External RAID-Based Storage System Analysis by Form Factor

Transcription

1 Research Brief External RAID-Based Storage System Analysis by Form Factor Abstract: Gartner Dataquest forecasts factory revenue for modular external RAID controllerbased storage systems will grow at a faster pace than monolithic external RAID controller-based storage systems. By Roger W. Cox Recommendations Host connectivity for modular external RAID controller-based storage systems should be augmented to include the OS/390 (z/os) operating system to widen opportunities. Storage vendors that subscribe to the modular form factor must embrace serial ATA disk drive technology as a game changing initiative. Storage vendors must develop modular external RAID controller-based storage systems that incorporate a fabric I/O infrastructure to support extreme scaling. Native iscsi host-interfaces must be made available to economically expand the external RAID controller-based storage market associated with SANs. Storage vendors that provide monolithic and modular external RAID controller-based storage must design these products to support common disk drives, host bus adapters, and workload balancing and path failover software. Publication Date: September 12, 2002

2 2 External RAID-Based Storage System Analysis by Form Factor External RAID Controller-Based Storage Form Factor Choices From a form factor perspective, external redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) controller-based storage may be characterized as being of a monolithic or modular design. Monolithic external RAID controller-based storage systems are typically deployed in environments requiring extremely high availability, connectivity and capacity as well as multiple and varied workload performance attributes. Featuring a lower price structure, modular external RAID controller-based storage systems are ordinarily installed in small-to-midsize business enterprises, and in departments and regional offices of large business enterprises. The monolithic form factor, otherwise known as "big-box storage," incorporates the RAID controllers and disk drives in a large self-contained, one-size-fits-all enclosure. The monolithic form factor carries most, if not all, of the power and packaging cost burden regardless of the number of configured disk drives. Leading examples of monolithic external RAID controller-based storage systems include EMC's Symmetrix, IBM's Enterprise Storage Server (Shark), Hitachi Data System's 9900/9900V series (Lightning), StorageTek's SVA, Fujitsu's GR740, Hewlett-Packard's XP series and Sun's SE9900 series. It should be noted that the HP XP series and the Sun SE9900 series are re-branded Hitachi Data Systems 9900/9900V products. Modular external RAID controller-based storage systems are defined by the distinct separation of the RAID controller module(s) from the disk drive module(s). The RAID controller module(s) and disk drive module(s) are housed in industry standard racks, which may also house rack-dense application servers conserving expensive floor space. Popular examples of external RAID controller-based storage systems that conform to the modular form factor design include HP's StorageWorks (formerly known as Compaq StorageWorks) and VA7000 series, EMC's CLARiiON, IBM's FastT series, Dell's PowerVault and Dell/EMC CLARiiON, and Sun's 6900/3900 and T3. Business Trend Using factory revenue as the gauge, Table 1 reflects a rather consistent market share relationship between monolithic and modular external RAID controller-based storage. Based on the research data contained in Table 1, it would not be unreasonable to expect the future correlation between the two form factors to basically follow the established historical pattern.

3 3 Table 1 Worldwide External RAID Controller-Based Storage Factory Revenue, Terabyte and Unit Market Share by Form Factor Factory Revenue (US$M) Change (%) Market Share (%) Monolithic Form Factor 7,451 8,943 7, Modular Form Factor 6,040 7,387 5, Total 13,491 16,330 13, Raw Terabytes Change (%) Market Share (%) Monolithic Form Factor 17,503 50,269 79, Modular Form Factor 35,035 56,649 91, Total 52, , , Units Change (%) Market Share (%) Monolithic Form Factor 15,705 20,111 19, Modular Form Factor 154, , , Total 169, , , However, as Table 2 shows, modular external RAID controller-based storage systems are essentially holding their own in the Unix market and are clearly more widely used in the Windows NT/2000 market. This is important to note because Gartner Dataquest, in its Market Statistics document "Disk Storage Systems Worldwide Forecast: " (HWST- WW-MS-0126), predicts that only external RAID controller-based storage associated with the Unix and Windows NT/2000 markets will have a positive five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR). On the other hand, the monolithic form factor has been, and remains, the design of choice for external RAID controller-based storage associated with the OS/390 and other operating systems markets. As reflected in "Disk Storage Systems Worldwide Forecast: ," external RAID controller-based storage associated with the OS/390 and other operating systems markets is projected to have a negative five-year CAGR.

