EMC did no pre-briefings for the rollout, so it’s hard to say exactly how important they are. All we know is what is in the press releases, and the press releases are stingy with details. The VMAX 40K is important because it is EMC’s highest end array and the platform was due for a refresh. There is a larger Data Domain disk backup device, and performance improvements to the Isilon OneFS scale-out NAS software. Nothing else jumps out as game-changing.

The biggest surprise is lack of a flash announcement. EMC is expected to disclose more details of its “Project Thunder” PCIe-based shared storage appliance and reveal more details of its XtremIO flash array acquisition at EMC World. But there will be no actual product launches for Thunder and XtremIO at the show, however. XtremIO isn’t close enough to having a shipping product to talk about yet, apparently.

More product details will come out at the keynote today given by CEO Joe Tucci and COO Pat Gelsinger. There will also be briefings on the products launched today. Check back here for updates during the day, and at our SearchStorage.com’s EMC World site for more detailed analysis of news from the show.