blog.virtualtacit.com

I don’t know about you, but I cant speak enough about the fourth generation CX. EMC engineering has really out down themselves by producing a super sexy, ultra-flexible, power efficient juggernaut.  Code named, Fleet, the CX4 brings some major design changes as noted here. Architecturally, UltraFlex is the spits, the driving factor for customer investment protection….

Why? See below–

By separating the processing portion of the SP’s from the I/O connectivity portion, throw in a pinch of software intelligence along with hot-pluggable, non-disruptive I/O modules and you have the makings of a pay-as-grow highly scalable SAN, second to none. No more special “C” units (CX3-20C), notably in this line all base configs will have FC and iSCSI ports, that’s right they’re all combo units. And with the advent of 8Gb FC and 10Gb iSCSI as well as FCoE, you can be assured that this line will accommodate future technologies without a forklift upgrade.

Also new to this line is Flare Code 28, the first 64-bit OS for the CX. Here are some of the new features specific to Flare that weren’t mentioned previously..

• Improved cache management-The improved cache management feature allows non-mirrored single storage processor write cache operations to continue when the peer storage processor is unavailable. In addition write cache operation is retained during power supply failures, fan failures and non-disruptive upgrades (NDU).
• IPv6 management ports (yeah I know who cares)-You can configure the management ports to run IPv4 or IPv6 using Navisphere Manager.
• 1 TB SATA II drives in first enclosure for CX4-120-The 1 TB SATA II drives are supported for the first five drives in the first enclosure for the CX4-120. The CX4-120 is the only CX4 that supports the 1 TB SATA II drives for the first five drives in the first enclosure; the other platforms require Fibre Channel drives. The 1 TB SATA II drives are supported as general purpose drives on all platforms.
• RecoverPoint-The splitter component of RecoverPoint allows you to use RecoverPoint when no server-resident splitter is available for an attached server.

What? you don’t believe me well here is what others are saying..

Straight from Sakac’s mouth are a number of valid points on “VMware’s  IO centric Strategy” and how the CX4 is a catalyst for this proliferation, http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2008/08/our-vmware-cent.html.

Mark Twomey over at Storagezilla has done a great job of covering the in’s and out’s of the new line and what key features present this line as a formidable force to be reckoned with, http://storagezilla.typepad.com/storagezilla/2008/08/cx4-ultraflex.html.

And last but not least, virtualization.info has briefly touched on the introduction of this CLARiiON to market (although mostly phrasing from Sakac’s site) http://www.virtualization.info/2008/08/emc-introduces-massive-vmware-support.html.

The point here is, competitively, EMC has now positioned itself with the CX4 as a trendsetter against the likes of IBM’s DS4000 series, HP’s SW EVA and NetApp’s FAS series. For these arrays to rival they must have I/O modularity, FC and iSCSI natively (Note:NetAPP does offer in FAS series but not natively-WAFL- therefore performance suffers), and above and beyond integration with VMware. So if you are questioning which array is right for you make sure you patter these questions against your array of choice and see where current feature sets add up:

• Do you have VMware in your environment if so is my array “virtualization friendly”?
• What is your current DR solution and how does your storage vendor create opportunities for improvement in this arena?
• What specific application level requirements do you require, can your array spell QOS?

The average run of the mill midrange array it isn’t…agreed?

Well this will be the fourth VMworld for me and every year it becomes bigger, better and more exciting. It’s truly amazing the attention this conference gets and rightfully so. Not only do you get access to some of the brightest minds in the business but it allows you to network with your peers and explore the endless possibilities of virtualization through numerous breakout sessions, labs and the vendor laden solutions exchange. And not to mention you get to hob knob around Vegas like you own the place. Any who, here is a list of sessions I frantically signed up for as I thought they would go as quick as a dropped Jonas Brothers ticket in a Junior High cafeteria. Subject to change, but a good start none the less…if I didn’t mention it earlier you better hurry….

