1 minute read50 Ways to Leverage Used EMC Storage
By Reid Smith-Vaniz
There are many reasons you may find yourself wondering what to do with your used EMC storage arrays. Maybe you just bought a new EMC array. Maybe you’re considering migrating to another storage platform, but your team isn’t comfortable with the new technology yet. That means you see the migration happening in the next year or two, but you need some additional capacity now, so you’re holding onto or buying a used EMC array, or maybe you’re cash-strapped and half your environment is NetApp and half is EMC and you need to buy more test/dev capacity.
You can always sell your used EMC array, but there are many other options to consider, some of which may be a far better business decision for your organization. Here are 50 options for you to consider.
- Archive
- DR Target
- More spindles for better performance
- Upgrade an older array
- Buy a used VNX for test
- Oracle dev, test, QA expansion platform
- CommVault—Disk-based backup and restore target
- Veeam—Disk-based backup and restore target
- PureDisk—Disk-based backup and restore target
- Buy some now and use as leverage when you have to buy new
- 1.5X – 3X extra capacity when your budget is flat
- Spares for <1 hour response time
- Tier 2 storage
- Tier 3 storage
- Test storage
- Remote sites (same platform as main data center)
- Data center move
- Data migration
- Performance booster (lots of spindles)
- Hot application that needs its own array
- Backup to disk target for backup software
- Backup to disk upgrade for array based snaps, clones
- Extra disk trays to consolidate your second, third vendor capacity
- When you’re in a pinch and EMC can’t deliver
- When you want to gain leverage with EMC
- When you’re tired of the price you pay for EMC storage
- When you need an upgrade the next day
- When you want SSD drives and can’t afford them (you can get them used!)
- When you want to trade in storage
- Rental options for various short-term projects
- Extra VMWare storage—you’ll need it!
- Disk swap to modify your old storage array into an archive solution
- IBM TSM staging disk pool
- Restoration point for Data Domain backups
- Restoration point for Avamar backups
- Target for EMC vPlex
- Target for EMC SanCopy
- Target for EMC MirrorView
- Target for EMC SnapView
- Upgrades for your old Clariion
- Upgrades for your old Celerra
- Upgrades for your new VNX (available used at 30-60% less!)
- Extra reserve capacity to make you look like a hero
- Used box instead of another vendor that the team has to learn
- Image repository
- File repository
- Testing platform
- VMware disk-based backup target (Vizioncore, Veeam, etc.)
- When your budget is under-funded
- When you need small spindles for your existing databases
Well, we tried to make it an even 50, but had to add just one more:
- When you want options EMC can’t or won’t deliver
After reading this list, your problem may be figuring out which of these many alternatives is the right choice for your organization. If you’d like some help with that, just give the storage experts at Reliant a call. We’d be happy to help you sort through the alternatives to find the best way for you to leverage your used EMC storage. Have you considered all the options for your used EMC hardware?
Subscribe to our newsletter for blog, End-of-Life (EOL/EOSL) dates, and data center news and information.
by Reid Smith-Vaniz
Reid is the founder and CEO of Reliant Technology and for 14 years has pursued his mission to remove the pain associated with maintaining IT infrastructure. Reid writes on common challenges related to maintaining, servicing, tracking, budgeting, and upgrading technology.
Reliant Technology Cares ♥
When you have Reliant Technology support your data center, you help us support SERV International and provide thousands of meals for starving children.
About Reliant Technology
As Data Center and storage experts, Reliant Technology is available to provide consultations and solutions to your server backup needs. Our experienced engineers and IT specialists are ready to help you determine the best option for your Data Center. If you have a topic you would like to see discussed, or if you would like to submit an article for possible publication, please, get in touch with us.