HP StorageWorks Tech Day: Day 0 (Part II)

In preparation for tomorrow’s events, I thought it would be useful to summarise how the HP SAN products fit into some kind of roadmap.  This is a first draft based on how I see things today.  The roadmap is fairly self explanatory, but let me add a few comments.

• XP24000 – definitely an enterprise array and occupying the high end market.  Typically all installations are fibre channel running mission critical applications.
• XP20000 – “baby brother” of the XP24000.  This array is rack mounted, so doesn’t need the free-standing space, or the same level of power/cooling.  Consequently it is of a lower spec than the XP24000 however it runs exactly the same code and interfaces to its big brother.  I’ve placed this as mid-way between SMB and enterprise as it can sit in both camps.
• EVA – technically not an enterprise product, but rather a modular array.  However many customers would probably disagree with me. It spans a wide range of SMB/enterprise shops.
• P2000 Series - now this one is interesting.  The P2000 offers both fibre channel and iSCSI connectivity and additional features too.  This makes it difficult to place in the hierarchy.  The new “P” naming standard implies this is the lowest level of array, but I don’t see it like that.
• P4000 Series – the re-badged LeftHand range.  This is a purely iSCSI device but does offer lots of features too.

Clearly there’s a lot of product overlap.  In the next 12 months will we see a P6000 series as a replacement/upgrade to EVA?  Will the XP range be renamed as P8000 series?  What will be the differentiator between the models that helps customers choose the best fit for their environment?  Protocol (FC/iSCSI) isn’t the only choice, so TCO, scalabilty, availability and features will play an important role.

Hopefully the next two days will help fill some of these gaps.

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