Monday

10:30 AM-11:15 AM PDS5002

Turning Virtual Disaster Recovery into Real Opportunity - Leveraging VMware Infrastructure and Site Recovery Manager for DR Solutions

1:30 PM-2:15 PM PDT5506

Technical Introduction to VMware Site Recovery Manager

3:30 PM-4:15 PM PDT5503

Sneak Peak Into Future Virtual Infrastructure Products / Releases

4:30 PM-5:15 PM PDT5504

Desktop and Application Virtualization Through the Implementation of ThinApp and VDI

5:30 PM-7:30 PM (Conference Event)

SE Reception-Solutions Exchange Welcome Reception

Tuesday

6:30 AM-8:00 AM (Conference Event) Breakfast

8:00 AM-9:15 AM (Conference Event) General Session

9:30 AM-11:30 AM Lab03

VMware® Site Recovery Manager - Installing, Configuring and Troubleshooting

11:30 AM-12:30 PM VD2566

VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Performance and Best Practices

1:00 PM-2:00 PM TA2668

VMware ESX Architectural Directions

2:30 PM-3:30 PM BC1693

Architecting DR Solutions with VMware Site Recovery Manager

4:00 PM-5:00 PM BOF125

Designing and Deploying an Enterprise Desktop Solution

Wednesday

6:30 AM-8:00 AM (Conference Event) Breakfast

8:00 AM-9:15 AM (Conference Event) GS General Session

9:30 AM-10:30 AM AD2530

An Introduction to VMO: the VMware Automation and Orchestration Tool

11:00 AM-12:00 PM KN EMC

Designing the Next-Generation Datacenter

1:00 PM-2:00 PM AD3345

Size, Manage and Automate VMware Infrastructure Based on Business Policies with B-hive Conductor

2:30 PM-3:30 PM VD2505

Server and Storage Sizing Best Practices for VMware VDI

3:30 PM-5:30 PM Lab A

VMware® Datacenter Tech Preview

6:30 PM-7:00 PM VMP Venetian

VMworld Party Transportation Information - Venetian Hotel

7:00 PM-11:00 PM (Conference Event) VMParty  VMworld2008 Party

Thursday

7:30 AM-9:00 AM (Conference Event) Breakfast

9:00 AM-10:00 AM VD2603

Planning and Designing a ThinApp Implementation

10:30 AM-11:30 AM VD3261

VDI versus Terminal Services

12:30 PM-1:30 PM TA2550

ESX Server Best Practices for Performance

2:00 PM-3:00 PM AD3801

Microsoft’s Virtualization Strategy: Physical and Virtual From the Data Center to the Desktop

4:00 PM-5:00 PM BC2536

Enterprise Storage Replication Technologies Applied to VMware

The Clariion line has long been my bread and butter when it comes to midrange storage arrays. In this market, there is no better in my opinion, so its not surprising that EMC has continued the line into its most innovative generative release.

To begin, lets rundown the marketing dribble as to what each model has to offer from a physical and software perspective. Note–Glad there is special attention this time around to designate the last three numbers of the model name as the max supported drives, long over due.

CX4-120

• Scalable up to 120 drives
• Maximum 6G of R/W cache
• 4 Fiber/4 iSCSI
• Maximum 16 FE FC and iSCSI

CX4-240

• Scalable up to, you guessed it, 240 drives
• Maximum 8G of R/W cache
• 4 Fiber/4 iSCSI
• Maximum 20 FE FC and/or iSCSI

CX4-480

• Scalable up to 480 drives (This was the max drive account in the CX3-80)
• Maximum 16G of R/W cache
• 8 Fiber/4 iSCSI
• Maximum 24 FE FC and/or iSCSI
• Flash drives..giddy up

CX4-960 (This is where the lines begin to blur between midrange and high-end arrays)

• Scalable up to 960 drives
• Maximum 32G of R/W cache
• 8 Fiber/4 iSCSI
• Maximum 32 FE FC and/or iSCSI
• Flash drives

Here are some the points that are new to this release…

• Virtual Provisioning, pooled storage
• Flash Drives - Up to 30 times IOPS than traditional FC drives, less 1 ms response time–sick I tell you sick
• Drive Spin Down-Sleep mode for inactive drives, sweet spot for B2D disks, test and development, etc.
• Integrated Recoverpoint Splitter-This in itself is game changing, moving the I/O splitter from the host or FC-SW is huge for the adoption of this technology and more explicitly VMware’s Site Recovery Manager.
• UltraFlex Technology-Online hot pluggable I/O modules
• 64-Bit Flare, Multi-Core Processers and up to 32G of Cache

EMC has done alot to bring “Green Storage” to light, with the introduction of Drive Spin Down, Adaptive Cooling and LP SATA drives. There has also been a merging of sorts of functionality used in the Celerra line to the CX line, such as Virtual Provisioning. The ability to pool storage and expand capacity nondisruptively.

As you can see the CX4 has brought significant changes to the Clariion product line, more than I can ever cover in a single post. So expect more on this topic in the future.