This might be the last post of the year, not sure yet but it is surely the last post before Christmas.
So I would just like to thank all my readers and especially those of you who take the time to comment sharing your knowledge and opinions...
So all there is left to do is you wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...
See you all the other side of the Turkey!
Dear Father Christmas,
yes I mean you, the real one who lives near the North Pole! I've got a few requests for you; Christmas is a time for a giving and I've got some ideas for some friends of mine
Chuck - A copy of December's Children by the Rolling Stones; you know the one, it's got a copy of 'Get Off of My Cloud' on it.
Val - I was thinking of something similar but sometimes I think he needs to lighten up, so I think a copy of this. He could join Charlie and Lola on a Cloud-hopping adventure.
Barry B - Perhaps a boxed set of The Fast Show or perhaps as a counter to his FAST aspirations, In Praise of Slow.
Barry W - Perhaps this would be good or considering he's a Master Inventor, this might be even better.
Mark - He could probably do with the afore mentioned In Praise of Slow but I know he'll never heed the advice; so as a media gadget head, this looks sweet.
Ian - Can you hide his passport for the next six months or so; only let him have it back for Le Mans and then hide it again. That and can you hire him an assistant! Or just a case of this.
Chris - get him a Synology 509+ for his virtual lab. I don't think he's getting on too well with his Drobo.
Dan - well, he doesn't get anything as he keeps forgetting my Jelly Beans! Or perhaps a copy of this, I think he'll need it soon. Or at least a real version of this.
Stephen and all my other fellow authors at Gestaltit - MBPs all round but can you wait till the middle of the year for the next refresh.
Marc - for the master of StorageRap, just something to help hone his skills or perhaps this but most of all a big giant star for his door...he is our very own Storage Star.
Sunshine - well I'd get her this because I know she likes him. But perhaps this would be more appropriate.
And for all my other friends, readers and twitters; a peaceful Christmas, a prosperous New Year and general health and happiness!
Best Regards,
Storagebod
Dear Father Christmas (or can I just call you Uncle...)
Now I have written to the big vendors and it would be unfair to leave out the other Christmas Franchises but there is a limited number of letter that I can write so I am afraid that you are just getting a general letter!
It's been a mixed year for the lot of you; the economy has not been good and the VCs have got impatient with a very competitive market. So we've seen a few companies fall by the wayside and few still appear to be teetering on the edge.
But some of you appear to be doing pretty well and continue to push forward; I do have concerns though, especially with those of you who have built your business around a feature.
So what I would like to see over the next twelve months is for you to build your businesses on more than just a feature; the big guys are beginning to integrate your USPs into their ranges. You need to focus on being responsive to your customer's needs and requirements, engaging with them and listening to them. It might be possible for you to react quicker than the big guys to changing needs.
It is also inevitable that some of you end up being acquired; acquisition is a two way thing, try to make sure that you are being acquired by people who are going to progress your technology, not by people who just want to kill your technology because it is too disruptive to the business.
Building partnerships is also going to be very important to your business; the dynamic data centre relies on tight integration up and down the stack. The really big guys are doing their best to own the whole stack or build partnerships which allow them to virtually own the stack; if you don't do this too, you might find that 2010 is very cold (even colder than the North Pole).
And a word to some of you niche players; don't forget your niche, the larger market may look very attractive but you are very small fish out there and if you try to out compete the sharks in the general market, you might just lose. You know who you are, just be careful that you don't forget your roots!
A special shout out to the smaller vendor bloggers; what you do is very important, more so than the bloggers of the big guys...Most of you do it very well and with a keen sense of humour! Keep it up and keep me smiling!
Have a Great Christmas and New Year
Best Regards,
Storagebod
p.s I don't need any more memory sticks, mouse-mats etc..Can you just give a pound or two to charity instead of giving me freebies!Dear Father Christmas or can I call you Uncle Mark,
So how's life at the Hippie Pixies? It's been a busy few years for you guys, acquisitions all over the place and not just companies but also people; perhaps you can pass this note to the Pixie in Chief of Storage, I met him a couple of times when he worked for the Elven Magic Company, he's a good guy and just what you need to bring some order to your chaotic workshop.
So lets look what you've been up to; iBrix, that was a funny little acquisition, one minute you guys are telling me that Polyserve was going to fix all my clustered NAS problems and the next thing you know, you've gone and bought iBrix. What was I supposed to make of that? I was a little confused to say the least.
And then you go and get yourself in a pissing contest with those other Hippies down the road, over networking of all things. Of course then they go and launch a server platform, must of really annoyed you. I'm sure your purchase of 3Com has left them quaking.
But I hear that your blogger's tech-day was a great success; so many congratulations to Calvin. Calvin should take a bow, he's been doing a good job for you guys in the world of Social Media and boy did you need it.
