Ref:Dell-Storage Products.
Rude:
Here is one reason. (Sure CPQ may be the leader in PC,Servers and Storage Products and what not but is that saying much? CPQ's stock also was a high flyer once, so?).
DELL's Storage Products are based on DG Calriion technology sure and their PC is an IBM clone,the Processor is from Intel,O/S from MS,monitor from probably Sony etc etc,well you know the story better than I do,so I just leave it at that.<gggg>
(Oh BTW: Pru also has a 'strong buy' on CPQ.)
DELL ENTERS NEW MARKET WITH INTRODUCTION
OF ENTERPRISE STORAGE PRODUCTS
New Storage Systems Underscore Dell's Expansion Into The Enterprise
and Drive High-End Features Into Mainstream Computing Market
ROUND ROCK, Texas, June 30, 1998 -- Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq: DELL) today marked its entrance into the enterprise storage market with the announcement of its new storage product line which is designed to drive high-end computing features into standard computing environments.
Dell will introduce all storage products under its new PowerVault™ brand. Within the PowerVault family, Dell will offer a range of products for differing customer needs, including SCSI-based storage subsystems, tape backup systems, storage management software and enterprise-level, scalable disk subsystems. With initial customer shipments beginning next month, Dell today provided details of the new Dell PowerVault 650F product, which will be the highest performing system in the line and is based on Data General's proven CLARiiON® Fibre Channel RAID technology.
"Dell is launching the PowerVault storage line with the same intensity and customer-focus we gave our server business when we entered the market 20 months ago," said Mike Lambert, senior vice president of Dell's Enterprise Systems Group. "We expect to grow quickly and achieve in the storage market what we have done in the server market -- leverage our direct business model to bring superior value to customers by providing them with high-end technology at great prices."
By leveraging its direct-to-customer business model and expertise in rapidly bringing systems to market, Dell expects to deliver industry-leading performance, availability and manageability, at an outstanding value to its enterprise customers. Since entering the PC server market, Dell has quickly captured the No. 4 market share ranking worldwide.
The Dell PowerVault 650F
The Dell PowerVault 650F is designed to support high-end Microsoft Windows NT and Novell NetWare server environments with the rich storage features typically found only in higher-end UNIX environments. Customers will use the storage system to meet their data center storage requirements for applications including Internet/intranet, database, messaging and enterprise storage consolidation.
The PowerVault 650F uses Fibre Channel technology throughout the system and is designed for superior performance, added levels of redundancy, and flexibility in how systems are configured. Prices for the PowerVault 650F will begin at $15,000 and range to more than $100,000 for a fully configured storage system. General availability of the new system is expected in September.
International Data Corp. (IDC) research estimates that the Microsoft® Windows NT portion of the Fibre Channel disk storage subsystem market will grow from $310 million in 1998 to $3.2 billion by the year 2001 and that Fibre Channel-based storage solutions will surpass 50 percent of the external open systems disk storage market by 2000.
The rack-mountable PowerVault 650F is designed with many high availability features to minimize a customer's risk of critical data loss. It will be available with dual-ported Fibre Channel disk drives and other redundant components to help eliminate any single point of failure, including redundant RAID controllers, power supplies, power cords and fans. The system will also support fail-over software capabilities for Windows NT-based servers.
A single PowerVault 650F system can be configured with up to 120 Fibre Channel disk drives with a total storage capacity of over two terabytes of data. A single Dell server can access up to three PowerVault 650F systems for a total of over six terabytes of storage on one server, which enables customers to incrementally increase storage capacity as requirements grow.
While most competitors' external server-attached storage products provide Fibre Channel connections from the server to storage subsystem, SCSI technology is still used to connect the internal disk drives. The Dell PowerVault 650F differs from this by supporting the Fibre Channel standard throughout the system which improves overall system performance, availability and configuration flexibility.
Storage Management and Dell OpenManage™
Dell PowerVault products will be offered with storage management software tools for installation, configuration and monitoring, and integrate seamlessly within the Dell OpenManage systems management strategy. There are ten software modules in the suite of storage management products, including tools that enable a customer to remotely manage all worldwide storage systems from a single console.
Dell OpenManage is a cross-product-line, standards-based systems management strategy that gives enterprise customers systems management choices. OpenManage also helps customers gain more control over their computer systems and reduce the total cost of owning them. Dell OpenManage™ Connections enable enhanced management of Dell systems by the leading enterprise management frameworks. These software connections are available for HP OpenView, Tivoli TME 10, and are being developed for CA Unicenter TNG. Service and Support
Dell will offer service and support for its storage products through it's alliances with UNISYS Corporation, Wang Global, and Data General's CLARiiON division. By integrating these world-class service companies into its direct business model, Dell offers its global customers a single point of contact and accountability for tailored service offerings, high-quality delivery and systems management. Dell customers have access to a worldwide force of more than 25,000 highly trained engineers, technicians, analysts and consultants.
Support services for Dell PowerVault products will range from break/fix capabilities to full system integration and consulting services, including custom on-site configuration and storage planning consulting. |
