NetApp - Exposed

Peaches

Even tho the Oscars are over, it's a Hollywood-themed night here at Exposed.  For example, I just saw the opening midnight screening of a NetApp Data ONTAP GX customer's impressive handiwork on IMAX no less!  It's a fearless and ambitious adaptation of the Superhero movie genre.  Although it could have and should have left 40 minutes on the cutting room floor, it's still a masterpiece IMO!

Watchmen

And The Contest Evolves

Dr. Dedupe has taken the bull by the horns and helped raise the ante on the bonus prize.  He has posted the lyrics to our much-talked-about YouTube video and challenged the blogosphere / twitterverse / web2dotWhateverWorld to the following:

Send him your version of the lyrics, or better yet send him a video of your dedupe parody song and he'll send you some NetApp beanies just like the one worn by N-Tap.  He doesn't need anything fancy, just get those Blackberry's and Flip's rolling, post your video on YouTube and send the link to his blog.  And remember to keep it clean people! :)

Custom lyrics are one thing, but I'm sure the good doctor and I can offer up a very desirable bonus prize to anyone who posts a homegrown video (not someone else's) version of this NTAP dedupe rap.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Can you spot me^H^Hus?

UPDATE FEB 26th:  Our VP & GM in Product Operations (Louis Selincourt) is also lurking somewhere in this clip.  Spot him and he's offered up a dinner date with the winner!

In a moment of weakness, our clever marketing folks convinced me to be an "extra" on the set shooting NetApp's first-ever rap video.  So to make this even more fun, I'll give away some cool NetApp swag to the first commenters on this blog who can spot either of:

1. My specific location(s) in this video, or
2. When I first appear (mm:ss), or
3. How long I appear for, or
4. When I last appear.

I'll also give a bonus prize (see above for the latest) to whoever will post a home-grown custom youtube video version of our dedupe rap.  And yes even my avid EMC and HP readers qualify :)

UPDATE FEB 25th:  For those who are not movie buffs, I should take a moment to explain that this is based on the climactic scene from Eminem's Movie 8 Mile of a few years ago ... and was done with tongue firmly planted in cheek of course :)

Two major influences on Enterprise Storage

Music and complexity.

Apple's iPod

The connection is not immediately obvious to some, but this nice overview of the current state of Flash Storage reveals the risks and opportunities that this promising technology revolution is confronting our industry with. Were it not for the overwhelming popularity (especially unit volume of Apple's flash-based) iPod models, the momentum of price reductions driving this trend would not be possible.

Flash changes *everything*

The more I study the impact of flash, the more I'm convinced of two conclusions:

1. The storage industry impact of this technology reaches *far* beyond most people's imaginations, and
2. NetApp's Hardware and Software Intellectual Property is uniquely positioned to capitalize on this trend in a manner far greater than current NetApp competitors.

I plan to spend a lot of time blogging on the huge NetApp potential for this technology, so stay tuned and feel free to share comments on related topics and ramifications you'd like me to address.

Faster, greener storage is not necessarily simpler

The powerfully simple concepts of "Data Sets" and "Policies" will save enterprise storage. The more our industry brings cool products to market, the more challenges we present our user base with regarding managing them all.

Read Kostadis' coverage of a pivotal NetApp solution to this problem.

As per above, you can expect more coverage on this topic here in the future.