MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE. The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays BUYER S GUIDE. By Jerome M Wendt

Transcription

1 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays By Jerome M Wendt DCIG, LLC 7511 Madison Street Omaha NE

2 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Table of Contents 1 Introduction 3 Executive Summary 4 How to Use this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide 5 Disclosures 5 Midrange Array Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria 6 The 8-Step Process Used to Score and Rank Midrange Arrays 7 DCIG Comments and Thoughts on 7 Midrange Array Performance and Pricing 8 Power and Space Efficiency 9 Reliability and Functionality 9 DCIG Observations and Recommendations Regarding Each Midrange Arrays Ranking 9 Recommended 10 Excellent 10 Good 10 Entry Level 12 Midrange Array Scores and Rankings 13 Midrange Array FC/iSCSI SAN 15 Midrange Array FC SAN 17 Midrange Array iscsi SAN 19 Midrange Array Hardware 21 Midrange Array Software 23 Midrange Array Models 24 3PAR InServ F PAR InServ F Celeros EzSANFiler XD34S 27 Celeros EzSANFiler XF34S 28 Celeros EzSANFiler XD46S 29 Celeros EzSANFiler XF46S 30 Celeros EzSANFiler XD49S 31 Celeros EzSANFiler XF49S 32 Celeros EzSANFiler XD Celeros EzSANFiler XF Celeros EzSANFiler XD Celeros EzSANFiler XF Compellent Storage Center Series Compellent Storage Center Series Dell EqualLogic PS4000E 39 Dell EqualLogic PS4000X 40 Dell EqualLogic PS4000XV 41 Dell EqualLogic PS6000E 42 Dell EqualLogic PS6000X 43 Dell EqualLogic PS6000XV 44 Dell EqualLogic PS6010E 45 Dell EqualLogic PS6010X 46 Dell EqualLogic PS6010XV 47 Dell EqualLogic PS6500E 48 Dell EqualLogic PS6500X 49 Dell EqualLogic PS6510E 50 Dot Hill Dot Hill Dot Hill Dot Hill EMC CLARiiON CX4 Model EMC CLARiiON CX4 Model EMC CLARiiON CX4 Model EMC CLARiiON CX4 Model Fujitsu ETERNUS 4000 DX Fujitsu ETERNUS 4000 DX HDS AMS HDS AMS HDS AMS HP EVA HP EVA HP EVA HP MSA2000i 67 HP P2000 G3 68 HP P IBM DS5020 Express 70 Infortrend ESVA E20 71 Infortrend ESVA F20 72 NEC D3 73 NEC D3i 74 NEC D4 75 NEC D8 76 NetApp FAS NetApp FAS NetApp FAS NetApp FAS NetApp FAS NetApp FAS Nexsan DataBeast 83 Nexsan iseries 400i 84 Nexsan SASBeast 85 Nexsan SATABeast 86 Oracle Sun StorageTek Oracle Sun StorageTek Oracle Sun StorageTek Oracle Sun StorageTek Oracle Sun StorageTek Overland Storage SnapServer SAN S Pillar Axiom Pillar Axiom RELDATA 9240i 95 Xiotech Emprise 7000 Appendix A-1 Definition of Terms Used in Buyer s Guide B-1 Storage Provider Contact Information C-1 Plans for Future Midrange Array Buyer s Guides C-1 Establishing a Base Line C-1 Variables that Will Need to Be Re-Weighted C-1 New Variables 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. i

