Data storage provider EMC, in an effort to save some face as soon as possible after a third-quarter financial report that wasnt well received, announced a set of new products Oct. 23 to try to change the subject.
Companies often wait until major trade shows to make new-product announcements. Storage Networking World, set for Oct. 31-Nov. 3 in Orlando, Fla., is one of the largest conferences in the data storage industry.
The Hopkinton, Mass., IT company rolled out upgrades or new products for the high-end and midtier storage, intellectual property protection, and disk library markets. It introduced new versions of its high-end Symmetrix DMX-3 system, midtier CLARiiON CX3 UltraScale series system, Disk Library virtual tape library system and Celerra NS series IP system, which serve as the foundations of an ILM (information lifecycle management) infrastructure.
“This might be the most prolific product refreshment in our history,” EMC marketing executive Barbara Robideaux told eWEEK. “Literally everything we do in storage is new, refreshed or next-generation.”
New products announced include:
- The Symmetrix DMX-3 model 950, a new entry point into high-end storage aimed at small and midsize businesses, delivers up to 70 percent better power efficiency than alternatives by packing more capacity, performance and functionality into a compact package, an EMC spokesperson said. The DMX-3 950 system features full DMX-3 capabilities. It is aimed at increasingly space- and power-constrained data centers and as a key element of a business continuity strategy using EMC SRDF/S (Symmetrix Remote Data Facility/synchronous) and SRDF/A (asynchronous) software.
- A combined Fibre Channel/iSCSI feature of the new end-to-end 4G bps CLARiiON CX3 UltraScale series systems, providing advanced functionality and up to 49 percent more iSCSI performance and 74 percent more Fibre Channel performance in combined environments than alternative systems, according to EMC.
In addition, new EMC Navisphere Quality of Service Manager software enables users to allocate CLARiiON resources to meet application service levels, and new Navisphere enhancements make it easier to configure the array using a wizard-based management tool to reduce the number of common configuration steps by up to 70 percent.
- The third generation of the EMC Disk Library uses the CLARiiON CX3 UltraScale series systems to double the performance of previous EMC Disk Library models. With 70 petabytes of capacity deployed in just over two years, the EMC Disk Library also supports more configurations and applications than any open VTL (virtual tape library) on the market, Robideaux said.
- New models of the market-leading Celerra NS series IP systems that use the leading performance of the CLARiiON CX3 UltraScale architecture and a comprehensive set of built-in features to deliver superior economic advantages over standard filers. The new Celerra NS40, NS40G (Gateway) and NS80 and NS80G systems use next-generation EMC blade server technology for improved performance, scalability and availability, Robideaux said.
“It is impressive that EMC is providing concurrent improvements to four of its major storage system product lines,” said Tony Asaro, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, based in Milford, Mass.
“End-user companies know that they can go to EMC for any type of storage system, whether it is enterprise-class, midrange, NAS or VTL. Not only do they provide these diverse storage solutions, but they are also leaders in all of these categories.”
EMC customer Molex, based in Downers Grove, Ill., is a leading producer of electronic connectors, with 58 manufacturing facilities in 19 countries. The company uses a combination of EMC Symmetrix DMX-3, CLARiiON and Celerra systems and software to store and manage information related to the more than 100,000 products it designs, manufactures and sells.
Molex also recently completed a beta evaluation of the new dual-protocol EMC CLARiiON CX3 UltraScale systems.
“Weve built an information infrastructure based on EMC storage systems and software,” said Tom Henson, Molex Americas Infrastructure Manager. “The performance, scalability and features of the Symmetrix DMX-3, CLARiiON and Celerra platforms … helps us consolidate data center information for improved management and lower costs.
“Furthermore, our beta experience with the new dual protocol CLARiiON CX3 systems was very positive. Its a solid system that offers the best of both worlds in one box.”
Pricing and availability
All of the new systems and enhancements are now available or will be available this quarter, Robideaux said. The new Symmetrix DMX-3 950 model is available immediately with a starting price of $250,000.
The CLARiiON CX3 UltraScale FC/iSCSI systems are available immediately, with new software to become available in December. Pricing information is available here.
The Celerra NS40 and the new NSX system are available immediately; the Celerra NS80 systems are due in November, Robideaux said. The new EMC Disk Library is also due in November.
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