浅谈客户的一点固见
Neil Cameron
客户通常对port数目有着确定的想法。
我感到这一点有些不同平常，原因是人们经常对生活中的其它事情并无此定见。
可是，说到RAID或HBA控制器上的port数目，大家确实有着十分固定的看法。
举个样例：我有两个SSD——哦，你没有两个port的控制器，那我就看看四个port的吧。
但我不管怎样也不会考虑16个port的控制器，由于我的思维已经卡在我当前拥有的硬盘数目上。
遗憾的是，其实，不管你眼下是否能意识得到，你所须要的其实是16port的控制器。
下文还会再回过头来讨论这个问题。如今，先让我们将生活中对其它事情的态度与对RAID控制器的做个比較。
我居住的国家（澳大利亚）里的限速（在快速公路上）是110公里/小时。那么。我为什么须要一辆行驶速度超过110公里/小时的摩托车呢？我到底为什么要买一架能跑道265公里/小时的Ducati Monster呢？
再看一件事。
我近期刚刚升高了我的四驱车上的底盘——我有几个选择：採用标准的高度、加高30mm或者60mm。
唔。由于多数时候我还是在路面上行驶的，所以我全然能够就用标准的高度。但你猜怎么着——我太太如今须要梯凳才干上车了。由于我给它加高了60mm。
所以。涉及到我的座驾。看起来我对法律规定亦或是常识所要求的限制都没有什么固见，但当问题是选择RAID卡时，我确实也有我的固定见解（正如多数客户一样）。
你猜着了——我又在喋喋不休地宣传PMC的71605E——一款16port的“入门级”控制卡，快速、高性能、价格也可算低廉，对于SSD（或者HDD）组成的RAID 10阵列绝对是完美选择。
但有客户认真研究过该产品么？答案是否定的。由于此卡支持的port数目为16。而客户的脑筋已经固定在4port或8port的控制器上。
看来，我选择的座驾都是为了充分满足我的需求，而非按照法律或我太太的身高所决定的指标来购置。这不恰恰应该是我们选择控制器的方式么？——究竟什么能符合我的“性能”需求，而不是我的“数字”上的要求。
假设PMC的营销部门总部在澳大利亚，我们就行公布一条广告，大标题为“谁关心***有多少port？“尽管这仅仅是个幻想。但话说究竟，这正是须要深深镌刻在客户的思维模式其中的——不要再考虑拥有的硬盘数目，转而着手考虑究竟哪一款控制器拥有足够的处理性能，可以满足你的需求。此番讨论主要针对的是SSD用户，由于他们已经下决心採用了更为高速的设备，但还未能改变选择控制卡的思维方式——而改变已经迫在眉睫。
再次回到我的摩托车的类比….我能够买便宜的轮胎，也能够买贵得离谱且远远超出我的驾驶能力的Pirelli轮胎——猜猜我买的是什么（肯定不是便宜、破烂的）——我想让我的摩托车具备跑到其极至性能的能力——虽然它的主人已经不复当日雄风。
所以，别再想port数了….好好考虑考虑性能吧（PMC的7系列和8系列产品）。
Here goes with another controversial blog forProduct Marketing to ponder …
Customers have a fixation on port numbers. Ifind it a bit unusual because we tend not to have the same sort of fixation onanything else we do in life. However when it comes to port count on RAIDcontrollers or HBA’s we definitely have a fixation.
Example:I have 2 x SSD – hmm, you don’t have a 2-port controller so I”ll look at 4-portinstead. I’ll never even think about looking at 16 port controllers because I’mfixated on the number of drives I currently have. That’s a shame because infact it’s the 16-port controller that you need, whether you currently recogniseit or not.
I’ll come back to that but let’s look at the rest of our life compared to RAIDcontrollers. The speed limit in my country (on the open motorway) is 110km/h.So therefore why do I need a motorbike that does more than 110km/h?
Why onearth would I own a Ducati Monster that’s capable of around 265km/h (don’t tellthe wife that).
OR
I recently upgraded the suspension on my 4WD– I could have standard height, 30mm lift or 60mm lift?
Hmmm, I mostly drive onthe road so I could stick with the standard height, but guess what – the wifenow needs a step ladder to get into the car because it’s had the 60mm lift
SoI have no fixation on the limits imposed by the law, or the limits imposed by common-sense when it comes to my vehicles, but I certainly have one (as do most customers) when it comes to choosing RAID cards.
You guessed it – I’m banging on about the71605E again – a 16 port “entry” card that is absolutely perfect for RAID 10 onSSD (or HDD for that matter) – fast, capable and cheap(ish). But do customer sever look at it?
No, because it’s 16 ports and they arefixated on 4 and 8 port controllers. So I own the vehicles that suit my needs,not vehicles that are dictated to me by random numbers imposed by the law or mywife’s height. Funny enough that’s the way we should look at controllers – what suits my “performance” requirements, not what suits my “numbers” requirements.
If our marketing department was based in Australia we’d run an ad campaignentitled: “who gives a *^%&$ how many ports the thing has?
”. Can’t reallysee that ever happening in this company, but at the end of the day that’s what needs to be embedded in customer mindsets – stop thinking about the number of drives you have, and start thinking about what controller has the processing performance to handle your requirements. This is mostly addressed at SSD users because while they have made up their mind to use a faster device, they still haven’t changed their mindset about which controller card they should use– and they need to big time.
Using my bike as analogy again … I can buy cheap tyres, or I can buy ridiculously expensive Pirelli’s that are far more capable than my riding ability – and guess what I buy (certainly not the cheap and nasty) – I want to give my bikethe ability to perform to it’s full potential – even if the rider isn’t as capable as he once was.
So stop thinking port count … and start thinking performance (7 and 8 series).