EMC DMX vs. Centera

BROWSE BY TAG Storage Networking: SAN/NAS,   SAN management,   Storage Strategy,   SAN planning,   Storage Area Network FAQ,   Related information,   Outsourced storage and storage service providers,   SAN (storage area network),   VIEW ALL TAGS

RELATED CONTENT Storage Networking: SAN/NAS Upgrading operating systems for two fabrics Data centers and synchronous replication Network File Sharing vs. Common Internet File System Use of RAID with multiple drives How to add more channels to a network Achieving secure data storage for shared read/write I/O operation SAN server accommodation Offsite vs. onsite storage SATA on a Dell Dimension 4400 FCID on two separate fabrics SAN management Compellent Storage Center 5 adds portable volume option for replication Unilever maintains 5 PB Fibre Channel SAN storage performance with Virtual Instruments' NetWisdom Storage Decisions Chicago 2009 Session Downloads Storage Decisions Session Downloads: Managing Storage Networks Track (Chicago 2009) Storage-area networks to become increasingly object based Data storage management in virtual server environments 10 Gb Ethernet bodes well for iSCSI Mellanox builds bridge to consolidation Best storage Products of the Year 2008 Wide stripe before you dive into SSD SAN management Research Outsourced storage and storage service providers Panasas clustered NAS and Amazon S3 cloud data storage help e-Learning provider Cloud storage pricing: The cost of a hypothetical month of cloud data storage Cloud storage pricing revealed: Hidden costs include data migration and access fees Understanding cloud storage technology: Definitions, deployment and implementation challenges Cloud storage: Not everyone thinks the future is bright for clouds Internal private cloud storage makes its way into larger enterprises External cloud storage appeals to smaller firms, but large enterprises remain cautious Evolving cloud storage market has users weighing their enterprise data storage options Symantec offers subscription-priced Storage Foundation for Amazon cloud storage National Kidney Foundation cuts GroupWise storage with cloud storage email archiving

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary Fast Guide to Storage Technologies  (WhatIs.com) fat provisioning  (SearchStorage.com) oversubscription  (SearchStorage.com) RAID  (SearchStorage.com) storage area management  (SearchStorage.com) storage area network  (SearchStorage.com) thin provisioning  (SearchStorage.com) unified storage  (SearchStorage.com) virtual provisioning  (SearchStorage.com) zoned-bit recording  (SearchStorage.com)

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Greg Schulz Pose a Question Other Storage Categories Meet all Storage Experts Become an Expert for this site

ANSWERED December 2006:
Simply put, what are your storage requirements and application scenario? More specifically, how much storage do you need now and in the future, what level of performance is required as well as the level of availability and types of servers or applications that will be using the storage. Are you looking for online, primary storage or secondary or near-line storage for compliance, retention, archiving or other purposes? Comparing the EMC DMX with the EMC Centera is an apple to oranges comparison at best as both are focused on different usage scenarios and service capabilities.

The EMC DMX would be for primary storage where the Centera would be for compliance, fixed content, archiving and retention among other uses. A more apples to apples comparison would be to compare the EMC DMX with the Fujitsu Eternus, IBM DS8000 as well as Hitachi (HDS USP and HP XP) storage systems. Other alternatives for primary open systems storage include EMC CLARiiON and Celerra, IBM DS4000 (Engenio/LSI), Sun, HP, 3PAR, NetApp, LeftHand, EqualLogic and ONStor among others. If your needs are for archiving and data retention based storage, in addition to the EMC Centera other solutions include those from or based on Archivas (HDS), Bycast (HP MAS & IBM MAS), IBM DR5xx and Nexsan among others.

In terms of performance characteristics and related technical comparisons take a look at the various vendors' websites of the above mentioned solutions. There are some benchmark data posted on the storage performance council (http://www.storageperformance.org/home) website that may be of interest, however keep in mind that before you go comparing different solutions based upon speeds and feeds, take time to understand your storage and application requirements and then align the applicable technology to those needs.