So 2010, I'm expecting great things for 2010, so here's the list..
I think lots of people are waiting to see the impression that your best new acquision of the last year is going to make. Of course I'm talking about Dave Donatelli; next year is going to be about how Dave manages to steady the ship and steer a clear path. He's got some work to do on the storage part.
Firstly, I'd like to see you come up with a rationalised storage portfolio; not some strange Hirst splatter-painting of a storage strategy. Just throwing products and seeing what sticks is a bit desperate.
Virtualisation is going to be key; the Lefthand virtual appliance is a good start but perhaps turning both your clustered NAS products into virtual appliances might be something to do.
I like the simplicity of your EVA range but it needs more oomph! Perhaps paint some go faster stripes on it? But it needs to go bigger and faster.
And lets sort out your storage management tools; with a product portfolio the size of yours, you really need a heterogeneous management tool which works just to manage your own products!
I think you need a tete-a-tete with your Hitachi partners; they've been sleeping on the job! They either come up with a refreshed array or you're going to have to go acquisitive to get yourself a top of the line Tier 1 array. I can hardly believe that I am suggesting you buy yet another company but I think one more strategic acquisition maybe necessary. Give me a call, I've got some ideas!
But most of all, clarity of vision accompanied by a strong message is what I want from you guys. I'm hoping Dave is up to the job.
Have a Great Christmas and New Year
Best Regards,
Storagebod
p.s I could do with a new printer, do you still make them?Dear Father Christmas or can I call you Uncle Sam?
I'm not sure whether to write this letter to you or one of your subordinates but I'm a great believer going to straight to the top, so perhaps you can pass it down to Curtis if you feel the need to. Another typically solid year from the Infernal Blue Magicians tinged with a bit of scandal which we'll brush over; Magicians do sometimes go bad, especially Infernal Ones.
For a moment it all got a bit exciting tho'; almost buying the Sun but alas not to be. That would've been an interesting buy but I suspect with the travails that Uncle Larry is having in his purchase, I suspect you're quite glad to have walked away from that.
A couple of interesting storage announcements; a refresh for the DS8K, long overdue and just a little under-whelming but I've got a soft spot for the Shark range, so it's good to see there's life in the beast yet (and if you ever bump into Kristy Bell, I've not forgotten that she owes me a big favour).
And then there was new SVC release and I must ask, why aren't you trumpetting what this little box can do. There's loads of innovation in that box and loads more to come. I think the spirit of the Scottish Wizard is alive and well in the form of Barry Whyte. But more of that later...
And you've managed to sneak out a bit about the XIV roadmap prior to this Christmas.
Not a bad year but I'm sure you'll agree that you've got to deliver on some more goodies next year? You do, good! So this is what I'd like to see next year.
Is it not about time that you truly delivered on some of the promise in the DS8700 or just let it go? A soft spot I have for the beast but you've never really let it live to it's potential. Where's the TSM running in the array? Where's the database accelerator running in an LPAR? Perhaps Diligent in the array? Oh, the list almost endless but perhaps it might just be best to consider end of life-ing it.
SVC; look guys, you've got the basis for a V-MAX/USP killer there but you need to get out there and sell it properly. The work which is being done with SSDs is truly innovative; as innovative as anything the Elves are doing with their FAST. Perhaps it's time to turn it into an array which brings me onto XIV.
No-one believes you with regards to XIV and a single tier fitting all but with SVC in front of it; perhaps you've got a real winner there? SATA and SSD is where it's going to be in the future and with XIV and SVC, you've got just that.
And who do you think you are kidding with the 79 terabyte limit? Even with 2 terabyte drives; it's laughable but federated behind SVC? A tad more interesting don't you think? And RAID-X? Sorry, look at a proper parity based RAID scheme; look at 3Par's microRAID but no more 'Moshe Magic Mirroring'.
And just a personal request as it would make my life a little easier, can you go and buy DDN? Please? And open-source GPFS?
One more thing...scrap that abomination which is the TSM web interface; it's still crap and you'll never make it better!
Have a Great Christmas and New Year
Best Regards,
Storagebod
p.s tell that lazy Scotsman to stop playing with Lego and blog a bit more! And give him an expense account so he can come to #storagebeersDear Father Chrismas or can I call you Uncle Hu?
I've been writing letters to your various representatives in the storage world and it would be remiss of me not to write to you. How's life in Hu's Drama Society? It's heard to tell as we don't hear much from you, perhaps you are busy in rehearsal? It's been a bit of a quiet year from you guys but let's have a quick review of what you've been up to.
A new mid-range array; not bad but didn't really get the pulse racing and I've just looked at the announcement date, that was last year wasn't it?
So what else does that give us; HAM and HCP. Impressive stuff but didn't set the world alight and beating a path to your doors.
Sorry, as a retrospective; it's all a bit sparse but that really sums up your year here. So what do you I want from you over the next year?
