EMC is following NetApp and Dell in introducing standard "cloud" configurations, and these aren't vBlocks. Is this an admission that vBlock wasn't a good idea after all? VSPEX is different from Vblock’s offered by VCE The Virtual Computing Environment Company and are more along the lines of … [Read more...]
EMC denies big server biz plans … but IS building servers
May 25, 2012 by 1 Comment
So EMC's not going to become a server vendor even though, as Chris Mellor points out, they showcased some very nice purpose-built server hardware at EMC World. And even though Jeremy Burton admitted they were, kinda, making and selling servers. Why? He observed: "Server vendors put DAS … [Read more...]
Virtually Pragmatic?
May 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Martin "Storagebod" Glassborow suggests two reasons EMC reversed course on virtualizing behind the VMAX: Maintaining margin on controllers and adapting to a flash-filled world. Both are reasonable ideas... The speed of change in the spinning rust market appears to be slowing, certainly the … [Read more...]
The Last of the Dinosaurs? – Storagebod
May 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment
EMC introduced their biggest, baddest Symmetrix today. Much of the commentary was the typical "speeds and feeds" regurgitation, but Martin "Storagebod" Glassborow didn't disappoint with his coverage. "Last of the Dinosaurs" pretty much sums up Martin's (and my own) opinion on this … [Read more...]
EMC VFCache (aka “Project Lightning”) Is One Small Step, But an Important One
February 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment
EMC will today unveil a new product, and will no doubt attract a great deal of press. The modest technical capabilities of VFCache 1.0 limit its use case, but the announcement is big news, since it marks EMCs first foray into the hot server-attached storage market. EMC VFCache is a Simple Read … [Read more...]
HP’s Mighty Stumble
February 6, 2012 by Leave a Comment
How could a company as mighty and diverse as HP have had so many issues with executive management? HP stumbled mightily in 2011, and it had nothing to do with product or people. Even sales remained strong, though the PC business is changing. HP’s mighty stumble was a crisis of confidence due … [Read more...]
EMC FAST and NetApp FlashCache a Comparison
September 21, 2011 by 4 Comments
This article is intended to provide the reader with an introduction to two technologies, EMC FAST and NetApp FlashCache. Both of these technologies are intended to improve the performance of storage arrays, while also helping to bend the cost curve of storage downward. With the amount of data that … [Read more...]
Getting acquainted with storage
February 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment
So in the past few weeks I have been playing with the new EMC Celerra that my company purchased. As of right now I can say that creating CIFS servers and sharing storage is pretty straight forward. Other areas, not so much. Because the unit is new and I decided to get it setup all by myself, … [Read more...]
Moving to a SAN and managing data growth
February 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Recently I got a Celerra NX4 storage array to meet my organizations storage needs, or out of the box, solve a specific problem that we are having with regard to storage. Slow data performance across the network and Windows Update. I found out quickly by doing some simple math covering what exists … [Read more...]
De-Allocating is the Core Issue for Thin Provisioning
January 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment
One of the topics I've often written and spoken about is thin provisioning. This series of 11 articles is an edited version of my thin provisioning presentation from Interop New York 2010. I hope you enjoy it! I began by introducing the core problem: Storage isn’t getting any cheaper, even … [Read more...]