By Patrick Eitenbichler 

A couple of days ago, EMC's Chuck Hollis published a blog entitled "More Examples Of Why Server Vendors Just Don't Get Storage" at http://chucksblog.typepad.com/chucks_blog/2008/06/more-examples-o.html.  Among other topics, Chuck shared his thoughts about two technology trends:  Solid State Disks (SSD) and Data Deduplication.

Since Chuck "was laughing very hard" when he read my comments about SSD in an article published on searchstorage.com, I had to set the record straight -- and posted the following comment on his blog:

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Chuck, I'm glad you enjoy being a storage-only vendor. The customers I talk to are looking for a trusted partner who can help them deliver predictable SLAs to their endusers vs. just a storage company.

Re: SSDs, I'd like to propose having lunch with you 2 years from now. If you ship more storage capacity in SSDs vs. FC disk by then, I'll pay. Otherwise, you'll pay -- and I get to pick the place :-).

See http://www.blackyard.net/?p=908: "Dave Donatelli, a senior exec at EMC, predicted that high-end flash drives will replace high-end hard drives in 2 years."

Let me clarify what I told SearchStorage: SSDs will be a viable technology for I/O intensive applications -- which is why we'll offer SSDs in our servers and StorageWorks XP arrays later this year. However, HP isn't willing to put customers' data at risk. We want to at least be able to source SSD hardware from two manufacturers to ensure uninterrupted supplies.

In terms of your predictions in the past, I wouldn't push that topic... The huge investments you made in network-based virtualization with Invista went nowhere while HP's external virtualization with our XP arrays is a winner, and the virtualization in our EVAs lets customers manage an EVA in 1/5 the time it takes to manage a CX (see Edison White Paper). And -- HP has offered Thin Provisioning in our XP arrays for over a year -- a feature that can also be used with all arrays virtualized behind the XP -- while you just recently (and quietly) started shipping Thin Provisioning. I could go on..............

And... talking about deduplication... HP is the only vendor who listened to customer feedback that one size does not fit all. We offer "accelerated deduplication" in our Virtual Library Systems delivering the performance and scalability needed in datacenters, and leverage HP Labs technology for "dynamic deduplication" in our D2D Backup Systems for smaller environments at half the cost of competitive offerings. See details on hp.com. 

Looking forward to our lunch in 2010!

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