3 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Introduction This Midrange Array Buyer s Guide represents the next generation of technology reports that I produced for many years when I wrote for Storage magazine (now part of SearchStorage.com). But it is also different in one major way: it reflects the behind the scenes evaluations that myself and many other engineers regularly did when I worked as a storage engineer for First Data Corporation. During the six years that I wrote for Storage magazine and the three (3) years since then that I have run and operated my own data storage focused analyst firm and website, I have contemplated how the technology reports that I used to write for Storage magazine could be made more thorough. Further, I wanted to leverage my experiences at First Data so the Buyer s Guide could alleviate one of the most time consuming components of the midrange array buying decision the information gathering and evaluation stage. In writing for both Storage magazine and now for DCIGinc.com, my intent was and is to inform users so they could make objective buying decisions on a specific technology. In this respect, the feedback that I receive from readers indicates that I have achieved a level of success. However the influence that I have on user buying decisions weighs on me, especially when I considered the breadth of some of the technologies that I attempt to authoritatively cover. Midrange arrays are a perfect example. When I started writing this Buyer s Guide, I identified nearly 30 providers of midrange arrays that offered over 130 different models that were considered for inclusion in this Buyer s Guide. Just coming up with that exhaustive list of storage providers and the models took some time. Then I still had to sort through each model s hardware and software features and differentiate between them. While the differences between individual models were in many cases slight, differences do exist between each and every midrange array. So if I or anyone attempted to write a 5 7 page technology report that attempted to provide users with any meaningful guidance at all in regards to purchasing a midrange array, it would be incomplete. Just by the brevity of the report it would fail to take into account many of the criteria that are important when trying to develop a short list of products to consider for inclusion when making such an important buying decision. So this is what the first DCIG Midrange Array Buyer s Guide does: It provides a much more comprehensive and in-depth look into as many midrange array models and their hardware and software features as possible. In preparing this Buyer s Guide, I looked at these midrange array models and their features in much the same way as I did while writing for Storage magazine and working as a storage engineer at First Data Corporation: Through the eyes of an end user. During my stint at First Data, the storage team would create extensive lists of evaluation criteria for midrange arrays that included each model s hardware and software features as well as the support offered by the storage provider DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 1

4 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Introduction continued Once these criteria were established, the team would go through and do a technical evaluation of each midrange array. At that time, we would try to clear up any ambiguities that existed (eg. a feature that was referred to by a different name by each storage provider), put heavier weightings on features that were more important to us and then score and rank each midrange array. Based upon these scores, First Data would then come up with 3 5 possible contenders for purchase and then submit that list to our procurement department to get competitive bids on each of those models. This Midrange Array Buyer s Guide does this heavy lifting for end users. This Buyer s Guide: Lists each individual midrange array models by storage provider Lists different midrange array features, whether or not they are supported and (where appropriate) how they are implemented Weights these features according to what end users consider most important Scores these features Ranks each midrange array model The end result is that this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide gives users the opportunity to do at-a-glance comparisons between many different midrange array models. Using these results, they can quickly come up with a short list of products that meet their specific needs and either go directly to a product evaluation stage with select midranges or even opt to get competitive bids on these products. te that this Buyer s Guide is not intended to be a substitute for bringing individual midrange arrays models in-house and testing them with specific applications. That function should still be done since every midrange array will perform differently under different application workloads. But it should help users get to that short list of products that they want to test much more quickly. I hope you find that this Buyer s Guide meets this intended purpose in your environment. Jerome 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 2

5 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Executive Summary According to IDC, revenue from external disk storage systems totaled over $18 billion in i Included in that total was storage of every possible type including enterprise, midrange and consumer storage arrays. But what that IDC number does not fully reflect is the growing impact that midrange arrays are having on organizations of all sizes and how much more money they are poised to spend on this particular category of external storage. The declining costs of storage capacity and network bandwidth coupled with their constantly improving performance are contributing to making external storage systems affordable and practical in all of these environments. However the introduction and rapid adoption of server virtualization is now making external storage almost a necessity in all size organizations. Among the types of external storage systems available, midrange arrays are the ones that are best positioned to benefit from this forthcoming wave of server virtualization. Today s midrange arrays are affordable, easy to deploy, reliable, and offer high levels of performance. The only problem is that there are so many storage providers and midrange array models from which to choose that there is no way to make an objective buying decision since no analyst report or buyer s guide has previously existed that could guide organizations through this maze to help them make a quick and informed buying decision. This DCIG Midrange Array Buyer s Guide changes that. Organizations for the first time now have at their fingertips a Buyer s Guide that provides them with a comprehensive list of midrange arrays that can assist them in this all-important buying decision while removing much of the mystery around how midrange arrays are configured and which ones are suitable for which purposes. This Midrange Array Buyer s Guide accomplishes the following objectives: Provides an objective, third party evaluation of midrange arrays that evaluates and scores their features from a user s viewpoint Includes recommendations on how to best use this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide Scores and ranks the features on each midrange array based upon the criteria that matter most to users so they can quickly know which midrange arrays are the most appropriate for them to use and under what conditions Provides data sheets for 72 midrange arrays from 21 different storage providers so users can do quick comparisons of the features that are supported and not supported on each midrange array Provides insight into which features on a midrange array will result in improved performance without needing to run timely and costly internal performance benchmarks Provides insight into which features on a midrange array will result in increased power and space efficiency so your costs stay down over time Gives any organization the ability to request competitive bids from different providers of midrange arrays while still having confidence that they are getting a midrange array that meets their application needs i IDC, Total Disk Storage Systems Turn a Corner, Posting First Year-over-Year Gain in More Than Four Quarters, According to IDC, March 5, 2010, Website referenced on April 29, DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 3

