EMC Unveils New Storage Solutions
EMC has built on its strong position in the high-end storage space by unveiling products that expand the EMC E-Infostructure initiative, aimed at providing organizations with scalability, integration with existing systems and central management. The products are available now.
On the hardware front is the new Symmetrix 8000 line of disk arrays, which, at the high end, scale up to 19 TB of data. The high-end Symmetrix 8730 has 384 disk drives and boasts more than twice the capacity of EMC's previous high-end disk array, the Symmetrix 5000. The new products are intended for users buying new storage—the 8000 models are not backward compatible to Symmetrix 5000 arrays.
EMC has also enhanced the Clariion FC45000 disk array, giving it the ability to connect to multiple servers running multiple operating systems through EMC's Access Logix software. This application gives the storage device access control so all attached servers can access only the data allocated to them.
Claiming that it is bringing "the world of NAS into the world of SAN," EMC also launched a new line of Celerra network-attached file servers that integrate tightly with the EMC Enterprise Storage Network.
The company also introduced an enhanced version of its Enginuity Operating Environment, which provides the foundation for advanced data protection, high-performance data movement and load balancing.
In announcing its new offerings, EMC execs claimed that the products provide an alternative to server-based systems, which, they said, are increasingly becoming "commodities."
HP execs responded to the EMC announcement by saying that, in light of the significant improvements in hardware and software made by HP, Compaq and EMC over the last year, the news of increased performance, a 50 percent capacity improvement, and added software functionality was "hardly surprising."
"What is surprising…is not so much what EMC changed but what they did not change," HP argued, claiming that EMC's architecture is "aging" and that EMC still has "not fixed its Single-Point of Failures." "Keep your eye on HP," the officials said, hinting of a major storage announcement in the very near future.