A while ago I bragged about NetApp’s simulator, how useful it is for customers, and how no other storage vendor has anything like it.
I received a message from Chad Sakac at EMC who told me, “We have a Celerra simulator, and it’s great for all the same reasons that your simulator is.”
As Chad and I got to chatting, I said that I thought EMC was a great competitor, and that NetApp and EMC were probably good for each other, because competing kept us on our toes. Here was his response:
For what it’s worth – personally, certainly I don’t necessarily represent EMC in this context – I appreciate having as formidable a competitor as Network Appliance. With other competitors, we compete with them, and it’s a slow waltz, but with you folks, it’s a tango. It makes us better, win or lose with any individual customer, and in the end, it’s good for the industry and the customers.
I completely agree. I feel the same way about EMC.
Anyway, I replied that if the simulator was easily available to customers on the web, like ours is, then I’d retract my words and post a link. That shut him up for quite a while, because it wasn’t easily available anywhere, but I think my taunting gave him ammo to get things moving at EMC. He just sent another message saying that the Celerra simulator is now available on the web.
The URL is only accessible to EMC employees and partners, but Chad says that they are allowed to give the simulator to customers, so if you want it, and your EMC contact can’t find it, give them this link:
Helping make EMC’s customers happier with EMC equipment isn’t normally the goal of my blog, but if that’s an unintended consequence here, then so be it. To really be of service to EMC’s customers, I suppose I’m now on the hook to find simulators for DMX, CLARiiON, and Centera. :-)
So it turns out that direct link does not work, the only way to get to the file that I have found is to search for:
simulator celerra
Also, it only comes with a license good for 90 days. That's a bit weak...
Posted by: TimC | April 23, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Seems mad that its employees only or even customers and employees only - What happens if you want to experiment with the technology to consider if it's worth the investment? From what Daves blog says you can't do this which is a bit strange......
Posted by: Gary Williams | April 23, 2007 at 11:22 AM
It would really make my day if NetApp would take the next step and make the OnTap simulator available to anyone, not just people with support contracts. I can think of at least two good reasons:
1 - The more admins who are comfortable with your products, the more you are likely to sell. A freely available simulator helps people gain or maintain OnTap skills.
2 - Letting motivated people play with features they have only previously heard about in a whitepaper could make some sales too.
Now, if there are legal issues which stop you from giving it away, that's another story. But if not, remember, companies like Oracle do it, have done it for years, and don't seem to suffer any negative consequences by doing so.
Posted by: John Finigan | April 23, 2007 at 11:22 AM
Just an fyi, I'm not sure what partner status they are referring to, but I've yet to find anyone that is an EMC partner who could access that link (myself included). I'm now under the belief it is employee only.
Posted by: TimC | April 23, 2007 at 11:23 AM
"I'm now on the hook to find simulators for DMX, CLARiiON, and Centera."
We have them, they'll show up eventually.
Now you'll have to excuse me as I'm off to ensure Chad gets a good thrashing for cavorting with the storage platform opposition. ;-p
(I'm kidding)
Posted by: Storagezilla | April 23, 2007 at 11:24 AM