6 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays How to Use this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide In determining how to best use the information contained in this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide, it is important to note that it is intended to help users in their purchase of a midrange array. The purpose of this Buyer s Guide is NOT to tell users exactly which midrange array to purchase. Rather it is to help guide them in coming up with a list of competitive products that have comparable features that meet their specific needs. It is also important to note that just because a product scored the highest in a particular category or is ranked a certain way does not automatically mean it is the right product for their company. If anything, because of the scope of the midrange array models evaluated and analyzed, it may have features that are too robust for the needs of an individual department or organization. However what this Buyer s Guide does is give users some sense of how a midrange array compares to other storage arrays classified as Midrange Arrays as well as additional insight into what other product offerings are available on the market. DCIG recommends that you use this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide in the following seven ways: Eliminate the painstaking research associated with coming up with a short list of possible midrange arrays. This Buyer s Guide contains 21 storage providers with 72 different models. Each midrange array is scored and then ranked as Recommended, Excellent, Good and Entry Level based upon that score. On each midrange array, at least 60 different features were evaluated, weighted, scored and then ranked. All an individual has to do is look at the scores in order to come up with a short list of products for consideration. Do apples-to-apples comparisons of midrange arrays from different storage providers. In today s crowded storage market, companies are ill-advised to not get competitive bids from multiple storage providers. After all, when they compete, you win. But that tactic only works well when organizations know that they are receiving bids on products that are roughly comparable. Using this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide, organizations can accomplish that objective. Separate the apples from the oranges. Just as important as doing apples-to-apples comparisons is identifying when a storage provider throws an orange in the mix. Sometimes it is very difficult for an organization to know if it is truly getting a good deal when bids come in from multiple storage providers that include different models. w organizations can refer to the scores and rankings of each midrange array on this guide and know when a storage provider is giving it a good deal or just a so-so one. Provides perspective on how models from less well known storage providers compare against established and better known brands. Anyone involved with storage at all has probably at least heard of EMC, HP, and IBM and maybe NetApp and HDS. This creates a certain level of comfort when buying products from these companies and a certain built-in resistance to buying midrange arrays from companies that are perceived as unknown quantities. This Buyer s Guide helps to remove some of that apprehension about buying from a less well known provider since organizations can clearly see how these models from lesser known companies compare with those that are well known. rmalizes complex storage terminology. Every computing industry has a proclivity to adopt acronyms and jargon that is specific to it but the data storage industry seems to go out of its way to not only use unfamiliar terms but refer to the same technology in different ways. This Buyer s Guide sifts through the acronyms and storage jargons and terms and normalizes them and eliminates the need for users to try to understand all of the industry terminology. Creates a standardized data sheet. In researching this Buyer s Guide, every single data sheet for every single product was printed out and analyzed. tably, none of the product data sheets from the different storage providers were laid out in the same way or contained the same information. Some storage providers even had data sheet formats that varied from model to model within their own product portfolio. This Buyer s Guide tackles this problem by creating a standard, easy to read data sheet for every midrange array. In this way, product data sheets for individual products can be printed out, laid down side by side and then the features on them quickly compared DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 4

