Have you seen IDC’s recent “Worldwide All Flash and Hybrid Flash Array Market: 1h2014 Vendor Shares and Market Outlook?
It shows EMC as the leader in several categories, including:
- 1H2014 Worldwide Hybrid Flash Array Revenue by Vendor
- Raw SSD Capacity Shipments by Vendor.
- 1H2014 Worldwide All Flash Array Revenue by Vendor
A recent Pulse blog gets into the numbers a bit closer if you are so inclined (link to pulse blog), but for us it’s about more than just numbers, it’s about choice.
EMC: Flash Choice without Compromises
We can all agree that Flash technology is truly a game-changer and we hear a lot about it from newer start-up companies and their technology. Company X has a new object-store for this, Company Y has a new algorithm for this, and Company Z has a new RAID scheme. It provides a lot to write about and we’re definitely watching some trends emerge… But all this tech buzz isn’t focused on helping real users solve real problems.
Here’s what the startups don’t tell you: A single approach to flash does not solve every problem. The true problem solvers out there are the CIO’s, IT pro’s, and end-users who have the in-depth understanding of their workloads, their requirements, and their budget. They determine where primary and secondary data will live and how it gets protected and how the entire lifecycle should work. And they have to do this within a specific budget.
EMC gets this. Like a car company offers a sports car, an SUV, a hybrid, and a minivan, there are certain workloads that are better handled by certain types of storage.
When it comes to Flash, we believe we have something for everyone from All Flash Arrays to hybrid arrays to server SAN. We put it all on a nice “flashy” page for everyone to see (http://www.emc.com/storage/flash/index.htm).
The ultra-high-performance XtremIO all flash array with Always On data reduction services is truly the best architecture for all-flash arrays out there – and customers are voting with us.
Our family of hybrid arrays target a larger market size – these all-purpose systems can be configured as all flash arrays or utilize FAST technology to move colder data down to disk.
Did you know that over 70% of all of our hybrid systems shipped include some flash?
Yes, it’s true. Out of that 70%, they are most often sold with 5-25% flash – even though they can be dialed up to 100% flash (see VNX-F). When you replace the legacy-style of building an array (all 15K performance disk) with a flash optimized strategy (5-25% flash and the rest disk), you keep acquisition costs low while lowering your operational costs with FAST automation and reducing your footprint substantially. Example: Moving from 220 15K drives to 80 drives (mix of SSD and HDD), results in 3X better performance, and a reduction of 3X in the rack space required for the solution. Adding flash makes a lot of sense if you are an existing customer with a pre-existing investment in EMC VNX or VMAX storage. Our Flash Power Packs are a way to add Flash without breaking the bank.
Let’s take a closer look at the hybrids.
The ultra-flexible VNX series is also adept as balancing mixed workloads across a wide swath of virtual or physical environments – file and block. As companies invest in flash, they realize that some workloads don’t dedupe well and a lot of data they are storing is cold. For these environments, a hybrid storage solution incorporating some amount of disk is a sensible choice.
We also have the ultra-reliable VMAX systems which are designed for mission-critical performance, availability, and business continuity. Back to the car analogy for a moment, our customers here care about the speed of the car, but also want to be sure it doesn’t break down on the highway. When it does get a flat tire, it can automatically keep on running, and if there is an accident on the road, it can immediately take another route.
Did you know that 9 of the top 10 of life insurance companies are running VMAX?
Did you know that 18 of the top 20 banks are running VMAX?
The game-changer for VMAX3 is that we added a simple, service-level (Gold-Silver-Bronze) management interface to obscure much of the complexity happening behind the scenes. People don’t believe how simple it is to manage a VMAX today. And we can also prevent a zombie apocalypse.
Whether you decide to go All Flash or hybrid, we believe in offering Choice without Compromise.