4 4 External RAID-Based Storage System Analysis by Form Factor Table 2 Worldwide External RAID Controller-Based Storage Form Factor Factory Revenue Market Share by Operating System Factory Revenue (US$M) Change (%) Market Share (%) Unix Monolithic 2,795 4,424 3, Unix Modular 3,264 4,127 3, Total Unix 6,059 8,551 6, Windows NT/2000 Monolithic 550 1,273 1, Windows NT/2000 Modular 1,842 2,647 2, Total Windows NT/2000 2,392 3,920 3, Novell NetWare Monolithic Novell NetWare Modular Total NetWare OS/390 (z/os) Monolithic 2,561 1,909 1, OS/390 (z/os) Modular Total OS/390 (z/os) 2,561 1,909 1, Other Operating Systems Monolithic 1,522 1,319 1, Other Operating Systems Modular Total Other Operating Systems 1,804 1,588 1, Total External RAID Controller-Based Storage 13,491 16,330 13, Table 3 and Table 4 show the market share by form factor for leading vendors. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this research data is the fact that the top five vendors in the monolithic external RAID controller-based storage market represent 94.9 percent of the total, while the top five vendors in the modular external RAID controller-based storage market account for only 58.5 percent of the total.

5 5 Table 3 Worldwide Monolithic External RAID Controller-Based Storage Factory Revenue Market Share by Vendor Millions of U.S. Dollars Change (%) Market Share (%) Vendors EMC-Symmetrix 3,933 4,977 3, IBM Shark/RAMAC 905 1,198 1, Hitachi/HDS 1,304 1,070 1, Fujitsu HP-XP Series NEC Nippon Unisys Sun SE9900 Series StorageTek-SVA Comparex Fujitsu Technology Solutions Total 7,451 8,943 7, Table 4 Worldwide Modular External RAID Controller-Based Storage Factory Revenue Market Share by Vendor Millions of U.S. Dollars Change (%) Market Share (%) Vendors Compaq 1,315 1,841 1, Sun 860 1, Hitachi/HDS HP EMC CLARiiON Dell IBM NEC NCR SGI Others 2,093 2,183 1, Total 6,040 7,387 5, Gartner Dataquest Perspective During the last four years, storage vendors that subscribe to the modular external RAID controller-based storage design have steadily enhanced the feature, function, performance, connectivity and capacity capabilities of their products. This progress is increasingly encroaching on the traits that have historically distinguished monolithic external RAID controller-based storage systems from those that adhere to the modular design.

6 6 External RAID-Based Storage System Analysis by Form Factor Coupled with a significant pricing advantage, Gartner Dataquest predicts that modular external RAID controller-based storage systems will be the design of choice for external RAID controller-based storage sold into the markets associated with the Windows NT/2000 and Linux operating systems. Noting that the 2002 to 2006 growth rate for external RAID controllerbased storage associated with the Windows NT/2000 market outpaces all other operating systems, Table 5 shows that the modular form factor will begin to surpass the monolithic form factor in total worldwide factory revenue by Table 5 Worldwide External RAID Controller-Based Storage Factory Revenue Forecast by Form Factor CAGR (%) Monolithic Form Factor ($M) 7,450 8,942 7,388 6,681 6,613 6,785 7,210 7, Monolithic Form Factor Share (%) Modular Form Factor ($M) 6,041 7,388 5,864 5,511 5,892 6,536 7,533 9, Modular Form Factor Share (%) Total 13,491 16,330 13,252 12,192 12,505 13,321 14,743 17, Key Issue At what rate will various storage markets grow or decline? This document has been published to the following Marketplace codes: HARD-WW-DP-0330 For More Information... In North America and Latin America: In Europe, the Middle East and Africa: In Asia/Pacific: In Japan: Worldwide via gartner.com: Entire contents 2002 Gartner, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is forbidden. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. Gartner disclaims all warranties as to the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of such information. Gartner shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. The reader assumes sole responsibility for the selection of these materials to achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice