Highlights
EMC Corporation has announced ATA disk drive support for its Clariion series of distributed disk arrays. EMC has integrated lower-cost ATA disk assemblies into the existing Clariion architecture. The Clariion subsystems can intermix fibre channel DAEs (Disk Array Enclosures) with ATA-based DAEs. All Clariion functionality, redundancy and availability are retained with the ATA-based arrays.
Additionally, EMC has integrated Clariion with ATA with its own backup and restore application, EMC Data Manager (EDM), and tested and support leading backup vendor applications. EMC Clariion with ATA partners and solutions include CommVault Galaxy, Computer Associates (CA) BrightStor ARCserve Backup and BrightStor Enterprise Backup, KVS Enterprise Vault, Legato NetWorker, EmailXtender as well as Veritas NetBackup and VERITAS Backup Exec.
Clariion with ATA subsystems are immediately available. Clariion CX600 and CX400 arrays immediately support 250GB 5,400 rpm ATA drives. List pricing for a 10-terabyte Clariion configuration starts at $170,000.
Clariion disk drive specifications
|
36GB FC |
73GB FC |
146GB FC |
250GB ATA |
| Rotational speed |
15,000 rpm |
10,000 rpm |
10,000 rpm |
5,400 rpm |
| Latency |
2 ms |
2.99 ms |
2.99 ms |
5.5 ms |
| Avg. seek (read) |
3.6 ms |
5.2 ms |
4.7 ms |
12 ms |
| Avg. seek (write) |
4.2 ms |
6.0 ms |
5.3 ms |
13 ms |
| Transfer rate (int.) |
51-69 MB/s |
26.7-40.2 MB/s |
43-78 MB/s |
26-50 MB/s |
| 200 MB/s |
200 MB/s |
200 MB/s |
200 MB/s |
130 MB/s |
| Data buffer |
8 MB |
16 MB |
16 MB |
2 MB |
Concurrently with the Clariion ATA support, EMC announced new SAN software. SAN Copy is a Clariion-based LUN replication that moves LUNs/volumes between current and legacy EMC Clariion and Symmetrix storage subsystems.
SAN Copy is managed via ControlCenter Navisphere. It will support both local and remote distances (WAN with FC/IP). LUNs may be copied between Clariion CX and Clariion FC arrays, CLARiiON and Symmetrix (8000 and DMX) and HP StorageWorks and Clariion.(1) A Clariion subsystem acts as a "copy manager" and communicates via World Wide Names. The copy manager uses SnapView snapshot and/or SnapView BCV, TimeFinder BCV or an idle production LUN as its source.
SAN Copy is available immediately and starts at $18,000.
Evaluator Group comments:
The introduction of ATA technology into the Clariion family of arrays represents a major cost saving opportunity for many users. The integration of ATA drives into the existing architecture allows users to take advantage of the management applications that comprise EMC's AutoIS strategy. Clariion with ATA supports EMC Data Manager for high-performance backup-to-disk and recovery as well as EMC Replication Manager for automated recovery. SAN-based and server-less backup capabilities of EDM can be combined with Clariion-ATA for a cost-effective disk backup solution that surpasses tape in price/performance characteristics. The trend of using ATA technology to reduce storage costs continues with this announcement. We believe EMC has made a very smart move by integrating ATA-technology into the existing Clariion architecture.
1. The SAN Copy for Clariion and HP StorageWorks is a professional services only service. Currently it will support only the Series of HP arrays.
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