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SymmetrixModels

TheSymmetrixmodelhistorybeganmorethan20yearsago.
ThefirstSymmetrixwasthemodel4200.Itappearedin1990.
TheSymmetrixmodel3wasannouncedin1995.
TheSymmetrix5500introducedSRDFandConsistencyGroupsfeatures.
TheSymmetrix3000/5000introducedTimeFinderandPowerPathfeatures.
TheSymmetrix8000orSymm5wasthefirstSymmetrixtointroduceDUALbusarchitecture,
providingredundancyinthepathtomemory.
TheSymmetrixDMX800isanincrementallyscalable,highendstoragearray,whichfeaturesmodular
diskarrayenclosures.
TheDMX12introducedtheDirectMatrixArchitecturestoragearraytechnologythatemploysa
matrixofdedicated,serialpointtopointconnectionsinsteadoftraditionalbusesorswitches.
TheSymmetrixDMX4usesredundantGlobalmemory.
TheSymmetrixVMAXSystemwasannouncedin2009.
Thefeaturesinclude:
FullyAutomatedStorageTieringforVirtualPools(FASTVP)
NewDAREencryptionwithRSAandnondisruptivedatamovementwithFederatedLiveMigration
TheSymmetrixVMAXeseriesannouncedin2011providesanewentrypointforcompanieslookingto
moveintothehighendSymmetrixfamily.

1990Symmetrix4200ICDA(IntegratedCachedDiskArray)Technology,TotalCapacity24GB
1991Symmetrix42004MbDRAM,5.25HDAs,MirroringRAID1
1992Symmetrix4400DynamicSparing,RMPCallHome
1993Symmetrix480016MBDRAM,1GBGlobalMemory,Nondisruptivemicrocode,Hypervolume
Extension.
1994Symmetrix55003SRDF
1995Symmetrix3.0OpenSymmetrixFWDSCSIattach,3.5HDAs,RAIDProtection,SRDFHost
Component,SymmetrixManager
1996SymmetrixESPMixCKD/FBA
1997Symmetrix4.0TimeFinder,DataReach,InfoMover,Celerra,FDRSOS,FibreChannel,PowerPath,
UltraSCSI,DMSP
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1998Symmetrix4.8FCAL/FCSW,SymmetrixOptimizer
1999Symmetrix5.0333MHzPPC,181GBdisks,QoSControls
2000Symmetrix5.52GBfibreChannel,400MHzPPC
20002001SymmetrixDMXDirectMatrix,500MHzPPC,2GBFC,BackEndParityRAID
20012002SymmetrixDMX2GBFICON,GigabitEthernetSRDF,iSCSI,SRDF/A,TimeFinder/Snap
2003SymmetrixDMX21GhzPPC,RAID5DataProtection,32GBMemoryDirectors
20032004SymmetrixDMX2SRDFModeChange,ConcurrentSRDF,SRDF/Star,TimeFinder/Clone,Open
Replicator
2005SymmetrixDMX38Processors/Directors,1.3GHzPPC,LowCostFCDisks,IncrementalScalable,
Upto2400disks,OpenMigrator/LM
20052006SymmetrixDMX3DynamicCachePartitioning,SymmetrixPriorityControls,VirtualLUN
Technology,SymmetrixServiceCredential,TamperProofAuditLogs,SecureDataEraser,RAID6
Protections.
20072008SymmetrixDMX44GB/sPointtopointBackend,FC&SATAIntermix,RSAenVision
Intergration,FlashDrives,VirtualProvisioningCascadedSRDF.

SymmetrixFamily1.0
ICDAIntegratedCacheDiskArray
Released1990andsoldthrough1993
A24GBtotaldiskspaceintroduced
Symmetrix4200

SymmetrixFamily2.0
ICDAIntegratedCacheDiskArray
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Released1991andsoldthrough1994
A36GBtotaldiskspace
Mirroringintroduced
Symmetrix4400

SymmetrixFamily2.5
ICDAIntegratedCacheDiskArray
Released1992andsoldthrough1995
RSFcapabilitiesadded
Symmetrix4800:

SymmetrixFamily3.0alsocalledSymmetrix3000and5000Series
Released1994andsoldthrough1997
ICDA:IntegratedCacheDiskArray
IncludesMainframeSupport(Bus&Tag)
GlobalCacheintroduced
1GBtotalCache
NDUMicrocode
SRDFintroduced
SupportsMainframeandopensystemsboth
Enginuitymicrocode50xx,51xx
Symmetrix3100:Opensystemssupport,halfheightcabinet,5.25inchdrives
Symmetrix5100:Mainframesupport,halfheightcabinet,5.25inchdrives
Symmetrix3200:OpenSystemssupport,singlecabinet,5.25inchdrives
Symmetrix5200:Mainframesupport,singlecabinet,5.25inchdrives
Symmetrix3500:OpenSystemssupport,triplecabinet,5.25inchdrives
Symmetrix5500:Mainframesupport,triplecabinet,5.25inchdrives

