Storagebod blog It may come as a surprise to some people, especially reading this, but I quite like the Symmetrix (VMAX) as a platform. Sure, it's a bit long in the tooth - in marketing speak, "a mature platform". It's also a bit arcane at times - Symmetrix administrators sometimes speak a different language and use acronyms when a simple word might do. But it’s rock solid.

Unfortunately it appears to have been a bit of a cash cow for EMC. This means that many resent it and like to hold it up as an example of all that is wrong with EMC. I certainly have done in the past.

This is why it might end up being the most undersold and underrated product in "enterprise storage". Yet it could be so much more.

I think that there is a huge market for it in the data centres of the future - more so than EMC’s other "legacy" array in VNX. For many years, I thought that EMC should drop the Symmetrix and build up the Clariion (VNX) but I see now that I was wrong: EMC needs to drop the Clariion and shrink down the Symmetrix. It needs to produce a lower-end Symmetrix which can scale-out block much in the way that Isilon can scale-out file. Actually a smaller Isilon would be a good idea too - a three-node cluster that could fit into three or four U, presenting 20-40 terabytes.

In fact, for those customers who want it, perhaps a true VNX replacement using the Virtual Versions of the Symmetrix and Isilon might be the way to go ... although only if there is a seamless way to scale out.

I guess this will never happen apart from in the labs of the mad hackers because EMC appears to have a different plan which includes premium pricing for the Symmetrix ... which is a pity really. ®

Related stories

• ROBOT COW teaches Saudi kids where milk comes from (12 June 2013)

  https://www.theregister.com/2013/06/12/robocow_teaches_saudi_kids_where_milk_comes_from/

• Diagnostics tools ARE useful, but more for the vendor than me (23 April 2013)

  https://www.theregister.com/2013/04/23/free_insight_here/

• Corporate IT bod? Show 'em what it costs and management WILL pay (20 March 2013)

  https://www.theregister.com/2013/03/20/service_power/

• Old-man EMC stirs from slumber, finds a pile 'o gold under its feet (30 January 2013)

  https://www.theregister.com/2013/01/30/emc_results_fy2012/

• EMC polishes up entry-level VMAX for biz types (16 January 2013)

  https://www.theregister.com/2013/01/16/enhanced_vmax10k/

• EMC: 'Nope', XtremIO won't link to back-end arrays (7 December 2012)

  https://www.theregister.com/2012/12/07/emc_xtremio/

• Top dog EMC: Clear off, hybrid upstarts, VNX2 is a million-IOPS monster (30 October 2012)

  https://www.theregister.com/2012/10/30/emc_vnx2/