In this post we will cover some important aspects / […]

Here is some information on Cache Only Virtual Devices. I do not have a very clear picture on the overall operation of this device type, but from a high level it can be summed up as following based on it characteristics.

With the release of EMC Symmetrix V-Max systems, EMC introduced higher density EFD’s (Enterprise Flash Disks) than being supported on its predecessor, the EMC Symmetrix DMX-4.

EMC Symmetrix V-Max systems were introduced back in the month of April 2009. With this new generation of Symmetrix came a new name V-Max and a new Enginuity family of microcode 5874.

In this blog post we will discuss the supported drive models for EMC Symmetrix DMX-4. Right before the release of Symmetrix V-Max systems, in early Feb 2009 we saw some added support for EFD’s (Enterprise Flash Disk) on the Symmetrix DMX-4 platform. The additions were denser 200GB and 400GB EFD’s.

In this blog post we will cover the Vaulting technology related to the EMC Symmetrix V-Max and the DMX-4 technology. Vaulting is a key feature added on DMX-3 series of machines, which was further extended into the DMX-4’s and now the Symmetrix V-Max Systems. With power outages or major power fluctuations or other critical environmental conditions (temperature, water, fire and environmental hazards) in data centers, the vaulting technology saves all the data during the shutdown of the machine offering additional safety features with the customer’s data in transit (channels, cache – memory, etc).

EMC has been a pioneer it its Flash Drive (EFD) Technology. With the V-Max Systems EMC has taken another leap in the Flash Drive technology to support larger and denser drives. Typically with EMC Symmetrix V-Max systems you will see support for 73GB, 146GB, 200GB and 400GB EFD’s.

The Symmetrix Management Console is a very important step towards allowing customers take control of their Symmetrix V-Max Systems. With the new Symmetrix V-Max comes a new version of Symmetrix Management Console allowing customers to manage their EMC Symmetrix V-Max Systems through a GUI web browser interface with tons of new added features and wizards for usability.

The end result
Continuing the blog posts on Storage Resource Analysis (SRA), this will be the final series post. This post focuses on the end result of running an analysis in our Storage environment.

The Business Case

Continuing the blog posts on Storage Resource Analysis (SRA), this post focuses on the business challenges on why analysis of our storage platforms is important and how it might help us discover inconsistencies in storage environments eventually saving millions in CapEx and OpEx.