7 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Helps justify technical buying recommendations to business folks. thing is easier for those on the business side to understand than a number when doing comparisons. So at the top of every midrange array model data sheet, a product score is included so the business side of the house can quickly see why a particular recommendation was made. Disclosures For better or for worse, over the last few years the general trend in the US has been for both large and boutique analyst firms to receive some or all of their revenue from storage providers. DCIG is no different in that respect as it also receives payment for the different services it performs for storage providers. The services that DCIG provides include blogging, case studies, product reviews, executive white papers and full length white papers. So in the interest of being fully transparent, a number of the storage providers included in this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide are or have been DCIG clients. This is not to imply that they were given preferential treatment in the Buyer s Guide. All it meant was that DCIG had more knowledge of their midrange arrays and that DCIG would consider their midrange arrays for inclusion in this Buyer s Guide. In that vein, there are a number of important facts to keep in mind when considering the information contained in this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide and its merit. storage provider paid DCIG any fee to develop this Buyer s Guide. DCIG did not guarantee any storage provider that its midrange array(s) would be included in this Buyer s Guide. DCIG did not imply or guarantee that a specific midrange array model would receive a good score on this Buyer s Guide ahead of time. All research was based upon publicly available information, information provided by the storage provider and the expertise of those evaluating that report. Because of the number of features analyzed, how these features were weighted and then how these midrange array models were scored and then ranked, there was no way for DCIG to predict at the outset how individual midrange array models would end up scoring or ranking when all was said and done. These weightings and scores were designed so that only one product would have the highest score in each classification and only one product the lowest score. Because of how it was designed, DCIG deemed it unlikely that any two midrange array models would have the same score. This held true in almost every classification except software. The reason for the number of exceptions in this area is that multiple midrange arrays models from the same provider supported the exact same software. In those cases more than one model from that storage provider could receive the same score and ranking. DCIG wants to emphasize that no storage provider was privy to how DCIG did the scoring and ranking of the midrange arrays. In every case the storage providers only found out the scores and rankings of their individual midrange array models after the analysis was complete. Midrange Array Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria The term Midrange Arrays has become a nebulous term at best considering all of the new architectures and designs of midrange arrays that have emerged in the last decade. Clustering software, virtualization software and replication software have further served to blur the lines of what constitutes a midrange array. This Buyer s Guide attempts to take into consideration as many of those variables as possible but in all likelihood it failed to account for every variation. While this may have resulted in a specific model not being covered in this Buyer s Guide when it rightfully belonged, DCIG hopes to address this shortcoming in a subsequent Midrange Array Buyer s Guide. So with those disclaimers made, the rationale that was used to determine the inclusion and exclusion of specific models in this Buyer s Guide is as follows: It had to support either the Fibre Channel (FC) or iscsi block-based protocol. Well over half of the models included in this report supported both protocols but even if they supported only one, they were still included in the Buyer s Guide. If the midrange array did 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 5

8 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays not support at least one of these protocols, it was not included in this Buyer s Guide. It had to scale to support at least 30 TBs of raw capacity. 30 TBs is somewhat of an arbitrary number but it was arrived at based upon two factors. First, a storage array with a controller that supported 16 hard disk drives (HDDs) could scale to 32 TBs of raw capacity assuming it was using 2 TB SATA drives. Second, most storage arrays intended for small businesses support a smaller number of HDDs (2 8) so they would not cross this 30 TB threshold. It had to support two controllers with some method for failover. Some type of two controller configuration was needed such that a second controller could take over the application workload should the primary controller fail. This could be a more advanced configuration with both controllers configured in an Active- Active state or a more rudimentary configuration where the data is asynchronously replicated by the primary controller to a second controller. There had to be sufficient information available to DCIG to make meaningful decisions. Many midrange array storage providers do a good job of publishing information about their midrange arrays but an equal number do not. DCIG made a good faith effort to reach out and obtain information from as many midrange array models as possible. But in some cases midrange array models still had to be excluded because of a lack of reliable data. The hope is that whatever gaps exist in this Buyer s Guide will be covered in a subsequent one. The model had to be shipping as of April 1, A cutoff date had to be put in place or this Buyer s Guide would never be published. However, some allowances were made for feature or product enhancements that were made in early April 2010 that did not adversely affect the analysis done in developing this Buyer s Guide. The 8-Step Process Used to Score and Rank Midrange Arrays To score and rank each midrange array model, DCIG went through an eight step process to come to the most objective conclusion possible. 1. DCIG listed out of all of the features available on all of the midrange arrays. Prior to selecting the features that were included in the final evaluation in the Buyer s Guide, DCIG went through and quantified what features each midrange array model possessed. As part of this process, DCIG normalized the list of features available on midrange arrays such that a common name for each feature was established. 2. DCIG established which features would be included in the Buyer s Guide and which ones would not. One of the goals of this Buyer s Guide was to try to only include features on each midrange array model that could be objectively and authoritatively analyzed. For example, Maximum Raw Storage Capacity was evaluated as a feature instead of Maximum Useable Storage Capacity. While useable storage capacity is what users ultimately care about, a consistent objective answer cannot be arrived at because all of the different models implement RAID differently and many support more than one version of RAID. So Maximum Raw Storage Capacity was selected as the feature to be evaluated since an answer could be objectively ascertained and supported. 3. Each feature had a weighting associated with it. The weightings were used to reflect if a feature was supported and potentially how well it was implemented. For example, the 24x7 support feature is more of a or type of response whereas the HDDs supported feature could include a number of different disk drive models with varying interfaces, capacities and speeds. So each of these features were weighted and scored differently. 4. A questionnaire that asked about all of the features scored in this Buyer s Guide was sent to each storage provider. In addition to using the information that was publicly available on each storage provider s website, each storage provider included in this Buyer s Guide had the opportunity to respond to a questionnaire sent to it by DCIG. This was done to both verify that the information DCIG found on the storage provider s website was correct as well as remove any ambiguities that existed regarding how some of the features were implemented DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 6

