Symmetrix

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Symmetrix is the brand name for storage systems from the manufacturer EMC . The first models were developed and sold in the 1980s.

history

In 1990 the first Symmetrix systems began to be marketed, which were nicknamed ICDA (Intelligent Cached Disk Array), because in addition to the disks used, the system primarily benefited from intelligent cache (memory) management. The maximum capacity of the system at that time was 24 GB.

In parallel to the further development of the hardware, the development of software began to take over the functions of the hosts - including SRDF (Symmetrix Remote Data Facility - synchronous data mirroring between several Symmetrix systems) in 1993, TimeFinder (split mirror mechanism within a Symmetrix system) in 1997 and many more software products.

With the third generation of models from 1994 onwards, in addition to mainframe systems, Open Systems platforms ( UNIX , Windows NT , AS / 400 ) were supported in mixed operation on the same system. In 2005, the Symmetrix DMX-3 enabled total storage capacities of over a petabyte for the first time . Since 2016, the VMAX 3 systems have also been offered as All Flash Arrays without rotating plates.

Symmetrix DMX1000

Models

generation Models Years of production Hard drives (max.) Memory (max.)
Symm2 4000, 4400, 4800 1992 24
Symm3 3100, 3200, 3500 1994 32/96/128 4 GB
Symm 4.0 3330/5330, 3430/5430, 3700/5700 1996 32/96/128 8 GB / 16 GB
Symm 4.8 3630/5630, 3830/5830, 3930/5930 1998 32/96/256/384 8 GB / 16 GB
Symm 5.0 8430, 8730 2000 96/384 32 GB
Symm 5.5 8230, 8530, 8830 2001 48/96/384 32 GB
DMX, DMX2 DMX-1000, DMX-2000, DMX-3000 2003 144/288/576 GB / 64 GB / 128 GB2
DMX3, DMX4 1500, 2500, 3500, 4500 2005 240/960/1440/2400 64/144/216/256 GB
VMAX VMAX, VMAX-SE, VMAX 10K, VMAX 20K, VMAX 40K 2009+ 1080/2400/3200 512/1024/2048 GB
VMAX 3 VMAX 100K, 200K, 400K 2015 1440/2880/5760 2TB / 8TB / 16 TB
VMAX ALL Flash VMAX 250F, 450F, 850F 2016 ? / 960/1920 1PB / 2PB / 4PB

Features

  • TimeFinder, TimeFinder / Clone - Local Replication
  • Symmetrix Remote Data Facility  (SRDF) supports remote replication
  • Symmetrix Optimizer - Dynamical swap disks based on workload
  • Symmetrix command line interface (SymmCli)
  • SymmWin, Eguinuty - Symmetrix GUI console (since Symm3, Symm4 models)
  • AnatMain - Symmetrix Pseudo-GUI console (before Symm 3, Symm4 models)
  • Symmetrix remote console (SymmRemote)
  • FAST - Fully automated storage tiering
  • FTS - Federated tiered storage
  • ECC --EMC Control Center

VMAX

The last generation VMAX3 was developed under the aspects of reducing complexity, maximum performance, massive scalability, maximum availability and maximum packing density for minimum space consumption. With 8 engines and max. 16 TB cache, up to 5,760 hard drives of various sizes and rotation speeds can be installed. 

The VMAX3 generation of devices can either be operated completely with flash memory or operated as a hybrid system with flash drives and hard disks of various sizes and speeds . Since 2016 the VMAX3 systems can also be used for IBM zSeries due to the FICON connection. The developed host software zDP (zSeries Data Protector), in combination with the SnapVX technology of the storage system, enables the mainframe environment to be backed up efficiently and consistently to create point-in-time copies in real-time intervals of up to 10 minutes can. These copies are primarily used for the very fast recovery of large amounts of data, e.g. B. data corruption or human error. 

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ EMC introduces EMC Symmetrix 4200 integrated cached disk array with a capacity of 24 gigabytes.
  2. ↑ 1997 - New Symmetrix Line Unveiled EMC introduces new line of EMC Symmetrix products.
  3. ↑ HOPKINTON, MONDAY, JULY 25, 2005 - EMC Corporation today announced the largest, fastest and most scalable high-end storage array in the world, capable of providing leading functionality while scaling to one petabyte (1,024 terabytes) of capacity.
  4. ↑ VMAX All Flash Storage Systems | Dell EMC US. In: www.emc.com. Retrieved September 9, 2016 .
  5. ↑ EMC Productguide (PDF file)