EMC Mounts iSCSI Blitz

EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) is looking to grab first-time SAN users with its new iSCSI Clariion systems, while leaving its current installed base on Fibre Channel (see EMC Rolls Out IP SAN).

We view this as the next step not only in iSCSI, but the next step in building our product line for the SMB market,” says Tom Joyce, EMC’s senior director of platforms marketing. “Existing Fibre Channel SAN customers are going to stay with Fibre Channel.”

To recap: EMC's new systems include the AX100i, CX300i, and CX500i. The AX100i is a SATA-only system aimed at SMBs, while the CX IP SANs connect to SATA or Fibre Channel drives and seem to target a specific portion of the midrange SAN market.

EMC's pushing the AX100i -- which Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) will also sell -- as its entry-level IP SAN. This product hearkens back to EMC’s early SMB strategy, which started with the introduction of the AX100, the company's first Fibre Channel SAN for SMBs, last May (see EMC, Dell Get Small With SATA, EMC to Serve Up IP SANs, EMC Rolls Out IP SAN, and Dell Enters IP SAN Game).

Price is key here. The SMB market was considered a sweet spot for iSCSI initially, but while early IP SANs were priced below enterprise level, they were still high for SMBs (see IP SANs: Coming of Age). EMC says it will sell the AX100i at around $6,000 with single-controller, 500-Gbyte capacity. Dell lists the entry-level AX100i at $5,000, around the same price as the IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) DS300 iSCSI system launched last September (see IBM Slips iSCSI Into SAN).Still, these prices don't quite hit the spot where at least one analyst see SMBs opening the wallet. “You can’t say iSCSI has been an SMB product, because where’s the $3,000 iSCSI system?” asks IDC analyst Robert Gray. Still, its new price range shows EMC's trying to bend a bit to grasp low-hanging fruit.

While the AX100i is for SMBs, the CX300i and CX500i have more fine-tuned targets. Joyce says they're for large customers, such as carriers, that attach to high numbers of servers via Ethernet and might prefer IP SANs. Joyce also says foreign markets such as India are potentially lucrative for higher-end iSCSI systems because they have a lot of IP expertise and a small Fibre Channel SAN base.

EMC’s list price for the dual-controller CX300i is $25,650 with 365GB and two back-end Fibre Channel connections; and the dual-controller CX500i carries a $68,075 list price with 365GB and four back-end Fibre Channel connections. Although it co-brands the CX300 and CX500, Dell is not offering the iSCSI versions.

Joyce is clear that he expects to sell more AX100i's than new midrange iSCSI systems. For one thing, EMC’s list prices for all its new iSCSI systems are the same as for the Fibre Channel versions. Considering Fibre Channel runs at 2 Gbit/s -- soon to be 4 Gbit/s -- and iSCSI at 1-Gbit/s, price parity gives existing Fibre Channel customers little reason to switch.

There are other disincentives: EMC’s Fibre Channel SANs also provide an advantage in functionality over the iSCSI versions. Mirror View and SAN Copy migration software is not yet available for the Clariion IP SANs.All this is just fine with EMC, which like other Fibre Channel SAN vendors, is skeptical about the performance issues of IP SANs. EMC’s sales material for the IP SANs points out that iSCSI isn’t available for the highest-end Clariion, the CX700, because it “typically goes into the most demanding customer environments that have the most stringent requirements for availability and scaleability.” It also doesn't hurt that EMC, like other big SAN vendors, gets far higher profit margins from Fibre Channel than iSCSI (see IP SAN Serves Two Masters).

EMC's stance on IP SANs is under fire (covertly) by startups in this space (see IP SAN Serves Two Masters). The battle will eventually materialize in the midrange, where EMC and other FC players are loath to erode their Fibre Channel stakes.

— Dave Raffo, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch