EMC launches new virtual storage architecture

EMC is moving into virtualised storage with a new virtual matrix architecture and high-end storage array.

The EMC Virtual Matrix Architecture is designed to support virtual data centres. EMC is claiming its first product based on the architecture, the Symmetrix V-Max Storage System, is the world's fastest high-end array.

Featuring quad-core Intel Xeon processors for lower power costs, the Symmetrix V-Max system offers up to one terabyte of global memory and can scale to 2,400 drives offering a maximum capacity of two petabytes. It supports fibre channel, Ethernet or iSCSI connectivity, and is already being used in 30 companies, EMC claimed.

Using virtualised storage allows companies to scale without adding complexity. "You can start where ever you're going to start, and grow without limits as business requires growth without adding complexity," EMC's senior director for high-end storage, Bob Wambach told IT PRO[/a], claiming the automation and management offered by the new EMC systems eliminate 90 to 95 per cent of the time people spend provisioning storage.

Indeed, as more companies virtualise their servers, it's becoming crucial to do the same with storage, he said, but administrators want a "single pane of glass" to manage their entire infrastructures. Because of that, EMC has built APIs into its products that allow them to be managed from VMware's vSphere data centre operating system, which is set for release soon. "We will have products that directly tie into their compatibility," Wambach said.

Alongside the virtualisation announcement, EMC launched Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST), a new system to automate the movement of data across different types of storage based on policies and predictive models. EMC said such automation could drive the takeup of flash in enterprises. FAST will be available by the fourth quarter of this year, Wambach said.