EMC gets enterprising with San solutions

Symmetrix and Connectrix lines take a bite out of storage management costs.

EMC claims it can slash storage costs by 40 per cent with the launch of its version of storage area network (San) technology.

The storage giant launched its fibre switch and management software offerings as part of its enterprise storage network (ENS) solution.

Mike Reuttgers, president and CEO of EMC, claimed the range would decrease the manpower needed to manage storage. He said: "Management costs are 55 per cent of total storage costs. Those costs can now be reduced to 15 per cent of the total bill."

EMC has released a Connectrix management software suite, which it says will simplify storage networks through high-level views of multiple Connectrix boxes and detailed management of the Connectrix Enterprise Directors. The company also released Symmetrix embedded software - which supports network switching and non-disruptive migration from existing SCSI connections to Fibre Channel - and a new version of its PowerPath and InfoMover software.

The Connectrix ENS is a Fibre Channel switch that connects up to 64 switched Fibre Channel ports between EMC storage systems and distributed servers.

EMC also unveiled a range of Symmetrix storage systems. The Symmetrix 3930 and 5930 can hold up to 9TB - the equivalent of 2.25 billion pages of text - in a single system, and are suitable for supporting data warehouse applications.

But Claus Egge, analyst at the International Data Corporation, argued that the release doesn't fulfil the San vision: "It's just a first step in the right direction. You won't find Fibre Channel networks with multiple vendors yet.

"Everybody's definition of the San is different," he added. "But the ultimate San will have multiple vendor switches and storage. Users want to be able to decide what data goes where. It shouldn't matter to them which brands they use."