Comments on: Enterprise Computing: COPAN, EMC/VMware & STEC http://thestoragearchitect.com/2010/03/11/enterprise-computing-copan-emcvmware-stec/ Storage, Virtualisation & Cloud Wed, 23 May 2012 02:49:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: copan systems http://thestoragearchitect.com/2010/03/11/enterprise-computing-copan-emcvmware-stec/#comment-1310 copan systems Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:28:51 +0000 http://www.thestoragearchitect.com/?p=1186#comment-1310 [...] features a button/zip fly closure belt loops and 5 pocket style that includes a front logo pendantThe Storage Architect Blog Archive Enterprise Computing ...Enterprise Computing: COPAN, EMC/VMware & STEC. Enterprise Computing, Featured, GestaltIT ... [...] [...] features a button/zip fly closure belt loops and 5 pocket style that includes a front logo pendantThe Storage Architect Blog Archive Enterprise Computing …Enterprise Computing: COPAN, EMC/VMware & STEC. Enterprise Computing, Featured, GestaltIT … [...]

]]> By: InsaneGeek@insanegeeks.com http://thestoragearchitect.com/2010/03/11/enterprise-computing-copan-emcvmware-stec/#comment-1309 InsaneGeek@insanegeeks.com Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:30:12 +0000 http://www.thestoragearchitect.com/?p=1186#comment-1309 Will features become free... that's an interesting question. A while back everybody was using the "our hypervisor is free" method against VMWare, so in response they eventually made the hypervisor free; so it seems like there could be a repeat of history regarding features. But it's a bit different now, in that before they weren't charging for the hypervisor, the vendors VMWare, Xen, RedHat, Microsoft are already charging for the management/features layer. It's a lot easier to give something away when you haven't had any incoming dollars against it yet, after you are receiving a revenue stream I think that option becomes much harder. There is going to be some features being pushed into the free versions but probably very limited as that's how they all are making money; more likely is that some of the features available in the top end versions will be pushed into the less expensive versions (ESX Adv -> ESX Std, MS Ent -> MS Std, etc) as the vendors play take jabs at each other, but I don't think in general there will be much more going into the free column from a bare-metal hypervisor market. Having said that I do think that one of the vendors will step off the ledge and start giving away something substantial for free, in a pure bid to try and become #1 or more likely in a bid to not fall behind and become irrelevant. Will features become free… that’s an interesting question. A while back everybody was using the “our hypervisor is free” method against VMWare, so in response they eventually made the hypervisor free; so it seems like there could be a repeat of history regarding features. But it’s a bit different now, in that before they weren’t charging for the hypervisor, the vendors VMWare, Xen, RedHat, Microsoft are already charging for the management/features layer. It’s a lot easier to give something away when you haven’t had any incoming dollars against it yet, after you are receiving a revenue stream I think that option becomes much harder.

There is going to be some features being pushed into the free versions but probably very limited as that’s how they all are making money; more likely is that some of the features available in the top end versions will be pushed into the less expensive versions (ESX Adv -> ESX Std, MS Ent -> MS Std, etc) as the vendors play take jabs at each other, but I don’t think in general there will be much more going into the free column from a bare-metal hypervisor market.

Having said that I do think that one of the vendors will step off the ledge and start giving away something substantial for free, in a pure bid to try and become #1 or more likely in a bid to not fall behind and become irrelevant.

]]> By: Chris Evans http://thestoragearchitect.com/2010/03/11/enterprise-computing-copan-emcvmware-stec/#comment-1308 Chris Evans Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:55:15 +0000 http://www.thestoragearchitect.com/?p=1186#comment-1308 So do you think we'll see creep of free features? i.e. over time, more value add features will be freely offered? Chris So do you think we’ll see creep of free features? i.e. over time, more value add features will be freely offered?

Chris

]]> By: InsaneGeek http://thestoragearchitect.com/2010/03/11/enterprise-computing-copan-emcvmware-stec/#comment-1307 InsaneGeek Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:04:14 +0000 http://www.thestoragearchitect.com/?p=1186#comment-1307 I'd say that since the VMWare ESXi hypervisor is free that your question is already answered. For all intensive purposes at a hypervisor ESX and free ESXi are the exact same thing. Aside from the obvious pure appliance ESXi vs ESX OS you can install agents, etc into. ESXi is ESX without a license for certain additional features, I run it at home free of charge already. I think the vendors are already on the same page that the hypervisor is free, and that they are going to charge for "value add". To go from ESXi free to the same functionality of ESX Enterprise Plus just install a license (some people even say that ESXi is faster than ESX because there isn't a console guest running). I think the exchange of software from EMC to VMWare is this: VMWare has a long history of being agnostic (and having a bunch of general hype around it) that probably opens quite a few more doors to other vendor "innards". If EMC was the one asking for some 3rd party low level API's there's probably quite a few companies that would just slam the door shut, either from a competition or from a "we just don't care what a storage company has to offer". If EMC asks NetApp for low-level API access, they'd probably tell them to pound sand; if VMWare asks NetApp for low-level API access they'll probably have 50 developers flown in that afternoon. Other vendors want to work with VMWare... but I don't think EMC in general has the same "draw". Also VMWare has simply made more management tools that people want to use. While I use a number of storage vendors tools (ECC, DFM, etc) as I note in my blog they all are pretty much crap: of the ones I've used it pains me to say this but unfortunately ECC has probably been the better of them but it's still crap and they've had it for years and years to try and improve. IMO it's very hard to argue that EMC does management tools better than VMWare (they have more of them all completely different beasts). While VirtualCenter is no where near "great" (try to get storage perf data out of it). The fact that they have been doing it better than us has to have been noticed by EMC/VMWare. I’d say that since the VMWare ESXi hypervisor is free that your question is already answered. For all intensive purposes at a hypervisor ESX and free ESXi are the exact same thing. Aside from the obvious pure appliance ESXi vs ESX OS you can install agents, etc into. ESXi is ESX without a license for certain additional features, I run it at home free of charge already. I think the vendors are already on the same page that the hypervisor is free, and that they are going to charge for “value add”. To go from ESXi free to the same functionality of ESX Enterprise Plus just install a license (some people even say that ESXi is faster than ESX because there isn’t a console guest running).

I think the exchange of software from EMC to VMWare is this: VMWare has a long history of being agnostic (and having a bunch of general hype around it) that probably opens quite a few more doors to other vendor “innards”. If EMC was the one asking for some 3rd party low level API’s there’s probably quite a few companies that would just slam the door shut, either from a competition or from a “we just don’t care what a storage company has to offer”. If EMC asks NetApp for low-level API access, they’d probably tell them to pound sand; if VMWare asks NetApp for low-level API access they’ll probably have 50 developers flown in that afternoon. Other vendors want to work with VMWare… but I don’t think EMC in general has the same “draw”.

Also VMWare has simply made more management tools that people want to use. While I use a number of storage vendors tools (ECC, DFM, etc) as I note in my blog they all are pretty much crap: of the ones I’ve used it pains me to say this but unfortunately ECC has probably been the better of them but it’s still crap and they’ve had it for years and years to try and improve. IMO it’s very hard to argue that EMC does management tools better than VMWare (they have more of them all completely different beasts). While VirtualCenter is no where near “great” (try to get storage perf data out of it). The fact that they have been doing it better than us has to have been noticed by EMC/VMWare.

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