EMC Delivers Ultimate Flexibility in Virtualized Storage for SMBs

HOPKINTON, Mass. - January 08, 2008 -

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC), the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, today introduced the new EMC® CLARiiON® AX4 networked storage system, a highly flexible, available and scalable storage area network (SAN) system for small and medium businesses (SMBs).  The new system can easily be deployed, expanded and reconfigured in VMware Infrastructure and traditional IT environments with no application downtime.

The CLARiiON AX4 system can scale to 60 terabytes of capacity and supports either iSCSI or Fibre Channel SAN connectivity. With built-in advanced information management and protection features, it can store, manage and protect data from up to 64 high availability Windows, Linux, Unix, NetWare and VMware Infrastructure hosts simultaneously. The CLARiiON AX4 system, with a starting list price of $8,599, is cost-effective to deploy, can easily be tailored and expanded to meet dynamic information storage requirements and is ideally suited for applications including Microsoft Exchange, SQL, Oracle and SAP.  It can be configured with up to 60 SAS and SATA disk drives for an optimal mix of performance, cost and energy efficiency.

The CLARiiON AX4 system was specifically designed to integrate with and extend key VMware Infrastructure capabilities, many of which require shared storage.  Built-in features enable real-time volume expansion – making the allocation of high performance storage for new virtual machines simple and seamless.  The CLARiiON AX4 also includes EMC’s Virtual LUN technology, which can be used in conjunction with VMware Storage VMotion, a new product introduced with the recent major upgrade to VMware Infrastructure, for the non-disruptive migration of multiple virtual machine disk files.  In addition, the CLARiiON AX4 supports EMC’s leading replication software, including EMC MirrorView™, EMC SAN Copy™, EMC RepliStor® and EMC Replication Manager to provide the highest levels of uptime in VMware environments.  The CLARiiON AX4 has been certified by VMware and will be included in the VMware Storage/SAN Compatibility Guide.

“Companies, especially SMBs, are constantly looking for ways to simplify their IT environments and get the most value from their storage investments,” said Charles King, Principal Analyst, Pund-IT, Inc.  “That’s one of the key reasons why iSCSI is becoming so popular, and is especially important in VMware environments where new virtual servers require consolidated storage. EMC’s CLARiiON AX4 is ideal for SMB’s virtualized environments since it includes key features that make it easy for businesses

with few or no dedicated IT resources to set-up, manage and allocate networked storage. With the CLARiiON AX4, EMC is providing customers plenty of storage options at an attractive price point.”

With an easy-to-use, intuitive interface, terabytes of SAN capacity can be configured with just a few mouse clicks by following simple, graphical interface instructions and installation wizards.  System management is also intuitive and simplified by using the latest version of EMC Navisphere® Express, which uses a graphical approach to creating and managing disk pools and virtual disks, enabling storage capacity to be created, allocated and re-allocated in seconds, while the application remains online. This builds on EMC’s commitment to delivering storage systems that are easy to use, manage and deploy.

 “We’re a small, but growing company and need a more sophisticated storage solution for our server environment,” said Kevin Phoenix, Principal responsible for Operations and Administration at SwervePoint, LLC, a communications merchandising firm, which is deploying a CLARiiON AX4 to support its 24 employees. “We don't have an IT staff and have run into limitations with our server-based storage. It was very easy to take the EMC CLARiiON AX4 and plug it into our existing IP network and to configure it using the Navisphere Express interface.  We were off and running with an iSCSI SAN within minutes.  As a growing company, we also considered what our future needs are going to be and liked the CLARiiON AX4 system’s flexibility and software features, which are a little more sophisticated than you’d expect in an entry-level networked storage system.”

The CLARiiON AX4 includes features for high availability and reliability that are not typically found in competitive systems of this size.  The CLARiiON AX4 was specifically designed for SMBs and is built on the same architecture used in larger, market-leading EMC CLARiiON CX3 midrange storage arrays which have achieved coveted “Five 9s” availability – 99.999% of uptime.  It features a mirrored cache design, built-in standby power supply, continuous disk consistency checking and hot swappable components which provide superior levels of data availability and reliability.

“As the IT environments of SMBs become more sophisticated, customers are looking for storage solutions that are reliable, simple to deploy and, most important, make their lives easier,” said Rich Napolitano, Senior Vice President, EMC Storage Division.  “With the EMC CLARiiON AX4, we’re giving the IT manager the tools to act like a storage specialist and to do so with minimal effort and expense. We have taken SAN flexibility and ease-of-use to a new level.  It’s a full function storage system that is affordable, has the most important software built-in and can be easily managed and scale to meet the future needs of our customers as their information requirements grow.”

CLARiiON AX4 Available From EMC Partners

The new CLARiiON AX4 system will be offered by EMC’s worldwide network of distributors, resellers and channel partners.  It will also be offered by Dell and NEC under their own brands. It has been extensively tested for interoperability with a wide range of host operating systems, HBAs and SAN infrastructure and clustering components in EMC’s E-Lab™, which provides the most comprehensive interoperability testing in the industry.

 “Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions (ECS) is committed to providing customized solutions based on EMC technology that enable our reseller partners to differentiate themselves and grow their business. Arrow ECS is pleased to offer the EMC CLARiiON AX4 to our partners.”  Arrow ECS is a business unit of Arrow Electronics [NYSE: ARW] and is a value-added reseller for the full range of EMC products and solutions.-- Sean Kerins, Vice President of Arrow ECS’ Storage Group

“Our partners expect innovative storage solutions and programs from Avnet. The full set of features and flexibility of the EMC CLARiiON AX4 expands our storage portfolio in some of the fastest growing market segments. It will allow our dedicated EMC storage team to better help our partners develop and offer leading iSCSI and virtualization solutions to their customers.” -- Jeff Bawol, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas, Enterprise Software and Storage Solutions Group

“During 2007, the demand from our customers for virtualization and networked storage solutions skyrocketed, and we see this continuing in 2008 as businesses look for cost-effective ways to manage their information.  We tested the EMC CLARiiON AX4 with VMware Infrastructure features in our lab setting and believe the setup is easily manageable for VMware administrators. The CLARiiON AX4 is a logical addition to our portfolio of offerings as we look to respond to the needs of customers interested in networked storage systems with advanced functionality.” -- Matt Troka, Vice President of product and partner management at CDW.

“As Ingram Micro continues to grow the breadth of solutions it offers for SMBs, the EMC CLARiiON AX4 is a powerful new addition. It’s an easy-to-implement and easy-to-use solution and gives SMBs the ability to deploy features that were only previously available on larger systems.  One of the keys to the success of Ingram Micro’s ITS Division is our focus on making it easier for solution providers of all sizes to sell and support comprehensive data solutions.  The flexibility of the CLARiiON AX4 strengthens our overall value proposition to our partners and ultimately helps them better serve their customers.” -- Scott Look, Vice President, Infrastructure Technology Solutions (ITS) Division, Ingram Micro Inc.

“Through Tech Data’s Advanced Infrastructure Solutions Division, we are partnering with leading vendors like EMC to ensure our VAR customers have access to the latest storage solutions.  The scalability and functionality of the EMC CLARiiON AX4 enable VARs to provide end users with advanced storage applications and data protection capabilities previously limited to higher-end, enterprise-class solutions. This latest addition to our offering will help VARs more profitably and efficiently meet the rising demand for storage among SMBs nationwide.” -- Pete Peterson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Tech Data Corporation

Availability:

The CLARiiON AX4 system is available immediately through EMC’s worldwide network of distributors and partners with a starting list price of $8,599 for a three terabyte configuration.  Contact an EMC partner or reseller for specific pricing and configurations.