9 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays 5. All of the features were scored based upon the information that was gathered. The weighting and scoring was done both by DCIG and by a select group of end-users who assisted DCIG in selecting the features to be evaluated in this Buyer s Guide. 6. The features were broken down into six general categories. The features included in this Buyer s Guide broke down into a total of six broad categories that are reflected on each midrange array data sheet. These categories include Array Controller, Storage Network Connectivity, Array Management Software, Replication Software, Storage Capacity, and Support. 7. The midrange arrays were broken into five (5) broad classifications. Midrange arrays can be viewed from a number of different perspectives so DCIG attempted to choose the classifications that would resonate with the largest number of users. It is for those reasons DCIG selected the following classifications, Midrange array FC/iSCSI SAN, Midrange Array FC SAN, Midrange Array iscsi SAN, Midrange Array Hardware and Midrange Array Software. All midrange arrays in the Midrange Array FC/iSCSI SAN classification were included regardless if they supported one or both storage networking protocols. However only midrange arrays that supported FC or both FC and iscsi were included in the Midrange Array FC SAN classification while only midrange arrays that supported iscsi or both FC and iscsi were included in the Midrange Array iscsi SAN classification. When scoring the Midrange Array FC SAN classification, any midrange array features that supported iscsi were not included in the scores for that classification. Likewise when scoring the Midrange Array iscsi SAN classification, any midrange array feature that supported FC was not counted towards the final score for that classification. 8. The midrange arrays were ranked using standard scoring techniques. One of the goals of this Buyer s Guide was to establish clear lines of differentiation between midrange arrays with conclusions that were arrived at objectively. To accomplish this goal, the mean or average score for each classification was first determined and then the standard deviation. Using the mean of the scores from all of the midrange arrays from which the standard deviation was calculated, DCIG developed a ranking for each midrange array model based upon the following in each classification: Those midrange array models that were.5 or greater standard deviations below the mean were given the rank of Entry Level. Those midrange array models that were.5± standard deviations above or below the mean were ranked as Good. Those models that were standard deviations above the mean were ranked as Excellent. Those models that were greater than 1.5 standard deviations above the mean were ranked as Recommended. It is for this reason that in each classification the number of models that achieved a certain ranking varied. Using this scoring and ranking method, DCIG feels confident that all of the models included in this report could be reasonably classified as a Midrange Array. In almost every instance all models came within 2 standard deviations of the mean. In the future if a midrange array model is more than two standard deviations from the mean, DCIG will re-evaluate the inclusion of that model in the Buyer s Guide. A midrange array that scores too high should possibly be reclassified as a High End storage array while a midrange array that scores too low may be more properly classified as a Consumer grade storage array. DCIG Comments and Thoughts on Midrange Array Performance and Pricing Two of the factors that most influence buying decisions on midrange arrays are how they perform and what they cost. So it may come as a surprise to those who look at this Midrange array Buyer s Guide to see no performance benchmarks as to how any of the midrange arrays performed or pricing information on them. There are two reasons why DCIG elected not to include performance and price in this Buyer s Guide. Performance will vary according to workloads. Virtual servers will likely perform one way when connected to a midrange array. Databases may 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 7

