back to article It's ALIVE: Unstructured data upstart whips out data-AWARE array

Stealth exit startup DataGravity has introduced a hybrid flash/disk array with rich metadata recording and reporting functions for file creation, keyword content, content change and access, as well as data protection functions and collaboration help. DataGravity was founded by CEO Paula Long, co-founder of EqualLogic, which …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Seems like the new generation storage guys are all copying each others playbooks. Let's see who will be victorious in the end, or if there will be a flood of acquisitions. EMC lives off buying companies and I imagine they have space for a couple of more startups. ;)

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Blockhead

    How is this supposed to work on block storage? Individual blocks are incoherent. Higher order structures are application specific.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Blockhead

      "How is this supposed to work on block storage?"

      Good question. The "datasheet" doesn't help clarify much either. I *assume* the applications in question have to be modified so that relevant application-specific metadata can be associated with the files in question (much as they had to be modified to work with ICL CAFS).

      The datasheet says the device supports SMB and NFS which kind of eliminates the "which file owns these blocks" question, but the device allegedly also supports iSCSI, which obviously makes matters more complex again...

      Or maybe the extraction of information from data just works by magick. The obvious precedent for that would be the now-well-known company that HP bought. You know the one.

      "Individual blocks are incoherent."

      So are marketing people, much of the time.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    CAFS?

    Presumably any patents ICL had on CAFS (Content Addressable File Store) have either expired or are readily circumvented?

    Never heard of CAFS? Look it up on Wikipedia and try not to laugh too much at the line "In its initial form, the search logic was built into the disk head".

  4. random_graph

    Interesting, Just not sure it's solving a real problem

    Some interesting new things here, just not sure there's a large market for the unique capabilities. And without the unique capabilities being leveraged, it looks functionally like Isilon, just 13 years late. It seems like text search (not attribute), native audit trails, filter-based tagging, and data demographics are the unique things here. Every SysAdmin wants better data demographics and solid audit, but how many SysAdmins care about Ediscovery or content search? That would be the LOB owner or General Council most likely, people accustomed to host-side tools already. Another surprise is the commitment to proprietary hardware; you'd think the SDS buzz would drive them in the opposite direction. Guess it's that EqualLogic DNA in the founders.

    Definitely not the first system to do cool metadata tricks or full-text index (see HCP, Caringo, Honeycomb...). The coolest thing they're doing that I see is by reverse-engineering the VMDK file format they extract embedded file metadata and allow individual file restores. The tagging is also cool. All bets are off though if they're not using the file interface. Unless they install a hypervisor plug-in, they can't get any intelligence out of the iSCSI interface.

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