But as the bank sought to cut storage costs by using EMC Clariion midrange arrays, the data replication woes worsened considerably. The different models were based on distinct architectures, requiring that backup and replication be managed separately using different EMC software tools.

At that point, Wright said, he calculated that Nationwide would need four or five software systems to replicate between Symmetrix DMX arrays and then cross-platform to Clariion.

Such management and replication issues are not unique to Nationwide, said Gartner Inc. analyst Adam Couture. The complexity of managing Clariion and Symmetrix arrays in a single environment is a common complaint among EMC users, he said.

All-Cisco infrastructure

Wright said he decided about six months ago to take advantage of an all-Cisco storage switch infrastructure, installed in the bank over the past two years, to create network-based data replication.