks, Matt – There's clearly room for improvement on EMC's communications to some audiences, but I think you received almost 100% of the intended message.

In answer to Matt's lingering uncertainty in questions 9 & 10 at the end of his 1st comment response to TonyA:

9. Being purpose-built for the its current (and future) functionality, rest assured that the performance of Symmetrix V-Max wide-striping and SRDF are not restricted by the Virtual Matrix Architecture…in fact, most customers will realize improvements to both relative to DMX4.
10. Best practices for Symmetrix V-Max were made available simultaneously with General Availability of the system. Although not radically different from DMX4 for existing features, best practices for new capabilities were developed and validated with the assistance of Beta Sites and in-house CSE expertise.

technorati tags: EMC,Symmetrix V-Max,Virtual Matrix Architecture,blogger-for-hire,Tony Asaro

1.060: the rest of the v-max launch

This is the seventh in a series of posts covering EMC's Overtake the future launch on 14 April 2009.

But wait – there's more!

OK, not really more than has already been announced, but there were several parts of yesterday's announcements that I didn't personally cover here on my own blog.

So I thought I should highlight a few of them so that readers and visitors get a complete picture (for a complete link page of relevant launch articles, visit my first Overtake the future post):

• Auto-Provisioning – a key new feature that streamlines and accelerates the process of storage allocation to clustered servers, as in VMware ESX clusters. Both Steve Todd (Information Playground) and Mark Twomey (Storagezilla) provide in-depth coverage (Mark even links the demo video).
• Symmetrix Management Console (SMC) Templates & Wizards – new features that automate a wide variety of common storage management functions to make them more easily repeatable and delegable. Steve included insights into these in the post linked above as well.
• VMware integration – beyond Auto Provisioning and the continued Symmetrix integration with VMware's Site Recovery Manager, there is also new EMC Storage Viewer plugin for VMware's vCenter. This plugin visually bridges the gap between VMware admins and storage admins. Chad-the-Virtual-Geek-Sakac answers perhaps the most frequently-asked question in the press yesterday: "So, just how *IS* V-Max integrated with VMware?"
• New SRDF/EDP (Extended Distance Protection) – essentially, zero-data-loss multi-hop Asynchronous long-distance replication, without the need for a full copy of the data volumes in the middle site – reducing the cost of extended distance business continuity. 'Zillaman does the honors on this new SRDF option as well…
• V-Max Quality – a common concern about any new product is how complete and stable the product is at initial release. Given the significance of switching to Intel processors and changing the underlying architecture required to deliver Symmetrix V-Max (not to mention the incredible scale of the new system), the focus on delivering Quality on Day One has never been higher. Although not a V-Max developer himself, Steve Todd went behind the scenes to explore some of the innovative strategies for quality taken by the V-Max development organization.

All in all, there is a TON of information here – I know I personally wrote over 10,000 words about the new products and architecture in support of the launch.

And note - I wrote these posts over the course of about 10 days, so don't feel bad if you can't read it all in one sitting.

 

technorati tags: EMC,Symmetrix V-Max,Virtual Matrix Architecture,Auto provisioning,SRDF,SRDF/EDP,VMware Integration,SMC,Storage Management Console,ESX Clusters,VMware,vCenter

1.059: fully automated storage tiering (fast)

This is the sixth in a series of posts on EMC's Overtake the future launch on 14 April 2009.

Today's announcement is chock-full with exciting news.

First, there is the breakthrough Virtual Matrix Architecture, combining the best of Scale Up and Scale Out to revolutionize enterprise storage.

And then, the Symmetrix V-Max itself, integrating the proven power and functionality of the Enginuity storage OS on a new industry standard platform to deliver cost-effective flexibility and a new definition for ease-of-use in enterprise storage.

Next up? Perhaps the most exciting (and unexpected) announcement of all.:

Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST)

As Chief Strategy Officer for the Symmetrix Product Group, my role in today's global Virtual Launch is to describe and answer questions about FAST in one of the half-dozen or so "break out" sessions available to all participants. Given the high level of interest in the topic, I thought I'd take a few moments and discuss FAST here as well.

So, what exactly is FAST?
 

1.058: v-max does what hi-star can't?

This is the fifth in a series of posts on EMC's Overtake the future launch on 14 April 2009.

Taking a pause here from the launch to present an observation.

Remember how Hu Yoshida spent the first half of 2008 telling everyone who would listen that customers didn't need or want flash drives (if you missed it, I wrote about it here and there)? Hu was later silenced once Hitachi Japan announced that they actually would be selling the very same EFDs that EMC had been shipping since the beginning of 2008. (FWIW: Hitachi was supposed to ship the first of those drives in Q1'09, but I haven't been able to verify anyone receiving them).

Well, with the introduction of Symmetrix V-Max and the Virtual Matrix Architecture, it seems that EMC has once again done precisely what Hitachi's technical experts have been telling the world cannot be done. This time, however, I don't think Hitachi is going to be able to play follow the leader, since they're so mired in their backplane-limited Hitachi Universal Star Network crossbar switch architecture (formerly known simply as "Hi-Star").

Moreover, given their ever-increasing dependence on custom (expensive) ASICs, FPGAs and off-load engines, I predict it will be years before Hitachi's engineers can re-tool to leverage the price/performance curve of industry-standard components.

In support of these opinions, I offer the perspectives of none other than Hu Yoshida himself and fellow Hitachi blogger Michael Hay, in two separate and otherwise unrelated stories.

1.057: symmetrix v-max - scale up, scale out, scale away!

This is the fourth in a series of posts on EMC's Overtake the future launch on 14 April 2009.

Introducing the new Symmetrix V-Max^tm – the first enterprise storage platform to integrate the performance and efficiency of Scale-Up with the cost-effective flexibility of Scale-Out.

• Simple: Redefines enterprise storage architecture, ease-of-use and automation
• Scalable: start small, grow incrementally, supporting multiple tiers in a single array
• Cost-effective: more IOPS and more usable capacity per dollar (euro)
• Efficient: more IOPS and more usable GB per kilowatt
• Autonomic: Optimized for Fully Automated Storage Tiering across Flash, Fibre and SATA
• Compatible: Common management and SRDF interoperability with Symmetrix DMX
• Ready: Purpose-built for the Virtual Data Center

When you can list all those attributes for a single storage platform, you’ve made a statement.

Several years in development, today the new Symmetrix V-Max takes its place atop the world of external storage – right above the reigning #1 enterprise storage platform (according to IDC), the Symmetrix DMX4.

With its revolutionary scale-out Virtual Matrix Architecture, the Symmetrix V-Max literally redefines not only enterprise-class storage, but the entire storage landscape – because when an enterprise array offers the simplicity, performance, TCO, scale and flexibility previously found only in midrange offerings, you know you’ll change the world.

(By the way, BOTH Symmetrix DMX4 and Symmetrix V-Max are newer than either of IBM's and Hitachi's flagship enterprise arrays. It's like they're asleep at the wheel!)

And watch-out, you enterprise wanna-bees; V-Max has just raised the bar.

So, let’s take a look at the new king of the storage hill… 
 

1.054: overtake the future - with symmetrix v-max!

This is the first in a series of posts covering EMC's Overtake the future launch on 14 April 2009.Updated on 16 April 2009 at 9:45 PM EDT 

1.051: skate to where the puck is going

I'm not an ice hockey fan, but I do know that skating to the puck is usually ineffective (and often embarrassing). As the great Wayne Gretzky explained, the winning strategy is to "Skate where the puck is going!"

Skating to where the puck is going is also a good business strategy.

As I've discussed over the past couple of weeks, when it comes to Enterprise Flash Drives and the storage array industry, EMC's competition is still chasing the puck.

Oh, sure, there are lots of visions of future capabilities being cast about by the competition. Promises of flash-as-cache, tighter application integration (often via proprietary lock-ins rather than open standards) and more efficient approaches to tiering – everyone seems hell-bent to publicly declare grand promises for tomorrow even as they belatedly (and begrudgingly) add support for 73GB and 146GB EFDs to their product lines today.

Well, guess what – they've missed the puck. Again.

With today's announcement of 200GB and 400GB Enterprise Flash Drives for the Symmetrix DMX4, EMC has once again netted a breakaway score (that's hockey talk). Through even tighter integration with the array hardware and software, these new 4Gb/s Fibre Channel EFDs are far more cost-effective on a $/GB basis than the significantly smaller drives that EMC's competitors are just now getting into the market.

And the fun thing is, I don't think anyone saw this coming this time, either!
 

1.050: e for efficiency

It started out innocently, with the introduction of the CLARiiON CX4:

Chronicles of Innovation: Energy Efficiency

Then you might say things got a little whacky.

Extreme Efficiency: Project Outdoor Office

Then folks got back to the very real ways EMC can help you save money – today...

1.048: news flash! information is still growing!!!!

From the Business Section of the March 11, 2009 Financial Times comes this earth-shattering dilemma:

Storage: The bytes build up –
but where can we put them?

Seems that Mark Vargo, IBM’s own Chief Strategy Officer, and Hu Yoshida, Hitachi Data System’s Chief Technology Officer both agree that digital information is still growing.

Shocking!

