EMC announced it’s Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) – Links

Ok, so the day before yesterday (December 8th to be exact) EMC launched a new feature for three of their storage arrays, the Symmetrix V-Max, the Clariion CX4 and the Celerra NS. It’s a feature called FAST which stands for “Fully Automated Storage Tiering”, and is basically a fancy way of saying that they will move your data to slower or faster disks based on your requirements. With this first version of FAST you still need to manually set up some values for this movement, but EMC is already working on the next version called FAST v2 that will automate this movement.

According to Network Computing, “prices start at $5,000 for entry-level systems and $22,000 for Symmetrix”.

Now, right now I’m stuck in whitepapers, blogs and tweets on the subject, and I plan to write a longer posting on FAST and how it works. For now I’ll just try to make this a collection of links with information on FAST by both EMC and other sources. This is just a quick reference for me, but you might also find it useful. So here goes.

EMC and EMC employees:

• EMC’s official press release – http://www.emc.com/about/news/press/2009/20091208-01.htm
• EMC’s official website section on FAST – http://www.emc.com/products/launch/fast/index.htm
• Storagezilla – http://storagezilla.typepad.com/storagezilla/2009/12/fast-to-the-fullest.html
• Virtual Geek – http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2009/12/emc-fast-the-storage-equivalent-of-vmware-drs-is-ga.html
• The storage anarchist – http://thestorageanarchist.typepad.com/weblog/2009/12/2030-emc-fast-and-the-big-5.html
• Chuck Hollis – http://chucksblog.emc.com/chucks_blog/2009/12/fast-and-the-continuing-virtualization-of-storage.html
• Gina Minks – http://gminks.edublogs.org/2009/12/08/emc-fast-how-do-it-folks-keep-up-to-speed/
• Christopher Kusek – http://www.pkguild.com/2009/12/fast-from-emc-performance-meet-the-quickening/

That’s just a start with official info. Now for some links which are not that official but worth a read:

• Storagenerve – After all FAST makes a debut
• Storagenerve – FAST: Features, Drawbacks, Applications and some Questions
• StorageIO – EMC Storage and Management Software Getting FAST
• Storagebod – Google for the Infrastructure (yes, it’s actually about FAST)
• Discussion on twitter – http://twitter.com/#search?q=EMC%20FAST
• Cinetica – Too much hype and money for nothing = FAST V1
• Video on youtube with SMC demo – Video: Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) on Symmetrix V-Max
• SearchStorage – EMC unveils FAST software
• Contemplating IT – EMC FAST – Validating Intelligent Tiered Storage
• Network Computing – EMC FAST Brings Storage Tiering To Fibre Channel, SATA And Flash
• The storage architect – Enterprise Computing: Is There Any Point Buying From EMC?
• HDS / Hu Yoshida – How fast ist FAST?
• Channel Register – FAST takes it’s sweet time
• HDS / Pete Gerr – Marketecture vs. Architecture
• Computerworld – EMC automates data tiering across all primary array lines
• Bas Raayman – EMC’s FAST, take 1. Action!

Since we also need some documentation and this is sort of mixed here’s a link for starters:

• Christopher Kusek – One Stop Shop for Symmetrix V-Max Fully Automated Storage Tiering (FAST) docs!
• Christopher Kusek – One Stop Shop for EMC Celerra FAST and CLARiiON FAST docs!

I’m sure there will be more and I will try to update this post when I find new info. You can also simple send me a tweet and I’ll make sure to add any links on this page.