The 7400s are worth a hard look. They are a backbone grade workhorses and can be half the cost of a V. The big difference is the max # of spindles and the max # of FC ports.
One "idea" we are entertaining is "purpose built storage", where we use 7400 sized arrays tailored to the application farm they will be hosting.... tailored meaning licensed features. Our ESX farm for example doesn't need/use snapshots, replication, and can do it's own thin provisioning if we let it... so one possible solution we're looking at this year is a plain 7400, no frills.... 100% thick provisioned to ESX, and then let the ESX admins manage it from their world.
_________________ Richard Siemers The views and opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
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