10 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays perform totally different. File servers may act in yet another way. Further, to come up with an objective, standardized method to measure performance is a metric that the storage industry as a whole does not yet fully agree on how to do. So to introduce any type of performance metric would only result in the analysis and evaluations of the midrange arrays included in this Buyer s Guide becoming more subjective, not less. Too many products to try to test to produce a Buyer s Guide in a timely manner. The intent of this Buyer s Guide is to provide a near real time snapshot of the midrange arrays currently available in the market place. All midrange arrays included on this report were available for purchase as of April 1, 2010 so it is relatively current. If DCIG had tried to test and establish performance benchmarks for all of these midrange arrays, the next generations of midrange arrays from all of these storage providers could well be available before the testing was completed making the Buyer s Guide obsolete and irrelevant before it ever saw the light of day. The same arguments that apply to performance also apply to pricing. Every day midrange array providers bring new features to market such as support for more cache, more storage networking ports, more disk drives, faster storage networking connectivity, faster, higher capacity disk drives and new technologies such as deduplication, solid state drives (s) and thin provisioning. So while it is recognized that features like price and performance are relevant and key considerations when purchasing a midrange array, it is also almost impossible for a third party like DCIG to objectively measure these features for anything but a small subset of these midrange arrays. Therefore this is a part of the buying process that that DCIG believes is still best left to end users though that may change at some point in the future. Having now made this disclaimer, the method in which the features contained in this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide are scored and weighted, it is DCIG s belief that not only will the ones that scored higher perform better, they will also cost more. By way of example, midrange arrays models that had more cache, 8 Gb FC and 10 Gb Ethernet storage networking connections, faster disk drives, SAS interconnects and new features like s were weighted heavier and scored higher than those midrange array models that did not support these features. Does that mean these midrange array models will outperform and scale to higher capacities than other models that scored lower? t necessarily but neither is it true that models that scored and ranked lower will always cost less or perform worse than those that scored and ranked better. However it is intuitive to conclude that a midrange array that supports 8 Gb FC interfaces, 16 GBs of cache, s and 15K RPM 300 GB FC HDDs should perform better and cost more than a midrange array model that supports 1 Gb iscsi interfaces, 2 GB of cache and 5400 RPM 2 TB SATA drives. It is in this way that this Buyer s Guide provides some sense of what organizations should expect to pay and how they should expect the midrange array to perform based upon the scores and rankings that it received. Power and Space Efficiency How efficiently a midrange array consumes energy and uses and floor space are two more features that become very subjective when trying to measure because there are different ways to deliver on these features. For example, one way some midrange array providers try to deliver energy savings is by powering down disk drives that are not being accessed through the form of technologies such as MAID. Another way they attempt to deliver efficiency is by using fewer disk drives through the use of technologies like deduplication and thin provisioning. In both cases, storage providers can rightfully claim that their midrange arrays are becoming more green by saving power though they accomplish the same objective using different techniques. Optimizing data center and floor space is another difficult metric to measure. Just because a midrange array more tightly packs disk drives into a or controller does not necessarily make it better. While it can be argued that it more efficiently uses available space, other concerns such as providing adequate power and cooling to those disk drives begin to emerge. I have even heard tale of one disk library being so densely packed with disk drives that it became too heavy and caused the supporting floor tiles underneath it to c and break because of its weight. DCIG tried to address as many of these concerns in this Buyer s Guide as possible by evaluating and appropriately 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 8

11 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays weighting features like deduplication, MAID and thin provisioning as well as reveal which models are able to support more than 16 drives on a shelf. These characteristics helped to reflect which midrange array models were potentially more power and space efficient. However it cannot and should not be assumed that one can determine how power or space efficient a particular midrange array is just by looking at any of the scores in this Buyer s Guide. Midrange arrays that scored higher are not necessarily more efficient and the ones that scored lower are not necessarily less efficient. Reliability and Feature Functionality In the context of this report, reliability refers to how stable a midrange array is during normal operating conditions while feature functionality refers to how well the features on the midrange array work. These again are both attributes that are very difficult to objectively measure. The reliability of one midrange array may be perfectly fine for one environment while unacceptable in another. Since this is an attribute that cannot be readily quantified, the Buyer s Guide only attempts to provide some insight into a midrange array s reliability by examining whether or not it has redundant hardware, hot swappable components and what type of technical support it provides. How well the different software features function on these midrange arrays is again a matter that could be endlessly debated. For example, many midrange arrays claim to support synchronous and asynchronous replication. However DCIG had no way in many cases to verify how well features like these worked. So the Buyer s Guide merely indicates whether or not a specific feature is supported on a midrange array and, where appropriate, how it is implemented. DCIG Observations and Recommendations Regarding Each Midrange Arrays Ranking Recommended Ranking Observations: The midrange arrays ranked as Recommended in each classification of this Buyer s Guide generally shared the following characteristics: They scaled to one petabyte (PB) or greater of total storage capacity They had controller caches that scaled to well in excess of 8 gigabytes (GBs) They supported solid state drives (s) or large amounts of cache to accelerate application performance. They supported both FC and iscsi protocols. They had very robust storage software offerings including advanced replication capabilities, thin provisioning, support for multiple hosts of different OSes and some means to do storage tiering Many still use storage controller configurations that are Dual Active that historically typify midrange arrays. Some models now offer more advanced Active-Active controller configurations that are representative of controller configurations found in the enterprise tier of storage arrays. Recommendation: Organizations that need nearly every feature found on enterprise storage arrays but cannot afford their price should look towards these Recommended midrange array models. Select Compellent and Nexsan midrange array models came out as Recommended in almost every classification for a reason their models are as close as one can get with a midrange array to an enterprise class storage array as possible. Further, the Nexsan Databeast makes a strong case for being re-classified as an enterprise storage array going forward. However all of the midrange arrays that achieved the Recommended ranking scale in both capacity and performance and provide many of the different hardware, 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 9

