Chuck's Blog

What Makes Big Data Storage Different?

At EMC World, I was fortunate enough to facilitate our first-ever Big Data Storage Summit.  Imagine a room with 20 or so people, each facing their own unique flavor of stupendous storage requirements.

Our working premise going in was that big data storage requirements were fundamentally different than the more familiar enterprise requirements.  Not only the technology, but also aspects of the operational environment, funding model and other contextual aspects.

We were directionally correct, but we fortunately ended up getting surprised in several regards.  That's what these sessions are really all about -- opening yourself up to being repeatedly surprised.

EMC World 2011 -- The Core Ideas

Thanks to all of you who have been following the EMC World 2011 coverage -- from all of us 
bloggers!  I know, there's a lot to read and contemplate, but things are moving very fast indeed ...

I thought I'd use this post to recap the core ideas shared at the outset of the event.  Most of this material found its way into Joe Tucci's keynote, but you'll recognize a few slides from other keynotes as well.

For those of you who are avid followers of this blog, many of the themes and concepts should be familiar.  But here, they're all in one place.

Simply put: if you'd like to understand how EMC views the world going forward at a macro level, this is the blog post you want to read.

I Do TheCube At EMC World 2011

Dave Vellante and John Furrier have a good thing going.  TheCube is basically a mobile interview rig that they take to various industry events and interview many of the people you hear about but may not get to see on camera that often.

I did a session with them last year at EMC World 2010, and it came out pretty good.  This year, it came out even better.  Dave and John's interview style is rapid and flowing, which forces anyone on the show to be on their best game -- including me.

If you enjoy my other blog content, you'll probably enjoy this as well.  We start with big data and it sort of goes all over from there.  But, as you can clearly see, I'm enjoying myself greatly.

While you're there, you might want to check out all the other related interviews from EMC World 2011.  I've been digging into it progressively (there is a *lot*) of content, and it's pretty good stuff for the most part.

Have a nice weekend.  I know I will ...

 

Ten Impressions From EMC World 2011

It's Thursday afternoon in Las Vegas, the first real time I've had to myself since arriving Sunday afternoon.  

Undoubtedly, there is a lot to be written about what was discussed and learned here.  Seriosuly, I've got enough for dozens of blog posts.

But, in the afterglow, I thought I'd start by sharing 10 of my personal impressions.

Creating A Compatible Service Provider Ecosystem

If you’ve been following my private cloud discussions over the last few years, you’ll probably recall there were two halves to the strategic proposition.

The first part came quickly: strong interest from enterprise IT organizations that wanted to transform their traditional physical IT environment into a private cloud – usually motivated by a strong desire for efficiency and agility.  That theme is well underway -- it's everywhere now. 

The second part was the promise of a wide selection of compatible service providers, using essentially the same technology infrastructure, that would give enterprises the ability to be choosy: not only in which workloads they wanted to move externally, but in choosing who they wanted to work with at any given time.

Today, a big announcement out of EMC World to accelerate that all-important second half of the strategic proposition: EMC is announcing a formal program for Service Providers to accelerate this important trend.

IDC Establishes A New Storage Category

The storage market is moving very fast, indeed.  It’s a potent blend of explosive information growth coupled with rapid technological innovation.

Historically, IDC has been the independent scorekeeper for storage market share: who’s doing well, and who’s not.  No one is perfect in this regard, but IDC is the best out there, and has been for quite some time.

Today, IDC announced that – going forward – they’d be tracking a new category of storage: the purpose-built backup appliance, or PBBA.

Cloud Storage Is Alive And Well

There's been a certain pessimism in the trade press around the idea of enterprises storing their data in a cloud-y service.  While it's true that the practice certainly isn't mainstream, you'd be surprised how many organizations are looking for a better way to lower costs, reduce risks and (in some cases) improve information delivery by using an external service.

Here at EMC World, interest is far stronger than it was last year at this time.  And, not surprisingly, EMC has a number of announcements today around this specific theme.

When Flash Changed Storage Forever

Storage is sexy again.  In the information economy, it's a fundamental enabler of new wealth and value, much like networks have led previous revolutions.

At a high level, there are two fundamental storage technology transitions going on that bear close scrutiny.

One is the inevitable transition from tape to disk for secondary data.  Say what you will, but it's happening -- and happening fast.  For example, EMC's BRS division is a key beneficiary of that particular trend, amongst others.

And the second is the more-fascinating transition from disk to flash: from rotating rust to semiconductor sand.

Today's announcements at EMC World -- once fully appreciated -- will hopefully make people realize that this second transition is happening far faster -- and is far more impactful -- than perhaps once thought.

Industrializing Big Data Software

I'm guessing that this announcement from EMC World might turn a few heads.  

EMC's Data Computing Division (e.g. the Greemplum guys) announced their intent to offer industrialized and integrated enterprise-class versions of Hadoop -- the open source-based darling for high-end analytics using unstructured data. 

There's a cool new appliance, dubbed the EMC Greenplum HD Data Computing Appliance.  There are new "HD" community editions and enterprise software-only editions.  Endorsement, certification and integration from a slew of industry partners.

Simply put, with this announcement, it's safe to say that Hadoop is quickly moving from exotic to mainstream.  And that's cool.

More later on this when I can catch my breath ...

 

 

Live From EMC World

It's started -- we're on Day 1 of EMC World.  

More people than we expected.  A great keynote from Joe to get things started, to be followed by Pat's keynote and announcement in just a few minutes.  You can almost feel the enthusiasm and passion -- it's palpable.

In some ways, EMC and our partners have set up an intellectual buffet table for 10,000 people.  Almost every dish is unique and appetizing in its own way.  Everyone has brought a healthy hunger to learn and engage.  And no one is going home hungry.

In some respects, we'll probably learn an enormous amount from simply seeing what people gravitate towards.  This event is about learning: customers and partners learning from each other, and EMC learning from them.

It's fascinating to watch this all unfold ...