EMC VPLEX

EMC VPLEX is a virtual computer data storage software product introduced by EMC Corporation in May 2010. VPLEX implements a distributed "virtualization" layer within and across geographically disparate Fibre Channel storage area networks and data centers.

History

A previous virtual storage product from EMC Corporation called Invista was announced in 2005. Five months after the announcement, Invista had not shipped, and was expected to not have much impact until 2007. By 2009, some analysts suggested the Invista product might best be shut down. Another product called the Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF) also was marketed when VPLEX was announced in May 2010.

Architecture

VPLEX is deployed as a cluster consisting of one or more engines. Each engine consists of two redundant IO directors and one IO annex, each being a single rack unit (1U) physical device. Each engine has 32 Fibre Channel ports (the VS1 model 16 front-end ports and 16 back-end ports) or 16 Fibre Channel ports (the VS2 model has 8 front-end ports and 8 back-end ports) and is protected by two redundant stand-by power supplies.