12 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays software and storage networking connectivity options that an organization may need or want. Excellent Ranking Observations: The midrange arrays ranked as Excellent in each classification of this Buyer s Guide generally shared the following characteristics: The maximum storage capacity for these midrange arrays generally range from about 100 TB to 1 PB though some scaled to over 1 PB There was a wide diversity in the supported cache sizes of this ranking of midrange arrays. Some scaled to only support 8 GB of cache while others scaled to well in excess of 100 GBs. The Pillar Axiom 600 and NEC D8 were notable in that they each scaled to support over 100 GB. Many of the same software features as those in the Recommended classification though they usually had some scaling limitation (less storage capacity, less cache, fewer ports for storage networking connectivity) that precluded them from achieving the higher ranking. Recommendation: These midrange array models are still Excellent as their ranking implies but organizations need to be fairly clear about what application problems they plan to solve with these midrange arrays. Unlike the models that received the Recommended ranking, there are definite trade-offs that organizations will have to make. However those organizations that have a good grasp of the capacity, performance and storage networking requirements of their applications may find that they can achieve the same or even better results than with a model that is ranked Excellent while keeping their costs lower in the process. EMC and NetApp were consistently rated well throughout this Buyer s Guide though 3PAR, NEC and Pillar each had midrange array models that were also consistently rated as Excellent or better throughout this Buyer s Guide. Good Ranking Observations: The midrange arrays ranked as Good in each classification of this Buyer s Guide generally shared the following characteristics: Many of these models contained advanced software features but features on these midrange arrays tended to have fewer options than models ranked as Recommended or Excellent. For instance, if they did asynchronous replication, it may only support 1:1 replication and may not support multiple concurrent incoming or outgoing replication streams. The maximum storage capacity for these midrange arrays generally ranged from about 100 TB to 500 TB though some did scale to over 1 PB. In this ranking users will for the first time see midrange arrays that scaled to less than 100 TBs. The majority of these midrange arrays supported about 8 GBs of cache. Some did scale to as much as 64 GB but 8 GBs of cache was the norm with some midrange array models supporting 4 GBs or less of cache. Recommendation: Midrange arrays ranked as Good are primarily suitable for business units, departments and small businesses that need reliable storage systems with moderate to high levels of scalability in terms of capacity, performance and flexibility. Users should have lower expectations as to what advanced software features such as deduplication and system wide disk striping are available for use on these midrange arrays. Good midrange arrays may also support only once storage networking protocol or, if they do support both protocols, they may not support the concurrent use of both protocols. Entry Level Ranking Observations: The midrange arrays ranked as Entry Level in each classification of this Buyer s Guide generally shared the following characteristics: 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 10

13 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Most of the models that were ranked as Entry Level only supported one storage networking protocol The maximum storage capacity for these midrange arrays was generally in the sub-100 TB range A number of these models offered software features that enabled multiple of their midrange arrays to be configured and act as one logical midrange array. This would enable them to attain higher capacities and take on many of the attributes of those midrange arrays that were ranked as Good or even Excellent. Many of these models can be typified as physical servers with internal storage and either FC or iscsi connectivity that are optimized to provide storage services. Recommendation: Midrange arrays ranked as Entry Level are primarily suitable for those organizations that are cost conscious, are looking to use iscsi in their environment and have low to moderate expectations in terms of scaling the storage capacity and performance of these systems. The majority of these midrange arrays supported about 8 GBs of cache though a number supported 4 GBs or less DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 11

14 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Midrange Array Scores & Rankings DCIG broke down the scores and rankings for the Midrange Array Models into five (5) broad classifications that are as follows: Midrange Array FC/iSCSI SAN Midrange Array FC SAN Midrange Array iscsi SAN Midrange Array Hardware Midrange Array Software Each section contains the following information: A chart that includes the scores and rankings for all of the midrange arrays included in that classification The highest and lowest midrange array score in each classification The mean and the standard deviation that was used to establish how each midrange array model was ranked in each classification The range of scores that were included in each ranking 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 12

