Hi UX_admin, Thanks for taking the time to comment. I have to say that I have found very few customers who only need "the fastest possible performance". Most large customers are very focused on data integrity, the ability to recover from errors, system availability, and any number of other operational items. Seymour Cray used to say that any system that did not crash at least once a month was not properly optimized - but then he did not sell systems into markets that wanted anything other than raw performance. I find it interesting that you say that the VMAX is a firmware-laden, hardware-laden path. We essentially build an MPP computer (lots of parallel threads sharing a common system configuration) that is software on top of Intel chips and drive media. We have zero custom hardware components. And if you find the VMAX to be evil because it is proprietary, what do you consider the Exadata to be? Can it connect to any other server to use as compute or block storage (yes, it has external backup media support)? It is not also a collection of hardware with exclusive software? I would like to understand how you reach the conclusion that VMAX is "evil" and Exadata is somehow fundamentally different. I would also note that there are plenty of daily examples of raw evil in this world, where innocent people are physically and emotionally harmed or killed for the amusement or other satisfaction of their tormentors. I find it difficult to consider the architecture of any computer system as the root of insidious evil - humans seem to have the corner on that market.

I have to admit I am hooked. I have the new iPad, and I often prefer to read mail on it than in Outlook. And since EMC does not allow me to access gmail from my MacBook Air (yes, I have been converted - I think I am rational, though that may be fanboi denial), I find that I can better share my other messages (blog related, personal, etc.) with the iPad mail interface. And I do not have EMC guiding me on which web sites I can access (including annoying things like warnings on the twitter feeds on pages). Maybe this is more about EMC IT rules than about the tablet.... But I like other things better. The WebEx app for me is better than the desktop version (I can zoom and such). Of course, I can also have WebEx up on my iPad (in full view) while I work on other things on my MacBook... And I carry all my books on my iPad. I read them there. I use it for most of my media consumption. I did try an iPad mini, and while the screen is not as nice (nor as large), getting things done in half the weight has some real advantages. So my next version may be a mini. Every now and then, I find myself without my iPad and trying to do some of the same things on my phone. And every time it reminds me why I have the iPad.

Yes, he had an amazing impact. The biggest change that I think he brought was to really focus on the user experience. And with the iPod/iPhone/iPad, the focus has been on making technology simple for non-geeks. I believe he will long be remembered for showing IT companies how to really build products for the mass market.

Chad, I thank you for taking the time to drill into the detail on these options. You are right that a lot of the customers I talk to get these options confused, and start thinking they can mix vMotion and SRM for the same VMs between the same sites. I look forward to the 2 follow-on posts on this subject. (Disclosure - I work for EMC)

Thank you for sharing, Chris. My ix-2 only has two drives, so I mirrored them. Unless I go crazy on video, 1 TB is plenty of space.