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EMC Corp. is gearing up to roll out three new versions of its sixth-generation Clariion midrange storage system over the next several months.
The first of the three versions, known as the CX600, will be introduced this week, while others will follow at later dates, according to sources familiar with the companys plans.
The CX600 will come with four Intel Corp. 2GHz processors, up to 8GB cache, several 2G-bps Fibre Channel ports and up to 240 disks. Users will be able to connect the CX600 as DAS (direct-attached storage) or in a SAN (storage area network). By years end, it will be available as a back end to EMCs Celerra NAS (network-attached storage) systems, which currently only use the high-end Symmetrix hardware. The upcoming Clariion version will be called Celerriion, officials said recently, but only the CX600, not the lesser models, is expected to be offered with the NAS product, sou- rces said.
The CX600 will be available as an OEM product through Arrow Electronics Inc., Avnet Inc., Dell Computer Corp., Fujitsu Technology Solutions Inc., Fujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH and Unisys Corp. The product will run Clariion add-on software and much of the software from the Symmetrix line, including PowerPath, ControlCenter/ Open Edition, StorageScope, ESN Manager and WideSky. Replication and data migration tools will come later this year, sources said.
EMC officials in Hopkinton, Mass., would not comment on unannounced products.
When told of the upcoming enhancements, however, Chuck Musciano, vice president and CIO of American Kennel Club Inc., was im- pressed.
“The incremental improvements to the architecture at least make sense on first blush,” said Musciano, whose Raleigh, N.C., club stores 8 tera- bytes of data on Clariion systems. “To have those [Symmetrix] tools available for the Clariion environment is definitely a good solution.”
Later this year, sources said, EMC will announce the CX400, a 3U (5.25-inch) form factor with two processors, 15 drives, up to 60 disks, and direct-attached or SAN connections, amounting to 180 disks per cabinet. Early next year, EMC will release the CX200, which will have 30 disks and wont support EMCs array-based software, sources said.