VNX

VNX. The VNX was a family of midrange unified storage arrays developed and marketed by EMC Corporation. Introduced in 2010, it combined block-level storage and file-level storage into a single platform, succeeding the separate CLARiiON and Celerra product lines. The series was a cornerstone of EMC's portfolio for several years, designed for enterprise and mid-market customers seeking consolidated IT infrastructure.

Overview

The VNX series was announced in January 2010 as a major evolution in EMC Corporation's midrange strategy, aiming to simplify data center operations. It represented a convergence of technologies from the company's established CLARiiON SAN and Celerra NAS platforms. Products within the family ranged from the smaller VNXe series to the high-end VNX8000, catering to diverse performance and capacity requirements. The platform's development was closely tied to advancements in flash memory and serial-attached SCSI drive technologies, reflecting the industry's shift towards solid-state storage.

Architecture

The VNX architecture was built on a dual-controller, modular design that supported both Fibre Channel and iSCSI protocols for block data. For file services, it utilized dedicated Data Mover blades running a specialized operating system derived from Celerra. A key component was the Storage Processor which managed RAID configurations and hosted the FLARE operating environment for block functions. The system employed a high-speed, internal PCI Express bus for data transfer between components and supported extensive use of Enterprise Flash Drives as a performance tier. This hardware was managed by the Unisphere management suite, providing a single interface for the unified array.

Features and capabilities

A primary feature was its unified support for Fibre Channel over Ethernet, Network File System, and Server Message Block protocols concurrently. The platform offered advanced software features such as FAST Cache and FAST VP for automated data migration between SSD and hard disk drive tiers. It also included robust data protection suites supporting snapshots, thin provisioning, and integration with VMware vSphere for virtual machine management. For data replication and disaster recovery, it supported both synchronous and asynchronous mirroring to other VNX arrays or to EMC Symmetrix systems.

Deployment and management

Deployment of VNX arrays was typically handled by certified system integrators or the customer's own IT staff, guided by extensive documentation from EMC Corporation. The primary management tool was Unisphere, a web-based application that provided monitoring, provisioning, and reporting. For larger environments, integration with EMC Smarts and EMC ControlCenter offered enhanced network management. Routine tasks like LUN masking, storage pool creation, and firmware updates were centralized through this interface, which also facilitated REST API calls for DevOps automation workflows.

Market position and competition

Throughout its product life, the VNX series held a significant share of the midrange unified storage market, competing directly with systems like the HP 3PAR StoreServ, NetApp FAS, and IBM Storwize V7000. Its integration with the broader EMC ViPR and EMC Federation software stacks provided an advantage in hybrid cloud environments. The platform was officially succeeded in 2016 by the EMC Unity array, and later by the Dell EMC PowerStore platform following the acquisition of EMC by Dell. The VNX line remains a widely deployed system in many enterprise data centers globally. Category:Computer storage devices Category:EMC Corporation products Category:Data center infrastructure