
Breaking news: Cisco execs fail to listen to customers.
Sources indicate that Cisco’s top execs blundered when they thought the UCS Invicta all-flash array wouldn’t compete with flash arrays from partners EMC and NetApp because it was integrated into the UCS server fabric. Our people suggest that they didn’t understand, when given UCS Invicta integration information by lower-level …
...to integrate it into the UCS B-series chassis and leverage the unified networking technology. They are flash storage nodes.
Flash storage nodes.
Unified networking.
It's networked storage. It competes with other networked storage. Do these execs even know what business they're in? If you buy a storage product vendor and you connect you new toy to other devices you sell to pool the resources, you are now selling shared storage products.
I for one would like to meet these execs. I have a very large clock tower in London I would like to sell them.
it's a C240 server with software, surely ... even ignoring the facts that the diagrams of both front and rear views are identical, the text includes things that pretty much confirm it. The only thing that seems a little strange is the CS3124SA has an LSI HBA in one of it's PCIe slots according to the text (but not in the diagrams). Not sure why they aren't putting in say a VIC1225 for fabric integration (and possibly future development to allow virtualisation within the storage array).
From the C240 installation manual:
"This version of the server can be ordered with either a 16-drive backplane or a 24-drive backplane with an expander. When the 16-drive backplane is installed, only the first 16 drive bays are used."
Alternatively the C3124SA installation manual:
"shows the front panel features of the Cisco UCS Invicta C3124SA Appliance. It can be
ordered with either a 16-drive backplane or a 24-drive backplane with an expander. When the 16-drive
backplane is installed, only the first 16 drive bays are used."