EMC, Dell To Jointly Unveil Entry-Level Clariion Array

EMC Dell Computer

EMC president and CEO Joe Tucci said during an earning's call last week that he would appear on stage Monday with Dell president and COO Kevin Rollins to discuss the one-year anniversary of their companies' relation and to introduce the latest member of the Clariion storage array family.

Sources told CRN that Monday will see the introduction of the Clariion CX200, the entry-level version of the company's latest storage array family.

The high-end version, the CX600, was unveiled in August. The CX600 allows a maximum capacity of 17 Tbytes of data using up to 240 hard disks in a single rack.

That was followed early this month with the midrange CX400. It can be configured for up to 4.3 Tbytes and comes with two 800 MHz Intel processors, up to 2 Gbytes of cache, up to 64 hosts per array and up to four host ports. A CX400 can be upgraded to a CX600, or a CX600 drive tray can be upgraded to become a CX400.

The software for the new Clariions is closely tied to the Symmetrix-specific software. Symmetrix-compatible software, drivers and adapters can now be run on the Clariion, cutting down on training and support requirements for SANs running both arrays.

EMC is not discussing details about the CX200 at this time. However, the company told CRN in August that Dell is expected to manufacture the CX200 using technology licensed from EMC.

Channel sources said that the CX200 is aimed at departments and workgroups and will work in Windows 2000, Windows NT, and Red Hat Linux environments.