Well, obviously we need to to see a refresh of the USP platform; it's a good platform some might even say venerable but it deserves some attention. And are you really going to stick with that MIPS architecture? Your rivals are using Intel for good reason. Let's try and get a new shiny USP out of the doors early in the year and if it had sub-LUN optimisation in from day one; well that'd put the Elven Magical Company into a bit of a snit wouldn't it?
I also worry that you don't seem to entirely on board with the automation story; I'd like to see you talking about opportunities for automation and getting the message across to your customers. It is almost as if you don't trust automation yourself but surely you know that managing at scale is going to require lots of automation?
And another thing; engage with the community a bit more, I know the banter sometimes turns a bit nasty and we need to cut that out but perhaps you can bring a calming influence to the Twitterers. Focus on your own products, let the opposition worry about their own products.
More openness in general would be appreciated.
Have a Great Christmas and New Year
Best Regards,
Storagebod
p.s I've ordered a copy of FCoE for Dummies for you ;-) Some of the guys think you need it.
Dear Father Christmas or can I call you Uncle...(no I won't go there)
So you guys out on the west coast, you've had a pretty good year. I guess there a few things that you are Not Appy about but all in all, it's been a good one for you. But if you want it to be another good year, you might want to read my Christmas list for 2010. But perhaps a quick review of the year gone by might be good.
2009 was signposted as a big year for you guys for one reason, OnTap 8; it appears to have gestating for longer than most companies have been in the business. Even so you managed to keep us waiting even longer than most of us expected with it finally putting in an appearance end of August. Mixed reports so far and a lot of people waiting for 8.1; aint that always the way!!?
But even prior to that, you'd managed to get yourself in tug-of-love battle with the Boston Bruiser and to no-one's great surprise (apart from apparently your own), you lost. But as I said in my letter to other fella, perhaps the jam you were offering would have been tastier than theirs in the long term.
And as everyone else rushed to put SSDs in their arrays, you took a different approach; pretty much typical of you guys. Time will tell if you are right; WAFL has stood you well, perhaps PAM will do the same for you.
I guess like the other team, you've lost some key players over the year. Dan the Man obviously, but I miss Kostadis as well; great technical blogger. Tried to explain things unlike many others who just throw bluster around.
Lots of Cloud announcements as well, lots of partnerships; still not entirely sure what your Cloud offering is but I'm sure that will come clear over the next year.
And then in a tough market; you managed to pretty much buck the trend; good work all round!
Still next year I'd like...
SSDs; I would really like some clarity on your position with regards to SSDs. Are you going to do something with them? Are you going to rely on PAM to give you FAST like capabilities?
New toys; time to refresh that hardware platform. Intel sure do have some great processors and perhaps it's time for you to follow the herd on this one? And I worry for you guys and all your eggs in one basket, some diversification might not come amiss.
Like the other folks, do something with Virtual Appliances! Your simulator is pretty good, time to unleash it and stop hamstringing it. You could do yourselves alot of good and if you want to be different, Hyper-V and VMware versions would be good. No-one will buy the Hyper-V version but you'd stand out and your new buddies in Seattle will love you forever! And another thing, let it free and let the world get their hands on it.
A bit more focus on SanScreen wouldn't go amiss; potential there is going awasting. And the OnTap web interface could do with a tidy. And please, a decent client based CLI!
Cloud, lets see a proper Cloud offering...proper object file-systems. Like the other guys, lots of hot-air and no precipitation.
And just a little request, can every NotApper on Twitter stop retweeting every win!
Have a Great Christmas and New Year
Best Regards,
Storagebod
p.s just remember WAFL is a platypus not a filesystem!!
Dear Father Christmas or can I call you Uncle Joe?,
My what a busy year you and the Elven Magical Company have had and I don't want to seem ungrateful but I thought I'd get my requests in early for 2010. Still before I do, lets look at some of your achievements over the past twelve months.
Firstly, there was that V-MAX announcement; boy did that go down well with all of the other Father Christmases. Still, it was great to see you get down with the Intel Gnomes; still a pity that the FAST magic wasn't ready to go quite yet. And it must of been a bit of a downer when that Elf with the name which sounds a bit like a turtle up and left for the Hippie Pixies!
Of course then there was the little love-tug-of-war over the other Double D (get your mind out of the gutter...Mother Christmas is giving you a stern glare!). Bet you are glad you won that one, a triumph of jam today I reckon; although the jam tomorrow smells mighty fine right now.
And then you went and threw your lot in with another bunch of West Coast Hippies; are you sure that was a good idea? These West Coasters are a strange bunch; I reckon this bunch could turn out to be polyamorous, just make sure that you're their main or they'll be running of with another West Coast Chick.
