After spending about 2 months with the array, I've had plenty of time to form my opinions. And while our array is still running beta code, with some more great stuff expected in the GA release, it's hard not to be excited. Big thanks to all the EMC folks that helped us get in to the Beta program-- and to those who supported us when we hit some snags. Jason and Greg specifically-- you guys rock, big time. Thank you for all your time and mental energy.

My first thought when the SAN arrived and was unboxed was "Wow, this looks different". The array is visually different to someone used to CLARiiON/Celerras, but in a good way. The 25 drives in the DPE are a big change. <a href="http://img338.imageshack.us/i/vnxw.jpg/" target="_blank">See it here!</a>

The back of the array is just as different-- and very "nerd-friendly", with bright LED lights and clear numbers to identify BUS and DAEs. <a href="http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/489/vnxnerdlights.jpg" target="_blank">Check it out-- bright nerd lights!</a>

After getting logged in to Unisphere and clicking around a bit, I found the File and Block storage options in the same place was tremendously useful. It truly feels "Unified". Having the menu options on the right hand side instead of the left took some getting used to, but everything I was used to or needed access to was readily accessible. The VNX leverages all the great things of FLARE and DART, so it's got the familiar feel to it, though now it's called the VNX Operating Environment.

Creating storage pools, RAID groups, carving LUNs, changing auto-tiering policies, host connectivity-- all of it really is very simple (and I will have videos up to show just HOW  simple). Check out this video on creating a block Storage Pool, carving some LUNs, and showing some of the properties of the LUNs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hzvx_la-sQ