SAN novices can simply plug in what their existing infrastructure looks like and how much additional storage they need, Cassidy says, and the SAN Architect offers a long list of suggestions and different possible combinations. The tool is also useful for experts, he says, pointing out that it dramatically reduces the time and risk associated with making changes to the SAN infrastructure.
Radian Group Inc., a finance company that has been beta testing the tool, says it reduced the time needed for modeling and verifying changes to the SAN from 24 hours to four.
"This produces recommendations that solve a particular problem," Cassidy says. "It shows what you have today, what the proposed changes are, and validates that it will work."
However, EMC says that the SAN Architect currently works with Clariion, older Symmetrix, and new DMXs -- in other words, only EMC products. Toward the end of this year, the company says it plans to add the possibility to configure in other companies arrays.
Despite the fact that SAN Architect only works with EMC gear, Kenniston says Hopkinton is ahead of the curve. The only other company offering anything similar, he says, is Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) (NYSE: CA) through its recent acquisition of Netreon Inc. (see CA Nets Netreon).
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