Oddly, it was almost 2 years ago to the day the Mark was quoted by the very same Financial Times on the very same topic, except back then, he seemed to have an answer:

Surely we can squeeze a bit more in somewhere

I don’t know which is sadder, the fact that the Financial Times reruns topics, or that IBM and HDS are taking ipso-facto credit for the EMC-sponsored IDC research on the Expanding Digital Universe that is behind the observations of these two. (That some of their quotes are lifted directly from the research papers is, well, no longer astonishing).

OK – I’ll make it unanimous: EMC’s Chief Strategy Officer for Symmetrix also asserts that indeed, we will collectively have more digital information to store tomorrow than we did yesterday.

Who knew?

 

There, that said, I’ll return to working on The Perfect Storage Array, per Martin’s specifications.

 

technorati tags: digital universe, digital information, EMC, IDC, research, Financial Times, information explosion, data growth, IBM, HDS

1.047: dancin' with the starz

No, I'm not talking about The Woz's performance last night with Karina Smirnoff (although "A Teletubby going mad" was indeed an accurate description).

Nope, this is yet another follow-up to my flash dance / splash dance observations of the wild and sometimes whacky world of solid state storage.

Somebody has been taking dance lessons.

Or at least, they're paying attention.

Now appearing on the main stage: HP!

Yup, unlike IBM who seem to be totally unable to figure out the steps to this Flash SSD tango, HP has delivered a fairly coherent white paper outlining their perspective of Flash technology, entitled Solid State Disks for HP StorageWorks Arrays Whitepaper.

A welcome contrast to IBM's gloom-and-doom SSD white paper (the one that they still haven't figured out needs correcting).

I'll hasten to add that HP's paper represents a totally NEW perspective for the company – it was just a few weeks ago that the only thing SSD on HP's solid state landing page was about laptop and server applications. And after spending most of last year telling everyone that the technology wasn't ready for the enterprise and that it was being overhyped (by moi?), their solid state landing page has been recently updated to reflect a far more optimistic and comprehensive outlook for the technology. This is a most welcomed change of tune, because it will take the support of all of us in the storage industry to drive down the cost and expand the applicable use cases for solid-state technologies.

Welcome to the party, gents. You can stop trying to dance now, I guess.

But I do hope the Tucson Boys in Blue are paying attention.

1.042: modular storage - what's in a name?

OK. I did the last one. Now it's your turn.

What is the definition of modular storage?

It sure seems that I really got under the skins of the Dancing Giraffes over at NetApp with my "Flash Dance" expose of how slowly the competitors are embracing the value of flash technology.

First there was their uninformed challenge to the term Enterprise Flash Drives. Not surprisingly, everyone else (except NetApp) seems now to understand that indeed there is a sufficient differentiation among solid-state storage devices to justify the "enterprise" classification, just as we also distinguish enterprise disk drives.

The second salvo from NetApp comes in the form of a brandy-new blog, authored by a pool of NetApp engineers, although it seems Mike Riley has taken the lead role, authoring the first 3 posts. In the latest post, Mike seizes the opportunity to a) cast me as an angry villain, b) offer me a hug, and c) assert that the last economic downturn fostered the era of "modular storage" and the end of monolithic storage's world domination.

Hence my question: what the heck is "modular storage" (as you can see from that link, even Wikipedia doesn't seem to know).

Mike continues with an outlandish assertion that "Hardware offers zero differentiation".

I guess I can agree with Mike in the sense that we all can use the same parts to make our products. But there does seem to be rather significant differentiation based on what components we actually do choose to use.

For example, the fact that Symmetrix DMX4 natively supports EFDs today, while NetApp still doesn't support flash drives of any sort with their mainstream storage arrays is pretty highly differentiated.

EMC is delivering the value, while NetApp is bringing forth more people rappers dancers.

And seriously, I am interested in hearing how you'd characterize or define "modular storage" these days…does the term even have meaning any more?

Oh, and thanks for the hug, Mike. You'll never know how much I needed it this week!

technorati tags: modular storage,flash drives,EFDs,enterprise flash drives,EMC,Symmetrix,DMX4,NetApp

1.041: Seagate drops SSD patent lawsuit against STEC

I don't usually do this, but the news is particularly relevant given my most recent two blog posts.

ComputerWorld: Seagate drops SSD patent lawsuit against STEC

STEC Announces That Seagate Has Dropped All Claims Alleging IP Misappropriation and Dismisses Lawsuit

 

technorati tags: enterprise flash drives,EFDs,SSDs,solid state storage,SLC,MLC,EMC,STEC,ZeusIOPS,Seagate,Symmetrix,CLARiiON,lawsuit