15 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Midrange Array FC/iSCSI SAN Scores & Rankings RECOMMENDED EXCELLENT GOOD Midrange Array Provider and Model Total Score Array Controller Array Mgt Software Storage Network Connectivity Replication Software Storage Capacity Nexsan DataBeast Compellent Storage Center Series Compellent Storage Center Series EMC Clariion CX4 Model NetApp FAS NetApp FAS EMC Clariion CX4 Model NetApp FAS Pillar Axiom EMC Clariion CX4 Model EMC Clariion CX4 Model NEC D PAR InServ F PAR InServ F NetApp FAS NetApp FAS Nexsan iseries 400i Fujitsu Eternus 4000 DX Pillar Axiom HDS AMS Fujitsu Eternus 4000 DX NetApp FAS NEC D HDS AMS HDS AMS Xiotech Emprise NEC D Nexsan SASBeast HP P Oracle Sun StorageTek Celeros EzSANFiler XD Dot Hill Oracle Sun StorageTek Celeros EzSANFiler XD HP EVA HP P2000 G RELDATA 9240i Celeros EzSANFiler XD49S HP EVA Celeros EzSANFiler XD46S Celeros EzSANFiler XF Celeros EzSANFiler XF Celeros EzSANFiler XD34S Nexsan SATABeast Celeros EzSANFiler XF49S HP EVA Celeros EzSANFiler XF46S Support continued on next page 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 13

16 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Midrange Array FC/iSCSI SAN Scores & Rankings continued ENTRY LEVEL Midrange Array Provider and Model Total Score Array Controller Array Mgt Software Storage Network Connectivity Replication Software Storage Capacity Dell EqualLogic PS6010XV Dell EqualLogic PS6000XV Celeros EzSANFiler XF34S Dell EqualLogic PS4000XV Dot Hill Oracle Sun StorageTek Dell EqualLogic PS6500X Dell EqualLogic PS6000X Dot Hill Dell EqualLogic PS4000X Dell EqualLogic PS6010X HP MSA2000i IBM DS5020 Express NEC D3i Oracle Sun StorageTek Dell EqualLogic PS6510E Oracle Sun StorageTek Dell EqualLogic PS6500E Dell EqualLogic PS6010E Overland Storage SnapServer SAN S Dell EqualLogic PS4000E Dell EqualLogic PS6000E InforTrend ESVA F Dot Hill Infortrend ESVA E Support Total Number FC/iSCSI Midrange Arrays 72 Total Possible Points Highest Score Lowest Score Average (Mean) Standard Deviation Rankings Recommended Excellent Good Entry Level The Midrange Array FC/iSCSI SAN classification includes every midrange array model analyzed in this Midrange Array Buyer s Guide. This list includes all of the midrange arrays regardless if they supported both FC and iscsi, just FC or just iscsi. Every midrange array feature that covered in this Buyer s Guide is scored and weighted in this classification of the Buyer s Guide. This classification is most applicable to those organizations that want to see how all midrange arrays compare as well as those that plan to connect application servers to the same midrange array using either the FC or iscsi protocol DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 14

17 DCIG 2010 MIDRANGE ARRAY BUYER S GUIDE The Insider s Guide to Evaluating FC and iscsi Midrange Arrays Midrange Array FC SAN Scores & Rankings Midrange Array Storage Provider and Model Total Score Array Controller Array Mgt Software Storage Network Connectivity Replication Software Storage Capacity Support RECOMMENDED Nexsan DataBeast Compellent Storage Center Series Compellent Storage Center Series EXCELLENT GOOD EMC Clariion CX4 Model NEC D EMC Clariion CX4 Model NetApp FAS Pillar Axiom EMC Clariion CX4 Model NetApp FAS EMC Clariion CX4 Model NetApp FAS PAR InServ F PAR InServ F Fujitsu Eternus 4000 DX NEC D NetApp FAS HDS AMS Fujitsu Eternus 4000 DX NetApp FAS Pillar Axiom NEC D HDS AMS NetApp FAS Xiotech Emprise HDS AMS Oracle Sun StorageTek Oracle Sun StorageTek Nexsan SASBeast HP EVA Dot Hill HP EVA continued on next page 2010 DCIG LLC. All rights reserved. p. 15