Chuck's Blog

Another Hidden Gem -- EMC's Replication Manager

You know, there's so much neat stuff in our product portfolio, occasionally some of the more interesting bits get  overshadowed by some of the flashier stuff.

There's a ton of bread-and-butter functionality in EMC's portfolio that deserves the occasional airing.  And, from time to time, I'd like to do just that -- with your permission.

The recent EMC press release on new Replication Manager functionality for VMware made me stop and think -- does anyone know the full back story here?  As far as storage topics go, it's a interesting story in the evolution of thinking around a basic storage function: making local copies.

Hey, we even got a bit of coverage from Beth Pariseau ...

Does Storage Virtualization Have A New Meaning?

Ours is an industry that freely defines new concepts from time to time.  And, occasionally, an existing concept morphs and takes on an entirely new meaning.

I think we might be seeing that happening right about now.

Big Visions From VMware

Lots of VMware-related things to blog about this week, what with VMworld taking center stage in most people's minds.  And then there's the veritable river of beefy press releases coming from VMware, not to mention all their partners, including EMC.

This post focuses on two really big ones in my mind: VMware's announcement of VDC-OS (virtual data center operating system), and their vCloud initiative.

And, in reality, I think they're just two sides of the same coin -- and that's what makes them special.

Odds and Ends

Didn't get a chance to blog too much this week, as I was mostly on airplanes. 

Things are busy, to be sure.

Anyway, just wanted to share a few things that didn't really merit their own blog post.

CMIS -- It's Not JAS

Today, EMC announced in conjunction with Microsoft and IBM the submission of a new standards proposal – CMIS – Content Management Interoperability Standard.

And it’s not Just Another Standard (JAS)– this could be bigger than many people realize.

Here’s why …

Who Will Run The Converged Fabric?

Now that FCoE and data center ethernet are a standard fixture in the strategy discussion, it's bringing up some interesting organizational questions.

In a converged fabric world, who gets to run the fabric?

And it's turning out to be a more complex discussion than I first thought.

IBM To World: Hey, We're Still In The Game!

Today, IBM did one of those mega-announcements around information, storage, security and related topics.

Now, before you think this is just another vendor-bashing competitive blog post, let me assure you it's not.

There's a lot to write about here, and -- for the more-than-casual-observer -- it provides deep insight into how IBM thinks about things, and how they do a pretty good job marketing the cards they've been dealt.

The Information Economy Continues To Grow

At least, that's one way of interpreting the latest quarterly storage results from Gartner and IDC.

One of my favorite leading consumer economic indicators that I've come across is holiday wrapping paper sales.  Since this sort stuff has to be ordered far in advance of the holiday gift-giving season, it's turned out to be one of the most accurate bellweathers of holiday consumer spending.

Could storage revenue be the same bellwether for the growing information economy?

A Final Update -- Storage Capacity Efficiency

Well, it's time to step back a bit from the fray, and look at what we've been able to learn since I posted my comparison last Thursday.

While not a perfect process, I think we've been able to uncover several useful nuggets that will help shape the discussion going forward.

Thanks to all who contributed their knowledge and expertise.