SymmetrixFamily4.0alsocalledSymmetrix3000and5000Series
Released1997andsoldthrough2000
RAIDXPintroduced
3.5Inchdrivesizeintroduced
Ontriplecabinetsystems5.25inchdrivesused
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SupportsMainframeandOpenSystemsboth
Timefinder,Powerpath,UltraSCSIsupport
Enginuitymicrocode5265.xx.xx,5266.xx.xx
Symmetrix3330:OpenSystemsSupport,halfheightcabinet,32drives,3.5inchdrives
Symmetrix5330:MainframeSupport,halfheightcabinet,32drives,3.5inchdrives
Symmetrix3430:OpenSystemsSupport,singleframe,96drives,3.5inchdrives
Symmetrix5430:MainframeSupport,singleframe,96drives,3.5inchdrives
Symmetrix3700:OpenSystemsSupport,triplecabinet,128drives,5.25inchdrives
Symmetrix5700:MainframeSupport,triplecabinet,128drives,5.25inchdrives

SymmetrixFamily4.8alsocalledSymmetrix3000and5000Series
Released1998andsoldthrough2001
SymmetrixOptimizerIntroduced
Besthardwaresofar:leastoutages,leastproblemsandleastfailures(notsureifEMCwillagree
toit,mostcustomersdo)
3.5inchdrivesusedwithallmodels
Enginuitymicrocode5265.xx.xx,5266.xx.xx,5267.xx.xx
Symmetrix3630:OpenSystemssupport,halfheightcabinet,32drives
Symmetrix5630:Mainframesupport,halfheightcabinet,32drives
Symmetrix3830:OpenSystemssupport,singlecabinet,96drives
Symmetrix5830:Mainframesupport,singlecabinet,96drives
Symmetrix3930:OpenSystemssupport,triplecabinet,256drives
Symmetrix5930:Mainframesupport,triplecabinet,256drives
Modelssoldas363018,363036,363050,563018,563036,563050,383036,383050,383073,
583036,583050,583073,393036,393050,393073,593036,593050,593073(thelasttwo
digitsindicatethedrivesinstalledintheframe)

SymmetrixFamily5.0alsocalledSymmetrix8000Series
[3000(opensytems)+5000(mainframe)=8000(supportforboth)]
SupportsOpenSystemsandMainframewithoutBUSandTAGthroughESCON
Released2000andsoldthrough2003
181GBDiskintroduced
Enginuitymicrocode5567.xx.xx,5568.xx.xx
Symmetrix8130:Slimcabinet,48drives
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Symmetrix8430:Singlecabinet,96drives
Symmetrix8730:Triplecabinet,384drives
Somemodelssoldas843036,843073,8430181or873036,873073,8730181(thelasttwodigits
indicatethedrivesinstalledintheframe)

SymmetrixFamily5.5LVDalsocalledSymmetrix8000Series
Released2001andsoldthrough2004
LVD:LowVoltageDiskIntroduced
146GBLVDdriveintroduced
UltraSCSIdrivescannotbeusedwiththeLVDframe
Mainframeoptimizedmachinesintroduced
4SlicedirectorsintroducedwithESCONandFICON
FICONintroduced
Enginuitymicrocode5567.xx.xx,5568.xx.xx
Symmetrix8230:Slimcabinet,48drives,(rebranded8130,nonlvdframe)
Symmetrix8530:Singlecabinet,96drives,(rebranded8430,nonlvdframe)
Symmetrix8830:Triplecabinet,384drives,(rebranded8730,nonlvdframe)
Symmetrix8230LVD:LVDframe,slimcabinet,48LVDdrives
Symmetrix8530LVD:LVDframe,singlecabinet,96LVDdrives
Symmetrix8830LVD:LVDframe,triplecabinet,384LVDdrives
Symmetrixz8530:LVDframe,Singlecabinet,96drives,optimizedformainframes
Symmetrixz8830:LVDframe,Triplecabinet,384drives,optimizedformainframe
Somemodelssoldas853036,853073,8530146,8530181or883036,883073,8830146,8830
181(thelasttwodigitsindicatethedrivesinstalledintheframe)

SymmetrixDMXoralsocalledSymmetrixFamily6.0
ReleasedFeb2003andsoldthrough2006
DirectMatrixArchitecture(DataGeneralBackplane)introduced
DMX800wasthefirstDMXsystemintroduced
4Slicedirectorsintroduced
RAID5introducedafterbeingintroducedonDMX3
FirstgenerationwithcommonDA/FAhardware
Introductionofmodularpower
EnginuityMicrocode5669.xx.xx,5670.xx.xx,5671.xx.xx
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SymmetrixModels

