NetApp/3Par alliance to tread on EMC toes

3PAR has teamed up with NetApp to jointly market a new storage consolidation solution that combines 3PAR’s InServ Storage Server arrays with NetApp’s V-Series storage manage and virtualisation platform.

Similar block-based solutions are already available from EMC, IBM and HDS, said 3PAR vice president of marketing Craig Nunes, though he believes that the joint product offers much better value for money in comparison.

“I think the big loser here is EMC, certainly where the cost effectiveness of its DMX/Celera solution is concerned. IT managers are looking for a SAN/NAS kind of solution with enterprise scalability and functionality, which this partnership means we can now bring to bear,” he said.

The idea for the joint product is reported to have come from the two companies own customers, who were demanding scalable, easy to manage block and file data services within in a single resource, added Nunes.

3PAR’s disk based arrays use either Fibre Channel (FC) and iSCSI host interfaces, offering up to 384TB of data storage capacity. NetApp’s V-Series appliance virtualises multiple arrays into a single capacity pool and uses its ONTAP thin provisioning and snapshot tools for storage management and backup.

NetApp already has similar certification and joint support agreements for arrays manufactured by EMC, HDS and IBM. Whilst this means that 3PAR will continue to compete with NetApp through its other partners, it believes that some NetApp companies will switch hardware products.

“We compete withNetApp every day, but the situation here is interesting because where 3PAR arrays have stolen the hearts and minds of those managing block applications, it is in those situations where NetApp converts from being a competitor to being a partner,” said Nunes.

3PAR rival Pillar Data Systems disputed Nunes’ assumption however, and says the joint support scheme will not speed up problem resolution. All but the simplest issues will still have to resolved by NetApp, creating delays and ‘finger pointing’ between the two vendors, commented Chris Jones, Pillar Data Systems EMEA vice president.

“The customer will be the main loser in this partnership as the two systems will not integrate fully. The NetApp system is a management point and the 3Par system is another management point. With 3Par’s data management, it will be difficult to configure the system to eliminate SAN and NAS traffic from interfering with each other,” he said.

3PAR rival Pillar Data Systems disputed Nunes’ assumption however, and says the joint support scheme will not speed up problem resolution. All but the simplest issues will still have to resolved by NetApp, creating delays and ‘finger pointing’ between the two vendors, commented Chris Jones, Pillar Data Systems EMEA vice president.

“The customer will be the main loser in this partnership as the two systems will not integrate fully. The NetApp system is a management point and the 3Par system is another management point. With 3Par’s data management, it will be difficult to configure the system to eliminate SAN and NAS traffic from interfering with each other,” he said.