EMC is under fire over reports that upgrading to the as-yet-unreleased version 3.0 of its XtremIO subsystem deletes all data from the flash array, and that users need to back up everything first.

The rumor came from Andrew Dauncey on The Odd Angry Shot blog. XtremIO firmware v3.0 is supposed to add speed performance and inline compression, but for reasons unknown it also causes all data to be lost.

“One of the guys told me an issue with the array I didn’t believe, so I went to verify it from other sources. The ‘rumour’, was that to upgrade from the current 2.4.x firmware, to version 3.0, the data would be lost, and there’d need to be a complete backup/restore. My first thoughts were, “That’s crazy”.”

“On returning from VMworld, I passed the news onto my employer, for them to follow up with the integrator and EMC.  The news came back that in fact it was true. I was stunned.”

“To clarify, firmware 3.0 has NOT been released, but is scheduled for release at the end of September, beginning of October. The upgrade process will require all data to be moved off the array, as all data will be wiped during the upgrade process.”

The Register investigated these reports further, speaking to “a source close to the situation” who confirmed that data will indeed be lost, claiming “It’s probably due to some major disk format change in XtremIO firmware 3.0”. It also spoke to XtremIO’s VP Josh Goldstein, who said the update would include inline compression that could deliver a fourfold increase in capacity. But Goldstein advised users to back up their data before updating, though he assured The Register it would be “seamless for a customer”. He said EMC Professional Services were working to ensure the update would be impact-free.

Goldstein’s comments appear to be a denial of Dauncey’s claims. But Chad Sakac, SVP of Global Systems Engineering at EMC, appeared to contradict him on his own personal blog:

“Disruptive upgrades affect all persistence architectures, all vendors at times,” he writes. “If you’re curious about the engineering reasons why – helpful to predict whether any future upgrade of any stack will likely be NDU or DU – as well as more on this particular XtremIO upgrade (and some more roadmap) read on!”

photo credit: wvs via photopin cc