VMAX 40K+Vblock = ((Powerful, Trusted, Smart) ^ More) – Risk

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Chad Sakac and Chuck Hollis have done a fantastic job of introducing the world to the VMAX 40K in all it’s peerless splendor, but of course there’s one more question being asked:  when will we get to see this behemoth, along with the 5876 Enginuity code at the storage core of a Vblock?  (I swear that Chuck and I didn’t coordinate this…)  The answer to Chuck’s question is, almost immediately!  Thanks to the incredible amount of integration and engineering overlap VCE has with our parent companies and EMC in particular, we have been testing the new hardware and software for some time.

imageA brand new model in the Vblock 700-series line will be introduced with the Q3 Compatibility Matrix release that will give customers the option of choosing the new VMAX 40k.  VCE is also working on a concept of “modularity” with the 700-Series in order to give customers the option of choosing whichever Enterprise-class storage array they would like to sit at the storage core, including the VMAX 10K, VMAX 20K and VMAX 40K.

In addition to the core features supported by the new VMAX hardware, VCE will also be introducing a slew of new, tested, supported features for the Vblock 700 platform as well, including:

  • Unified Network Architecture (No more MDS FC Switches!)
  • Increased Blade Density
  • Disjoint Network Support
  • External File (CIFS/NFS) Support
  • External Host Storage Access
  • Flexible Uplink Configurations
  • VMware vSphere 5.0 Auto-Deploy Support

As we move through the Vblock Life Cycle process and close out on the final pieces of testing, field sales and support enablement and integration into the Compatibility Matrix, we’ll push the upgraded code and the new hardware into the existing Vblock 700-Series products as well.

imageSpecifically, Enginuity 5876 should be available in the Q2 Compatibility Matrix that will be available in early June for the existing Vblock 700 MX and LX lines.  This software offers a number of new features into existing VMAX and VMAXe arrays, including:

  • Federated Tiered Storage: the ability to use external, existing storage arrays as a FAST VP Tier
  • Unisphere for VMAX: new element manager provides a common look and feel when managing EMC storage
  • EMC RecoverPoint Integration: The ability to natively split I/O and support the same RecoverPoint designs that the Vblock 300 and Vblock 700LX have been able to.
  • SRDF for Vblock 700LX: Includes three-site functionality and expanded interoperability to other Vblock 700-Series platforms
  • EMC TimeFinder VP Snap: Give the entire Vblock 700-Series space-efficient snaps for Virtual Pool (VP) devices
  • New Drive Support: Support for 200GB EFD drives as well as 300GB and 600GB 10K SAS 2.5in drives in the Vblock 700LX

VCE couldn’t be more excited about our ability to support all the new goodness from the EMC side of the house.  Congratulations to everyone at EMC who is deservedly proud of getting this new platform out the door!