EMC - storage innovation meets energy efficiency 30 July, 2007 By Charles King

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" The next-generation Symmetrix DMX-4 platform, which incorporates an end-to-end 4 gigabit-per-second (Gbps) architecture and a new Fibre Channel point-to-point back-end for higher levels of reliability.

" The latest version of the Symmetrix Enginuity operating environment, which improves overall

performance by 30 per cent, makes local data replication 10 times faster, and doubles replication distances using EMC's SRDF.

" New Celerra NS20 and NS40 multi-protocol systems, which can simultaneously support NAS, iSCSI, and SAN environments.

" New Centera Generation 4LP (Low Power) nodes that leverage low-power processors and chip-sets, adaptive cooling, more efficient power supplies, and low-cost disk drives to reduce power consumption by 67 per cent per terabyte while increasing system capacity by up to 50 per cent.

" A new entry-level Rainfinity File Management Appliance (FMA) that works with EMC's Centera and Celerra solutions, as well as, in other NAS environments.

" Enhancements to the CLARiiON FLARE operating environment that include built-in security and compliance features, support for native iSCSI for remote replication, and RAID 6 data protection and active/active failover.

" New low-cost/high-capacity 750GB SATA II disk drives to reduce overall energy consumption by up to 33 per cent over previous-generation drives. The new drives are supported on all of EMC's storage platforms.

" A new version of EMC's Power Calculator (2.0), which provides granular insights into planning issues, including power consumption, BTU output, and system weight and size for all EMC storage platforms.

The Pitch

EMC takes a cross-platform approach to storage/energy innovation.

Mission Accomplished?

Data storage product updates tend to follow a predictable path, incorporating latest/greatest technologies as they become commercially available or financially viable to stand as points of differentiation between vendors' solutions. But some announcements stand out from the crowd for both tactical and strategic reasons. EMC's latest foray is one of these.

On the tactical side, the company has delivered some significant changes in its signature product lines. In particular, the new Symmetrix DMX-4 and the Enginuity operating environment provide performance and system enhancements that should strike chords with EMC's enterprise customer base. Even more notable, the new Centera Generation 4LP leverages multiple technologies to deliver considerable improvements in both system performance and capacity for the company's 'Content Addressed Storage' (CAS) clients.

Though changes to EMC's other platforms are less sweeping, even they aim to hit customer sweet spots. The multi-protocol Celerra NS20 and NS40 systems reflect businesses' growing reliance on highly flexible and reliable file-sharing solutions. The new Rainfinity FMA intends to deliver seamless file management to Celerra customers, as well as, to users of EMC's Centera solutions and competitors' platforms. While the improvements to the FLARE OS may be considered minor by some, they will likely be welcomed by CLARiiON customers seeking to improve system security and performance.

At the same time, EMC introduced a pair of technical improvements whose influence extends across all the company's platforms. The new low-cost/high-capacity SATA II hard drives offer customers a means to store more information more cost-effectively in the same amount of space, a critical issue for companies of every sort that are facing datacenter capacity or power limitations. In addition, the drives provide new options to businesses pursuing tiered storage strategies and those leveraging EMC Centera for disk-based information archiving.

Similar cross-platform benefits are inherent in EMC's new Power Calculator 2.0, which offers businesses a means to more accurately measure and manage the cost of their storage infrastructure investments. These may seem like simple, even mundane improvements, but they touch the heart of energy efficiency issues of critical importance to datacenter owners and operators. This includes those embracing "green" technologies for environmental or ethical reasons as well as those struggling with the growing challenges and costs of purchasing, managing, and maintaining ever-expanding storage resources.

The bottom line? There is no single "magic bullet" approach for capturing storage innovation or datacenter energy efficiency. As a result, every solution, simple or complex, provides incremental pieces to help solve larger, overarching puzzles. EMC's new, enhanced platform solutions show that the company deeply understands this and intends to make customers the beneficiaries of its hard-earned wisdom.

Charles King is Principal Analyst, Pund-IT Research, which emphasizes understanding technology and product evolution and interpreting the effects these changes will have on business customers and the greater IT marketplace. This article first appeared in the Pund-IT Weekly Review.