I was fortunate to do my first EMC Unity install today (Unity 300 specifically), and Unity follows the path of the VNXe installation sequence, pretty easy. This blog post is about as short as the Unity install is 🙂
Initializing the Unity array uses the ‘ same’Connection Utility that the VNXe uses, though the Unity Connection Utility does not support the VNXe, and vice versa for the latest VNXe Connection Utility. So you can’t have both installed on the same machine.
Just like the VNX and VNXe, going thru the Initialization requires you to input a Management Address (the Unity array uses a single IP Address for Management, unlike the VNX which uses separate IP’s on the Storage Processors), and a few other parameters.
I really like the new GUI that the Unity array is sporting, it’s nice to see EMC going to a common UI it appears across the platforms. Unity GUI looks like the latest Data Domain GUI.
Getting the Unity array configured via Fiber Channel on the MDS switches was as easy as expected, and the traditional setup steps of FAST Cache, Storage Pools and the VNXe integration with vCenter worked just like on the VNXe.
All in all, first experience with the Unity 300 has been a positive one, and I like EMC approach here combining the ease of use/configuration of the VNXe, with the horsepower and feature sets of the VNX (D@RE among those items).