Where in the world is Maui?  If I was talking geography, that's an easy question to answer.  But since we're talking storage, the whereabouts of Maui remains a mystery.   Hulk/ Maui were pre-announced by EMC CEO Joe Tucci at last November's Innovation Day.  Not a lot of details were given but the audience was told that Hulk/ Maui would be shipping by May 2008.  It was a hot topic of discussion by attendees at EMC World but basically all EMC would say publicly is that it would be announced by the summer 2008.  

Well, we've already had snow in Boise and my calendar says summer 2008 has come and gone yet still no sign of Hulk/Maui.  There was an ever so brief sighting on an EMC blog that "demonstrated"  their offering via a video but that post was quickly pulled off the blog with no explanation (see the SearchStorage blog about this here).  I find this interesting given the chest thumping we continually hear from EMC about how server/storage vendors don't make good storage vendors.

Enter the HP StorageWorks 9100 Extreme Data Storage System (ExDS9100).  HP is actively working with customers that are evaluating both ExDS9100 and Hulk/Maui.  I'll let you in on a few details that are coming in from those customers:  

• HP has not lost an ExDS9100 deal to Hulk/Maui
• I know of at least a few customers that have said Maui isn't ready for prime time and have stopped their evaluation
• HP is taking orders on the ExDS9100 and it will be shipping VERY soon

In the next post I'll talk more about the ExDS9100 and why it's a solution that a storage only vendor like EMC would struggle to bring to market. 

P.S:  Chuck, we look forward to your response but not really expecting anything.

See the latest Hulk/Maui rumor de jour from StorageTopics blog: http://www.storagetopics.com/2008/10/notes-from-rumor-mill-infiniflex-10000.html (Advice - don't hold your breath waiting for Hulk & Maui)