EMC box called NetApp killerNet-attached storage system to debut this week.
By DENI CONNOR
Network World, 12/04/00
nwfusion.com
HOPKINTON, MASS. - EMC this week will try to shake up the network-attached storage market with a fault-tolerant device aimed at customers flocking to high-flying Network Appliance for its fast, relatively inexpensive storage appliances.
The EMC ip4700, code-named Chameleon, is a 3.6-terabyte NAS box for enterprise and service provider networks that some observers say could be a Network Appliance killer. Like the 4.5-terabyte NetApp F840 appliance and two-node F840 cluster, EMC's product will likely be used for file and print services, possibly replacing NetWare or Windows NT servers.
Network Appliance, which pulls in less than one-tenth the annual revenue of EMC, accounts for nearly half of all NAS sales vs. EMC's 29% market share, according to preliminary figures from market research firm IDC. But Enterprise Storage Group, another market watcher, estimates EMC will match Network Appliance in units shipped in 12 months thanks in large part to the ip4700 hitting the market.
"EMC has a big winner with this box," says Robert Gray, an analyst with IDC. "Where EMC is playing, they are coming in at NetApps' high end. EMC has 10 people in the field for every one that Network Appliance has - that virtually guarantees success for [EMC]."
The ip4700 performs the same as the NetApp F840, sources say. And there's every chance that EMC will undercut Network Appliance on price to gain market share. "EMC is not going to come in and lose business on price," Gray says.
The NetApp F840 moves data at about 1G bit/sec and can perform more than 25,000 operations per second. It starts at $120,000. The F840c, which is a two-node cluster with one-half terabyte of disk space, costs $319,000.
"The ip4700 is a killer box because it has the capability of a two-node NetApps cluster," says Steve Duplessie, an analyst with Enterprise Storage Group.
"The difference is that the ip4700 is tightly integrated and costs half what the NetApp cluster does. Network Appliance should be running scared - EMC finally has a product that can do battle with them," he adds.
About 100 EMC customers beta tested the ip4700 and those Network World spoke to liked what they saw.
"We have looked at the ip4700 as a replacement for our NetWare and Windows NT file and print services," says Gary Fox, a vice president at Union Bank in Charlotte, N.C. "Before we move to NAS, however, our IT staff wants to validate the security of the devices [running the Microsoft Common Internet File System] to make sure that access to files and directories can be defined exclusively by the user. Once we've done that, it's possible that we will put one in."
Union Bank already supports database traffic on a Fibre Channel-based storage-area network (SAN) consisting of McData switches, EMC Symmetrix arrays and Unix hosts.
The ip4700 draws on Clariion NAS technology obtained through the acquisition of Data General last year and an embedded operating system obtained via EMC's recent buyout of CrosStor.
The ip4700 has dual processors and controllers that can step in for the other in the event of a failure. One processor contains the CrosStor operating system for file sharing; the other has RAID 5 capability and handles traditional block data processing. The ip4700 has redundant power supplies and fans.
Unlike the NetApp F840, the ip4700 does not support HTTP or the Direct Access File System (DAFS) standard. DAFS is a successor to Unix's Network File System, which bypasses the operating system and increases data transfer speed by writing directly into the memory of an application. The ip4700 supports SNAPview/IP, EMC's snapshot back-up software, and will support remote data replication in the future. The ip4700 also supports the Network Data Management Protocol, a data back-up standard for removing traffic from the network.
EMC's sales of the ip4700 have little, if any, chance of cannibalizing sales of its high-end Celerra NAS or Symmetrix storage array, says Dave Hill, an analyst with Aberdeen Group. Those existing products are generally used by large companies for different applications, such as databases and data warehouses.
"EMC's entry into the midrange gives the company an opportunity in a new market," Hill says. "The effect is that EMC will be a formidable competitor and give NetApps a good contest."
The midrange market is part of EMC's vision of NAS/SAN convergence, says Chuck Hollis, a product marketing executive with EMC. "Guys that put in high-end Celerra or Symmetrix devices want to consolidate data into a single enterprise environment. For every one of those businesses, there are ones that either can't or don't want to [consolidate storage] - they want to manage that data with NAS devices, which may be scattered around their networks in smaller chunks."
Network Appliance officials are claiming to be unfazed by the new EMC offering.
"From a product point of view, we compete head-on with the Symmetrix," EMC's top-of-the-line enterprise storage system, says Thomas Mendoza, president of Network Appliance. "We win at least 60% of our bids against Symmetrix. A year ago, EMC said the Celerra was going to be its big NAS play. It did nothing to us."
"EMC is coming out with a product based on a Data General Clariion with a CrosStor file system," Mendoza says. "If EMC's name was not on this product, it [wouldn't have a chance]."
EMC's ip4700 contains a 10/100/1000M bit/sec Ethernet interface and supports up to 100 drives. Initially, 3.6-terabyte appliances will ship, but the EMC boxes will include drives with double the capacity down the road. EMC will add a Fibre Channel interface in the future.
The NetApp F840, using the Data OnTap 6.0 operating system, has a 10/100/1000M bit/sec Ethernet interface to the LAN and a Fibre Channel interface to the SAN.
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DS, I don't know if you cuaght this post on DAFS awhile back, some stuff right up your alley.
Some Q & A on DAFS
Message 14812443
regards,
denis |
