Data storage market leader EMC has announced three new Symmetrix
disk arrays, claiming to offer users twice the raw storage capacity
and 16 times the number of mainframe Escon connections supported by
the company's existing devices.
EMC said the new arrays will also support Fibre Channel connections
for IBM mainframes. Coincidentally IBM is due to begin shipping a
Fibre Channel link in September that will directly connect its
mainframes to the same storage-area networks (SANs) used by Unix
and Windows servers.
The new Symmetrix models - the 8830, 8530 and 8230 - are aimed at
what EMC described as "hyper-consolidation" uses, in which islands
of direct-attached storage are combined within a single RAID
device. The top-of-the-line 8830 can hold up to 69.5Tbytes of data
and support as many as 80 PowerPC processors, the company
said.
The new arrays offer a 22% reduction in total cost of ownership
through simplified management and increased storage capacity in
smaller footprints. But EMC would not disclose prices, other than
to say they start at about $100,000 (£68,210) and can range up to
several million dollars depending on capacity, connectivity and
other features.
In an attempt to entice users to purchase the new devices, EMC will
also offer to buy back storage equipment made by rival vendors. The
company has been hit hard by the deceleration in IT spending caused
by the slowing economy, suffering two straight quarters of
lower-than-expected sales.
But when economic conditions improve, said Joseph Tucci, EMC's
president and chief executive officer, "there will be a significant
backlog in data storage needs". To try to minimise the backlog, he
added, EMC "will buy back some of these isolated islands and sell
you a Symmetrix system in return".
John Webster, an analyst at market research firm Illuminata, said
one of the most significant features of the new Symmetrix arrays is
their ability to partition data storage caches into 16 distinct
parallel channels.
The three arrays are all available immediately. EMC also announced
a new version of its Enginuity operating software and a series of
mainframe-related functionality additions, including the native
Fibre Channel connection between the Symmetrix devices and IBM's
mainframes.
Tucci said that within the next two months, EMC plans to make new
product announcements concerning its midrange Clariion disk arrays
and detail new software related to automated storage
management.
Meanwhile, rival Hitachi Data Systems last week announced plans for
the October release of a 2gbps Fibre Channel link for its high-end
Lightning 9900 disk arrays, and the addition of native mainframe
Fibre Channel support early next year.