SymmetrixDMX800:Singlecabinet,DAEbasedconceptfordrives,96drives(Iswear,a
customertoldme,theyhaveghostlikeissueswiththeirDMX800)
SymmetrixDMX1000:Singlecabinet,18drivesperloop,144drivestotal
SymmetrixDMX1000P:Singlecabinet,9drivesperloop,144drivestotal,P=Performance
System
SymmetrixDMX2000:Dualcabinet,modularpower,18drivesperloop,288drives
SymmetrixDMX2000P:Dualcabinet,modularpower,9drivesperloop,288drives,
P=PerformanceSystem
SymmetrixDMX30003:Triplecabinet,modularpower,18drivesperloop,3phasepower,
576drives

SymmetrixDMX2oralsocalledSymmetrixFamily6.5
ReleasedFeb2004andsoldthrough2007
DoubletheprocessingusingDMX2
DMXandDMX2framesaresame,onlydirectorsfromDMXmustbechangedtoupgradeto
DMX2,rebootofentiresystemsrequiredwiththisupgrade
RAID5introducedafterbeingintroducedonDMX3
64GBmemoryintroduced
4SliceDirectors
EnginuityMicrocode5669.xx.xx,5670.xx.xx,5671.xx.xx
SymmetrixDMX801:2ndgenerationDMX,Singlecabinet,DAEbasedconceptfordrives,96
drives,FCSPE2(Iswear,acustomertoldme,theyhaveghostlikeissueswiththeirDMX800)
SymmetrixDMX1000M2:2ndgenerationDMX,Singlecabinet,18drivesperloop,144
drives
SymmetrixDMX1000P2:2ndgenerationDMX,Singlecabinet,9drivesperloop,144drives,
P=PerformanceSystem
SymmetrixDMX2000M2:2ndgenerationDMX,Dualcabinet,18drivesperloop,288drives
SymmetrixDMX2000P2:2ndgenerationDMX,Dualcabinet,9drivesperloop,288drives,
P=PerformanceSystem
SymmetrixDMX2000M23:2ndgenerationDMX,Dualcabinet,18drivesperloop,288
drives,3Phasepower
SymmetrixDMX2000P23:2ndgenerationDMX,Dualcabinet,9drivesperloop,288drives,
P=PerformanceSystem,3Phasepower
SymmetrixDMX3000M23:2ndgenerationDMX,Triplecabinet,18drivesperloop,576
drives,3Phasepower

SymmetrixDMX3oralsocalledSymmetrix7.0
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ReleasedJuly2005andstillbeingsold
8Slicedirectors
1920disk(RPQedto2400drives)
DAEbasedconceptintroduced
SymmetrixPriorityControls
RAID5introducedandthenimplementedonolderDMX,DMX2
VirtualLUNtechnology
SRDFenhancements
Conceptofvaultingintroduced
Enginuitymicrocode5771.xx.xx,5772.xx.xx
SymmetrixDMX3950:SystemCabinet,StorageBayx2,360drivesmax,ModularPower,3
Phasepower
SymmetrixDMX3:SystemCabinet,StorageBayx8(Expandable),1920drivesmax,RPQed
to2400drives,3Phasepower

SymmetrixDMX4oralsocalledSymmetrix7.0
ReleasedJuly2007andstillbeingsold
Virtualprovisioning
FlashDrives
FC/SATAdrives
RAID6introduced
SRDFenhancements
TotalCache:512GB
TotalStorage:1PB
Largestdrivesupported1TBSATAdrive
Flashdrives73GB,146GBlaternowsupportfor200GBand400GBreleased
1920drivesmax(RPQedto2400drives)
Enginuitymicrocode5772.xx.xx,5773.xx.xx
SymmetrixDMX4950:SystemCabinet,StorageBayx2,360drivesmax,ModularPower,3
Phasepower
SymmetrixDMX4:SystemCabinet,StorageBayx8(Expandable),1920drivesmax,RPQed
to2400drives,Modularpower,3PhasePower
SomemodelssoldasDMX41500,DMX42500,DMX43500andDMX44500
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SymmetrixVMax
(ReleasedApril2009)
EnginuityMicrocode5874.xxx.xxx
Totalnumberofdrivessupported:2400
TotalCache:1TBmirrored(512GBusable)
TotalStorage:2PB
AllfeaturesontheVMaxhavebeendiscussedearlierontheblogpostlinkedbelow
SymmetrixVMaxSE:SingleSystemBay,SE=SingleEngine,StorageBayx2,360
drivesmax,cannotbeexpandedtoafullblown8enginesystemifpurchasedasaSE,3
Phasepower,ModularPower
SymmetrixVMax:SystemCabinet,StorageBayx10,2400drivesmax,modularpower,
3phasepower

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