EMC Embraces Storage Over IP Networks

Departing from its mainstream business of selling storage systems that operate over the high-performance Fibre Channel interface, EMC Corp. last week unveiled midrange and low-cost storage systems that operate over IP. EMC's new line of Clariion storage systems provide native iSCSI support.

The iSCSI interface converts blocks of data into a form that won't choke IP networks. The new storage systems could interface directly to direct-attached storage or connect two or more Fibre Channel-based storage area networks over long distances.

The Clariion AX100i, CX300i, and CX500i models are available now, and pricing starts at $5,995. The AX100i is based on low-cost, serial ATA disk drives. The other two systems operate with a mix of the low-cost drives and high-performance Fibre Channel drives.

One industry analyst doesn't believe EMC is at all late with its support for iSCSI. "It's perfect timing for EMC because iSCSI is just going into early mainstream status," says Tony Asaro, an analyst and lab director at the Enterprise Strategy Group. "Only recently could we even say that iSCSI wasn't a fad and wasn't going away."