EMC launches phase 2 AutoIS open software products

SINGAPORE: With the launch of phase 2 AutoIS open software products, EMC (which prefers to call itself the "world’s only 100% storage company) carries forward its case for interoperability across HP, HDS, IBM, SUN and Network Appliance apart from it's own devices.

The first phase of AutoIs was initiated in October 2001 with the objective of managing heterogeneous storage systems, networking components and server-based storage resources from diverse vendors. Significant among the products launched here today is the EMC Automated Resource Manager software, an end-to-end, automated storage provisioning solution aimed at reducing complexity as well as the cost of provisioning storage resources. This open software product is said to automate the associated manual steps. This ensures that errors are reduced and each application is alloted the storage space as per business needs.

"Automated Resource Manager automates the manual process of adding and reallocating storage resources–from the storage array through the Storage Area Network (SAN) to the host computer. The software enables organizations to bypass the costly, error-prone manual process by quickly and easily defining and applying storage service-levels for specific application requirements and creating heterogeneous storage pools based on geography, application and functional organization," explains Gary Jackson, Vice President, Asia Pacific, EMC Corporation.

The Automated Resource Manager supports EMC and non-EMC storage devices including EMC’s Symmetrix and Clarion as well as Hewlett Packard Storage Works.

Commenting on the announcement, Bill North, Storage Software Research Director for IDC, says, "Customers today need software that can help them overcome the difficulties of managing storage in a multi-vendor networked environment. As a result, they are measuring vendors not just on their strategies, but on their ability to deliver real software solutions. EMC’s position as the revenue market share leader in storage software reflects the company's success in delivering software that solves its customers’ problems and supports the development of future storage software solutions."

"ControlCenter comprises integrated applications that leverage a shared infrastructure to easily manage multi-vendor storage environments including storage devices, storage networks, and server-based storage resources. With a single point-of-control across applications, ControlCenter provides a common view to administrators, thereby reducing the number of steps needed to complete tasks, lowering the risk of human error, and shortening training times," elaborates Jackson.

Among the upgrades is the SAN Manager (formerly known as ESN Manager). SAN Manager now supports active management of HP StorageWorks arrays, in addition to prior active management support for EMC Symmetrix and EMC CLARiiON. SAN Manager also centrally manages network devices such as Brocade, McDATA, Qlogic and EMC Connectrix and enables zoning, discovery, and reporting for storage arrays from HDS, HP and SUN.

One more in EMC’s ‘interoperability’ bag is storage reporting software is StorageScope. StorageScope will now be operable on HDS, HP, SUN and IBM systems as well as ‘JBOD’ non-intelligent storage, internal server storage and storage network devices. StorageScope already offered support for EMC Symmetrix, EMC CLARiiON, EMC Celerra, Compaq and NetworkAppliance systems.



StorageScope now also provides an access interface to the data contained in the shared ControlCenter repository, enabling users to create customized resource utilization reports and to export StorageScope data to other applications.

EMC Common Array Manager enables customers to automatically discover multi-vendor storage arrays and monitor the status of the array, its disks and other sub-components. Previously supporting storage from HP, HDS, SUN, IBM, and StorageTek, the Common Array Manager device management software now also supports arrays from Network Appliance.

EMC also announced EMCLink, a new, hosted EMC offering that provides application-to-storage monitoring to simplify problem identification and analysis. EMCLink offers expert tuning advice for Oracle and SQL Server Databases, Windows, SUN Solaris, HP-UX, IBM AIX and Linux Operating systems, and SAP R/3 and Microsoft Exchange applications. EMCLink delivers early warnings about potential performance and capacity problems, enabling IT managers to gain tighter control over their operations, make more informed resource decisions and reduce unplanned downtime.

Auto IS enables customers to overcome the complexity of multi-vendor storage systems through three initiatives:

• Intelligent Supervision to monitor, report, and control networked storage infrastructures and higher-level storage services



• Infrastructure Services for the abstraction, presentation, and mobility of networked data.

• Information Safety for data protection and recovery, ensuring the operational integrity of the business.

Major new EMC ControlCenter applications including Automated Resource Manager and SAN Manager, and enhancements to StorageScope and Common Array Manager will be available within 60 days. Replication Manager enhancements will be available in December. EMCLink and EDM enhancements are available immediately.