EMC VNX Maintenance Moving to Unity Hardware

The first EMC VNX generation reached end of life back in December 31st 2019, and contained the following EMC models VNX5100, 5300, 5500, 5700 and 7500. This now leaves just the second  generation of EMC VNX models, the VNX5200, 5400, 5600, 5800 and 7600 actively being support by the OEM. Company IT professionals are either looking for reputable third party maintenance (TPM) providers to manage and extend the life of those storage arrays or have decided a program and migration path to move on to the Dell EMC Unity platform. 

Decisions about engaging with a TPM provider for  company IT professionals can be daunting for those who have only dealt with OEM support. This has been mainly due to the software entitlement companies have received from their warranty in the past. The question that should be asked is "will you still be able to obtain  software or firmware patches for your legacy equipment? " because if the requirement need  is for hardware replacement and the knowlege that you have a technical support desk or web based support portal at your disposal, then a good TPM may be the answer to help bridge the divide until you are ready to move to a new data storage platform.

EMC VNX MAINTENANCE PLANNING 

Many companies may still be in the process of deciding which is the best route to take.  Long term commercial viablity must be considered before deciding to invest in a new capital purchase or engaging in a new operational partnership with a TPM provider. During this time, many will start to self maintain their EMC VNX hardware and will inevitably be  forced into a decision due to unexpected challenges that occur with their storage hardware. The majority of good TPM providers will be extremely reluctant in entertaining adhoc maintenance. Instead they will be inclined to start building a relationship with a customer to fully understand the wider objective and assist in achieving the customer's end goal. This could be potentially to deliver an extensive plan for the maintenance and support of the current storage infrastructure, with a clear migration path on to a new storage platform. This could also include a redeployment of current hardware assets into a research or testing area of the business that has reduced risk but still has a requirement to deliver services. Another possibility may be to provide a residual value on current storage infrastructure with a phased decommissioning approach that enables part support, part return of investment and a gradual process to move on to a new storage platform to meet business requirements.

DELL EMC UNITY HARDWARE

The Dell EMC Unity platform consists of the entry level unity300/300F up to the Unity 600/660F flash arrays, and the 350F to 650F models. These were the next in- line storage models from the VNX range, certainly if you were a first generation VNX owner. The Dell EMC Unity platform will not reach end of service life until the end of January 2023, this is exactly the same time as the second generation VNX will reach end of service life. The availability of hardware parts for the Unity range is currently quite scarce and expensive. This leads companies who are forecasting or comparing against current OEM support quotes down a potentially unrealistic route for many. This trend will change and change rapidly as storage technology moves forward and Unity hardware parts become readily available.  Having a trusted and preferred TPM provider that freely shares information and keeps you updated with inside industry news is invaluable and certainly worth taking the time to  talk with them frequently to stay updated.

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