Then just in time for Christmas, you finally let some of that FAST magic out of the traps. Good for you, ignore those who think it's a little bit of damp squib...more cantrip than full blown spell! I think it's fairly cool anyway.
So, my what a busy year you've had and you've even managed to throw in some extra presents such as free Virtual Provisioning on the way.
Still next year I'd like...
FAST v2; it'd be cool if it was free but I can understand that even Father Christmas has some expenses to cover (still I'm sure that Storagezilla would work for free which would cut a little off the overheads! No? Well give it some thought and do you need to pay Chuck and Barry so much? And that Chad; well he's a Canuck, he should just think himself lucky to be working for such a fine American company).
But on the FAST v2 thing, I had this idea...wouldn't it be cool if customers could run it for a few months in a purely advisory mode for free? That way, they could gauge the savings they could make and it would be building up a nice profile of what their arrays are doing. And I have this idea for FAST v3, why can't we cluster V-MAXs together and use that RAPID-IO thing to move data between arrays but utilise the FAST engine to do it. Okay, sounds a bit like storage virtualisation but I'm sure you guys can come up with a spin which will stop You Know Hu from crowing too much!
And on the virtualisation front; why so coy about your virtual appliances? They would have made at least nice stocking fillers this year? But, perhaps next year?
What else, perhaps a really good integrated storage management tool (but not another configuration tool) would be good. But can we stay away from this Java stuff; it always causes my desktop to run like Rudolph after too much Christmas Pudding!
And Cloud...lets have a little less hot air and bit more precipitation please?
Anyway, have a Great Christmas and New Year
Best Regards,
Storagebod
p.s if you've got any spare SSDs that you don't need...
Whilst catching up on the various blogs this week; especially in the aftermath of EMC's FAST announcement, something began to get to me. The number of competitor blogs who were obsessed with commenting on EMC's announcement even to the extent that they barely mention their own products.
I've now developed a rule:- as the number of times that a competitor's product is mentioned increases, the useful information contained in the article decreases in proportion. And if you rant on about a competitor's product and then get to the last paragraph and say something along the lines but I really don't understand the competitor's product...you have just made yourself look like a prize pillock!
So in future, it may actually be of more value to not comment on a competitor's announcement/product; instead of spending all that energy/creativity on that...perhaps write something positive or interesting about your own product.
And can we please have #twitpiss truce!? For next three weeks, if you can't think of anything nice to say....say nothing!
I've been thinking about FAST and especially FAST v2 but not entirely from a storage point of view. FAST v2 and indeed any automated storage tiering product has some interesting uses beyond storage and could be a basis for a whole new way of managing IT as a service. In fact, it finally enables storage and beyond to managed as a service. BTW I'm going to use FAST as shorthand for any automated storage product; so please don't take this as only being about EMC.
In order for FAST to work, it needs to gather and react to a lot of information from the array itself. In fact for FAST to be truly useful, it needs to gather, react and store alot of information about what is going on the array.
Take a typical corporate accounting application; most of the time it can be pretty quiet and non-performance intensive but at certain times of the year, it will be a very intensive workload. During these times, you might want it all to be on the fastest, most performant tier; now FAST will react to a sudden increase in workload and move the application when it sees the demand increase but will FAST be able to move this quickly enough? So perhaps, we need to give the array some hints as to when to prime the load?
These sort of peaks are very predictable and we know when they will happen but not all peaks are quite as predictable; or at least we don't think they are. FAST will be gathering stats all the time and by analysing this data; it might be able to do the predictive analysis a lot quicker and spot things that we can't or at least don't have the time for. It may pick up on relationships between applications, application X runs hot at a certain time which causes application Y to become busy at some period later; for example, certain types of activity may cause a reporting job to be run at a later date.
You see from our storage infrastructure, we can start to gather a lot of information about our whole estate. But EMC could go further, they have things like nLayers and Smarts to leverage; they could start to pull information from VMware and do a whole lot of analysis on this. NetApp have SanScreen; HP have a zillion tools as do IBM.
Once you've got that information, you need to start turning that into something the business understands so that you can sit with the business and do what-if modelling, show conflicts and clashes where multiple services are demanding the same high-performance infrastructure at the same time. Perhaps the business owner needs to prioritise or purchase more infrastructure. Perhaps they need less, perhaps they can shift some stuff into the Public Cloud and just pull it back when they need too.
So FAST could be rather more than just a way optimising your storage infrastructure; if you data-mine this in the same way Google data-mine statistics, you can find out a lot of stuff which you didn't realise and probably completely change the way you look at your infrastructure.
So when EMC talk about FAST being a foundational technology, they aren't wrong...actually, like Virtual Provisioning, it is so important....it should be Free! Actually they could fund this by getting rid of half their account managers; FAST could literally sell itself.
Infrastructure Technical Architect, Support Manager and Geek Herder
Recent Comments