Flash Storage Strategies of Major Vendors: NetApp, EMC, Huawei, IBM, and HP

Start‑up companies often lead innovation in SDS, SSD, and flash‑array technologies; examples such as Texas Memory Systems, XtremIO, and SanDisk have attracted the attention of traditional IT giants, sometimes resulting in costly acquisitions.

NetApp's Turbulent Flash Journey NetApp acquired LSI's Engenio to address FAS performance gaps on SAN, then launched EF flash products (EF540/550) in late 2013 on the LSI SANtricity platform, initially lacking deduplication and compression. Later, NetApp integrated flash with the Data ONTAP stack, adding online deduplication and compression, followed by the FlashRay system and the All‑Flash FAS (AFF) series such as AFF8000, introducing innovations like Flash Essentials.

EMC – The Flash Sales Champion EMC first tested the flash wave with VNX‑F series (VNX‑F5000/F7000) and later acquired start‑up XtremIO. Most of EMC’s high‑end storage came from acquisitions. Early XtremIO releases (XIOS 3.0) suffered upgrade compatibility issues requiring downtime and metadata backup, but later versions resolved these problems, helping EMC dominate flash sales.

EMC’s flash strategy is more focused than NetApp’s; although it also acquired SDDS for a distributed‑flash approach, the impact has been limited. XtremIO remains EMC’s flagship, now scaling out to 16 controllers with strong performance and capacity.

Huawei – Early but Lagging Huawei began SSD and flash research around 2008‑2009 and launched the Dorado flash series in late 2010, positioning itself as an early flash pioneer with high performance and low latency for OLTP and VDI workloads. However, early Dorado lacked key software features such as replication, volume protection, and deduplication, making it uncompetitive today.

In recent years Dorado’s market performance has been eclipsed by competitors like XtremIO and 3PAR. The article hopes Huawei can leverage its existing R&D to add missing flash features and regain market share.

IBM – The Flash Combination Punch IBM’s flash journey started with DS8000 and V‑series SSD/HDD tiered storage, followed by the acquisition of Texas Memory Systems (RAMSAN) and the launch of the FlashSystem line, which uses MicroLatency flash modules distinct from conventional 2.5/3.5‑inch drives.

Initial FlashSystem models offered limited features, but the 700/800/900 series inherited IBM’s Spectrum Virtualize (SVC) capabilities—high‑availability, multi‑tiering, heterogeneous virtualization—thereby compensating for early shortcomings.

More recently IBM released FlashSystem V700/V800 and the V9000, integrating SVC and flash hardware into a 6U chassis with scale‑out capability (two SVC nodes can drive four FlashSystem arrays). The software stack provides real‑time compression, dynamic tiering, thin provisioning, snapshots, clones, replication, and high‑availability.

HP – A Steady Flash Path HP’s storage portfolio reflects a mix of OEM, acquisitions, and in‑house development. The 3PAR acquisition proved successful; 3PAR’s StoreServ platform (Informal) introduced the 7450 flash version, featuring ASIC‑based deduplication, RAID, and early adoption of 1.92 TB SSDs at competitive prices.

HP later delivered integrated StoreServ 7440C/7450C flash arrays, scaling out to four controllers, and the 8440/8450 upgrades, with the high‑end 20850 supporting up to eight controllers and 3.84 TB SSDs, offering free disk replacement for 3‑5 years. The article views HP’s flash strategy as robust, with 3PAR likely shaping HP’s future storage direction.

Below is a brief summary of each vendor, paired with a characteristic phrase:

Early start, late finish – Huawei advanced quickly in storage but lacked strategic foresight, missing the flash‑driven “crossover” opportunity.

Repeated contemplation, indecisive progress – NetApp leads in converged storage but remains a cautious participant in flash, relying heavily on the Data ONTAP platform.

Missteps corrected, crown reclaimed – EMC experienced setbacks on the flash road but recovered swiftly through XtremIO, maintaining a leading market position.

Steady accumulation, breakthrough – HP successfully upgraded traditional arrays to all‑flash solutions, with 3PAR delivering cross‑tier integration.

Combined strike against flash – IBM, despite modest flash pedigree, leverages SVC and Spectrum Scale to deliver low‑latency, high‑IOPS SSDs with rich data‑services.

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