Today DCIG is pleased to announce that through a special licensing agreement with Nexsan Technologies, the 2010 DCIG Midrange Array Buyer’s Guide is now available for a free download on Nexsan’s website for a limited time. This is a full copy of the 105 page Buyer’s Guide exactly as it was originally published by DCIG with no additions, deletions or edits. The only prerequisite to downloading this Buyer’s Guide is that you must be an end-user and not a storage vendor (if you are a storage vendor the guide is available for purchase).
Users should find this Buyer’s Guide an extremely valuable tool as they look to make any type of Midrange Array buying decision. The Guide cuts through the hype in the storage industry and removes much of the fuzziness that is often found in other analyst reports as it ranks all of the midrange arrays from #1 down to #72.
However the value in this Guide is less about knowing which midrange array is ranked #1, #15, #45 or #72. Rather its value lies in its ability to provide users an “At a Glance” reference point so users can know how a specific midrange array compares to its peers because, as this Buyer’s Guide illustrates, midrange arrays are not created equal.
But just because they are not created equal does not necessarily make one “better” or “worse” than the other. DCIG considers all of the midrange arrays included in this Buyer’s Guide as enterprise-class storage arrays but, like all products, storage arrays are designed and built for different purposes.
A prime example is Nexsan itself. As you may deduce, the Nexsan DATABeast fared very well in this Buyer’s Guide but it is neither the only midrange array that Nexsan produces nor the only Nexsan model that was included in this Buyer’s Guide. Nexsan also has the iSeries 400i, the SASBeast and the SATABeast models included in this Guide. These also meet the definition of “enterprise class” but are designed to meet specific price points and customer needs within the enterprise.
The trouble is that the average end-user is aware of maybe 5 – 15 midrange models from only a few midrange array vendors. Further, how these midrange array models compare against one another and what you are gaining or giving up as you move from one model to the next is at best convoluted.
The Buyer’s Guide removes that confusion by giving users the ability to do side-by-side comparisons so they can clearly see what they are gaining or giving up. Frankly, sometimes users will want a model that is not ranked #1 or even #15 but may want a model ranked lower in the Guide because the application(s) does not need anything fancy but just raw, reliable storage at a favorable price point. So even though this Buyer’s Guide did not directly cover price or performance, because of how features were scored and ranked, one can deduce how a specific midrange array will perform or what it might cost.
In any case, I hope you take advantage of the free access that Nexsan is providing to this Buyer’s Guide as the users who have received a preview of it see it as becoming a valuable asset that they turn to make future buying decisions.
Again, here is the link where end-users can find and download their free copy.